Monday, November 27, 2006
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
BALTIMORE -- Ravens defensive coordinator and auxiliary genius Rex Ryan, correcting the notion that his team blitzed the Steelers 80 percent or 90 percent of the time in yesterday's architecturally perfect shutout, claimed it was more like half the time.
"Sometimes," he said, "we'll give you the illusion of a blitz."
The thunderclap lick that linebacker Bart Scott put on Ben Roethlisberger in the second quarter?
Uh, that was no illusion. The lone element about it that could be described as even distantly vague was that No. 7 somehow didn't get knocked into Chesapeake Bay.
"I was 30 yards downfield and I heard it," said Baltimore linebacker Terrell Suggs, "but Bart's been doing that since he's been here. That's why he's the mad backer."
Though Scott's sack brought Charlie Batch on stage for one play while Bent Ben visited Woozytown, it was but one bold swatch in the brilliant emblem of violence delivered by Scott's defensive teammates, who were perched on Roethlisberger like a murder of crows all the live long day.
"It's just good to put Pittsburgh out of its misery," Scott said in a pleased Ravens locker room. "When you can do that, it's gratifying."
To fully absorb the dominant scope of the ninth shutout in Ravens history, their second against the Steelers, you needn't go much further than this: Baltimore's defense generated more negative yardage in sacks (73) than the positive yardage compiled by the Steelers' leading rusher and leading receiver combined (71).
Beyond that, the dismissal of the defending Super Bowl champions from 2006 relevance by an archrival with legitimate Super Bowl intentions was essentially Revolution No. 9.
There were nine sacks by the Ravens, which tied a nine-year old team record and the Steelers' record for most sacks allowed in one game (9) set in the ninth month of 1994. In addition to the nine sacks, the Ravens had nine "hurries." When Roethlisberger was upright long enough to throw, nine of his 21 completions went for 9 yards or less. Moreover, the only time in the Steelers' first nine possessions that Bill Cowher's team did not punt, Roethlisberger had the football knocked away by blitzing cornerback Corey Ivy, with linebacker Adalius Thomas swooping to the fumble and toting it 57 yards to the third quarter touchdown that made it 24-0. It was the kind of play that'll get ya beat nine times out of 10.
"I had my ankle all taped up, but when you see that end zone, the adrenaline starts to go," Thomas said. "On this defense, we don't look to just get a turnover. We're looking to get a score."
Thomas' loping run down the Baltimore sideline was the Ravens' fifth defensive touchdown of the season and 19th since 2003. No NFL team can match that. The Ravens talked as if this one was extra special, as it was triggered by the 5-foot-9, 188-pound Ivy, who had been hampered by injury this season.
"I don't know that I've ever been around a tougher player than Corey Ivy," said Ravens head coach Brian Billick, and that's a mouthful.
Ivy literally defies description, as you can see from this attempt by Ryan:
"Corey's one of the toughest cats in the league; he's a bulldog out there."
Well which is it?
Baltimore's near flawless coverage in the secondary was getting credited with a monstrous assist in the sack orgy, but defensive end Trevor Pryce, who floored Roethlisberger twice, had a supplemental explanation for why so many Ravens wound up in the Steelers' backfield.
"I think it was that they have a lot of confidence in their linemen, and they don't really keep a lot of people in to block," Pryce said on a day when the Steelers added three more to the stinking pile of turnovers that leads the league (30). "If we're bringing seven and you've got five blocking, that's not working."
It wasn't as if the Steelers had a lot of options offensively. Willie Parker was in full road mode, meaning he was averaging barely 2 yards per carry. At home, he averages 5.5. Even in deploying the no-huddle offense that clicked so loudly last week at Cleveland, the Steelers were 1 for 12.
Against the NFL's second-ranked defense (Chicago's is first), the Steelers coughed to three first downs in the first half and did not penetrate Ravens territory until 5:47 remained in the third quarter, a mere 116 minutes after the opening kick. Roethlisberger eventually led them all the way to a first down at the Ravens' 10. In the next four plays, he was only sacked twice, the second coming on fourth-and-goal courtesy of Mr. Suggs, seconds after Nate Washington dropped a touchdown pass. That's three of those, if you're counting.
The more startling stats, though, were in the nearly exclusive jurisdiction of the Baltimore defense, the nine sacks for 73 yards, nine hurries, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, one returned for a touchdown, the sum of all those numbers represented best by the zero after Steelers on the scoreboard.
"Coaches get a game ball if there's a shutout," Ryan said eagerly.
"But you know, we shut out Tampa and we still haven't gotten that ball."
It was probably intercepted.
(Gene Collier can be reached at gcollier@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1283. )
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