By Jamison Hensley, The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/
7:37 PM EDT, October 1, 2010
PITTSBURGH — The Ravens look to stake a claim to first place in the AFC North and restore some defensive pride in today's grudge match with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
It's unlikely that Ray Lewis and teammates can return home with one and not the other.
(AP photo / December 27, 2009)Ravens safety Dawan Landry, right, tries to bring down Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall in the first quarter. Mendenhall rushed for 36 yards on 17 carries.
To beat a Steelers team without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the Ravens must stop running back Rashard Mendenhall. And to stop the NFL's fourth-leading rusher, the Ravens must ratchet up their play from last Sunday, when Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis — who? — gained 144 yards rushing and took another chunk out of the Ravens' fearsome reputation.
"If we come out and play the run like we did last week, we're going to get our [butts] handed to us," Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs said bluntly. "[Run defense] is definitely No. 1 on our list this week."
It's No. 1 in terms of priority and concern. The Ravens historically don't give up that many yards on the ground. Perhaps more disturbing is how the defense was bullied.
Stopping the run has become as much of a Ravens' tradition as Lewis' pre-game speeches. For the past seven seasons, the Ravens have ranked in the top 10 in run defense. Three games into this season, the Ravens haven't lived up to those standards, falling to 23rd while surrendering an average of 127.7 yards rushing.
But the Ravens aren't panicking. In fact, they march into Heinz Field with a defiant attitude.
On his weekly radio show, Coach John Harbaugh issued a challenge to the rest of the league.
"I would love our opponents to think that we can't stop the run," Harbaugh said. "That's great. You opponents listening, the Ravens can't stop the run, OK? So just run it at us, and we'll see how that turns out."
The recent lapse on run defense is more than a hiccup. The Ravens have permitted a 100-yard rusher four times (Hillis, Minnesota's Adrian Peterson and Cincinnati's Cedric Benson twice) in their past 15 games. That comes following a streak of 39 games without allowing one.
Defensive end Trevor Pryce slammed the Ravens' run defense a day after his release, saying, "We couldn't stop water from running. We had some stuff to work out."
That's why the Ravens fully expect the undefeated Steelers (3-0) to try and run it down their throats.
"When a team does have success at one phase or the other, you know in this league that you're going to get it coming back again to see if you've fixed it," defensive coordinator Greg Mattison said. "I'm very confident in our players and their ability to do what we have to do."
So, what has gone wrong with the Ravens' run defense?
Some point to wrong alignments. The Browns ran nine times for 98 yards when the Ravens had their nickel defense (five defensive backs) on the field.
Others blame poor tackling. Mattison said Cleveland's four runs over 12 yards (which totaled 119 yards) could have been limited to short gains if the Ravens would tackled better.
"We definitely have addressed it," Mattison said.
The hardest part of the week was watching the film of Hillis gaining the most yards against a Ravens defense since Dec. 4, 2005, when Houston's Domanick Davis rushed for 155 yards.
"There were a lot of good plays and there were a lot of physical plays," linebacker Jarret Johnson said. "But there were plays where you wanted to get up and go to the bathroom. You wanted to get out of the room."
Now, the Ravens have to get on track against Mendenhall, who has two 100-yard performances in the first three weeks of the season. He rushed for 120 yards against the Atlanta Falcons and 143 yards against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Mattison said Mendenhall is "as good a back as we'll play against."
Mendenhall has the ability to make you miss in the hole and can run over you. Last Sunday in Tampa Bay, he met Sean Jones at the 3-yard line and dragged the 220-pound safety into the end zone.
"Pittsburgh's been looking for that back since they lost 'The Bus' years ago," Lewis said, referring to Jerome Bettis. "He's a complete back now."
Mendenhall gained 95 yards in the first meeting last season, but the Ravens held him to 36 yards in the second one.
When Mendenhall plays the Ravens, most people think of a different game. In 2008, Lewis' hit broke Mendenhall's shoulder to end his rookie season.
"I don't really think of stuff like that," Mendenhall said. "That was two years ago, and right now I'm showing up to play."
With Roethlisberger serving the last game of his four-game suspension, the Steelers are starting Charlie Batch, a 35-year-old backup. During the absence of their Super Bowl-winning quarterback, Pittsburgh has relied heavily on Mendenhall and the running game.
Through three games, Pittsburgh has run the ball 96 times and thrown 60 passes. That means the Steelers keep it on the ground 61 percent of the time.
That's the type of game the Ravens are pumped up to play.
"That's a physical match that we love to win — stopping the run," Suggs said.
If the Ravens can stop the run, they'll likely tie the Steelers atop the division. If they can't, the Ravens could find themselves two games behind their rival just four weeks into the season.
"I'd be lying if I told you this was just another game," Suggs said. "This is the game on the schedule that we circle. This one has a little more importance than any other division game."
Why is that?
"Maybe because we don't like these guys," he said. "We respect them, but we don't like them."
Jamison.hensley@baltsun.com
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