Baltimore at Pittsburgh, 10 a.m., Channel 2
THAT’S WHY THEY’RE CALLED THE PITTSBURGH STEALERS
The Steelers are a surprising 5-1, the Chicago Bears of the AFC, and eager, as Coach Bill Cowher says, for the “challenge of being up there with the top teams in the NFL. ... We want to see where we are in relation to those teams.”
In lieu of that kind of challenge, the Steelers must settle for the Ravens.
According to the history books, the Ravens once won the Super Bowl, but that was long, long ago. Three quarterbacks ago, in fact--from Trent Dilfer to Elvis Grbac to last week’s starter, Randall Cunningham, who is 38 and no Michael Jordan. After huffing and puffing his way through four quarters against Jacksonville, Cunningham promptly announced, as soon as caught his breath, that he would be retiring after this season.
In the interim, Baltimore has been replaced atop the AFC Central standings by a team with a smothering defense and a conservative, keep-it-on-the-ground-and-between-the-tackles offense designed to keep turnovers to a minimum. Those are the 2001 Steelers, and the Ravens might recognize the blueprint.
“Baltimore wrote it up last year,” Steeler tackle Wayne Gandy says. So today, at least the Ravens know whom to blame.
The line: Pittsburgh by 2.
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