Steelers Have Huge Advantage over Ravens in Key Area
The Pittsburgh Steelers will face a Baltimore Ravens team who has committed the most penalties in the NFL entering week 11.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will face the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday in what will be a battle for control of the AFC North. Entering week 11, the Steelers are out-performing the Ravens in one key metric: penalties.
According to the Football Database, the Ravens currently lead the NFL with 80 accepted penalties – five more than the closest teams (SEA & NYJ.) The Steelers stand on better grounds at 21st in the league with 57 penalties.
To make things more interesting, Dale Lolley posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the crew to officiate Sunday’s contest averages 12.88 penalties a game.
<p>https://twitter.com/dlolley_pgh/status/1856901608400986195
What stands out is also the number of holding penalties this crew calls. Lolley outlines that around 33% of their calls are holding penalties. The team that leads the league in holding penalties? You guessed it, the Ravens with 19. The Steelers have committed 12 holding penalties this season.
Every game between Pittsburgh and Baltimore feels like a tough, grinding task. If Baltimore continues to commit penalties at this rate, the Steelers will certainly have an advantage in facing the NFL’s most efficient offense.
Mike Tomlin is a big believer in not getting your own way with penalties. He and his staff will likely harp those strings on being disciplined in their play as Baltimore has shown the opposite of that. Regardless, these teams know each other very well.
The game will not only feature a battle for first place in the AFC North, but also feature multiple former players playing against their former team. Diontae Johnson is eager to play in his first game back in Pittsburgh since being traded away. On the flip side, Deshon Elliot and Patrick Queen look to show Baltimore what they are missing after neither were offered contract extensions by the Ravens.
A victory for the Steelers would go a long way into working towards securing a playoff spot. They have all six divisional games to play starting Sunday, a road trip to Philadelphia, and a Christmas afternoon game against the Kansas City Chiefs left on their schedule.
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