ProFootballCentral.com

By PFC Ravens Writer Martin Steger

Against the Pittsburgh Steelers Monday night, the Baltimore Ravens showed two things: the ability to completely take over a game, and the ability to completely squander that game with a few critical mistakes.

The Ravens dominated the first half. Monday’s first 30 minutes of football showed what the Ravens are capable of becoming. Their offense looked good, moving the ball against Pittsburgh’s excellent defense, which is by far the best group of defenders Joe Flacco’s crew has faced all year. The defense was its usual dominant self. Behemoth lineman Haloti Ngata recorded an interception on one of Rex Ryan’s more creative plays, which served as the defensive highlight of the night. Up 13-3 at halftime, the Ravens looked poised to complete a blowout.

But, unfortunately for Baltimore, football games last longer than 30 minutes and the second half saw some of the team’s old problems surface. The Steelers came storming back, executing a touchdown drive that was aided by a costly personal foul penalty on Jarrett Johnson. He drew the foul by tussling with Hines Ward on the sideline after a play.

That penalty echoed some of the Ravens’ discipline problems from last season, incidents like Bart Scott hurling a flag and Haloti Ngata slugging a Brown. The Ravens are likely to be in many close games this season—games where they won’t have the luxury of spotting a team 15 yards and a fresh set of downs just to show who’s tougher after the play. Ray Lewis and John Harbaugh both got in Johnson’s ear after the play, showing a strong desire to finally eradicate such problems. They’ll need to if they want to make this season a success.

The offense had its own second-half problems. Ravens fans across the country looked on in horror as a Flacco fumble turned into a Pittsburgh touchdown, reminiscent of last year’s ball control issues. Furthermore, Willis McGahee could not stay on the field, so Flacco was without his starting tailback for large portions of the game. Todd Heap was strangely quiet once again, leaving Derrick Mason as the only reliable receiving option.

Despite all that, however, the offense still managed to send the game into overtime. It failed to close the deal there, but Baltimore showed it can hang with the AFC North’s current favorite and leader.

The Steelers paid a heavy price for their victory: Lewis welcomed Rashard Mendenhall to the NFL by ending his rookie season with a clean, brutal hit, a sad for the promising running back. Several other Steelers were hurt as well. If injuries cost the Steelers a game or two down the road, Baltimore could give them a push for the AFC North.

But that will depend on Baltimore fixing the subdued-but-lingering problems that showed up Monday night. They’ll need to do it soon, as they host the undefeated Titans this week, followed by a visit to the healthier Colts in Week 6.