Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers prep for 'football in its purest form’ vs. Ravens
A decade ago against the Baltimore Ravens, Ben Roethlisberger suffered a broken nose. Another time, one of their linebackers bragged about “feeling the air rushing out of his body” while delivering a brutal sack.
Yet, through it all, Roethlisberger longs for the chance to subject himself to the potential abuse.
“It’s tough. It’s a physical one. It can be nasty at times,” the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback said of the rivalry during a video conference call with media Wednesday. “But I have always felt that as many times as my nose has been broke, we’ve had injuries, it’s been a close game, it’s always been football in its purest form in the sense it’s never been dirty, it’s never been nasty. It’s always just been hard-nosed football. This is one you want your bye week to be after.”
Roethlisberger smiled.
He was in a good mood — and not just because his team is 6-0. At 38 and coming off elbow surgery, Roethlisberger insisted on returning this season, and it sounds as if one of the driving forces was to be able to continue to compete in games such as this rivalry.
CBS is sending its No. 1 announcing team. Coach Mike Tomlin called the 1 p.m. kickoff “the game of the week.” The Ravens are 5-1, and the winner will claim first place in the AFC North.
“I think this is what football fans want. It’s what the NFL wants,” Roethlisberger said. “I didn’t get to play them last year, and I miss this. As much as this game hurts in terms of physicality, at the end of the day, you miss this rivalry because it’s fun. It’s football in its purest form.”
Like many of the Steelers-Ravens games over the past two decades, points figure to be difficult to come by Sunday. Baltimore leads the NFL in scoring defense (17.3 per game), and the Steelers are No. 1 in yardage against (286.3).
“Both teams come in with strong defenses,” Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward said, “and a defense is usually the one that wins this game.”
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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