Ravens Beat Steelers 13-10: Quick Notes

November 18, 2012; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice (27) wears a terrible towel on his head as he returns to the locker room after the Baltimore Ravens defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field. The Pittsburgh Steelers won 13-10. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE

The Ravens have beaten the Steelers and are now 8-2 and completely in control of the AFC North. Heres what I saw.

-For all the talk of Byron Leftwich being able to carry the Steelers to a win, he was unable to ever get anything going. He finished the game 18-39 for 183 yards and an interception. The pick couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Steelers and it basically put the nail in the Steelers coffin when Flacco went down the field to set up the field goal for the deciding points.

-Flaccos numbers don’t jump off the page but his play was excelent. he made very smart plays and didnt turn the ball over for the 4th time in a row against the Steelers. That proved to be the difference in the game. On a night when Ray Rice wasn’t able to pick up a 5 yard run to save his life and Ike Taylor suffocated Torrey Smith all the while with Dennis Pitta out with a concussion, Flacco was able to make enough plays to win the game.

-The Steelers D was excelent. their secondary in particular was extremely good. they blanketed  Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones all night and limited Boldin to mostly short catches. They stuffed the run better than any team has against Rice this season and they gave their stagnant offense chance after chance to win the game.

-The Ravens D wasnt to shabby either. They limited the Steelers passing game into basically being a non-threat. Courtney Upshaw in particular was excelent. he spent time at every defensive line position, OLB and ILB and he even spent at least 3 or four plays playing slot corner. he didnt have a single negative play that I saw.

-Paul Kruger has really come into his own these past few weeks. Tonight he was excelent yet again after having 2 sacks and an INT last week he finished tonights game with a sack and a forced fumble. he has a history of solid play against the Steelers, his first recognizable play in the NFL was an overtime interception to win the game in Baltimore a few years back.

-The Ravens now have a 12 game win streak in division, they are 4-0 on the season and if they finish 6-0 by beating the Steelers and Bengals they would top the Colts all time division streak record at 13 games.