Ravens offense targeted the Steelers' "older" players?

[moose10101]

Heard this comment on some postgame show (ESPN?). First of all, nearly all of them are over 30, and it looked to me like everybody on the defense got schooled. Did the Ravens really target some of their older guys?

[StingerNLG]

Heard this comment on some postgame show (ESPN?). First of all, nearly all of them are over 30, and it looked to me like everybody on the defense got schooled. Did the Ravens really target some of their older guys?

Are you asking if the Ravens gameplanned for the Steelers game? Why wouldn't they?

Not to mention their cornerbacks have been playing knicked up.

[Sephy]

All of them are old. And suck in coverage. So...yes?

[RavenScallywag]

Peter King made an observation on the pre-game NBC show. With the extension of Polamalu, Steelers are "old" in their secondary, and by all estimations will be 20 MILLION OVER THE CAP next year.

If they can't play good D and have a down year, that's going to be VERY BAD for them, especially with the higher draft picks.

[baltimore_hokie]

They're going to need to drop older guys like Farrior and Big Snack, in favor of younger (and cheaper) guys.

They have given out several un-Steeler-like contracts to aging vets recently (Harrison, Polamalu, Taylor, Clark, etc). I love it.

[rla20cpa]

Raven TEs (7 receptions @15yds per) are too athletic/fast for their aging/slower LBs.

[Paintballguy]

Ravens exposed the Steelers pass coverage big time today. None of them could cover anybody. Dickson ran by Polamalu like he was standing still. It was great.

[psuasskicker]

I'm gonna write about this later in the week. Polamalu looked REALLY old out there. The rest of that defense has more to worry about than their own ages. They're very deep and have a lot of talent behind the old guys, so their age isn't the disaster.

The disaster is if Polamalu isn't effective anymore. Polamalu is to that D what Ray Lewis was to ours from '00 through about '06 or so. The difference is, Ray has stuck as a leader (like Troy) but has two young stars playing incredibly well which keeps the defense churning. The Steelers defense has been awesome with Polamalu, and slightly better than average without. He's everything to that D, and if he's unable to play at his high level, the Steelers could be in some serious trouble.

- C -

[alienrace]

The Steelers look old, fat and slow. Now they are going to be 20 mil over the cap. Rapistburger has lost his lucky horseshoe. They aren't the team to beat any more.

[StingerNLG]

The sad part about Polamalu is that he is only 30. You'd think while on the back-end of it, he's still in his prime. Ed Reed today 2 years older looked light years younger, faster, and hit harder. Not to mention Ray Lewis, who I am becoming convinced could play until he's 80.

I think Troy's injuries may be catching up to him too.

[JimZipCode]

The Steelers defense has been awesome with Polamalu, and slightly better than average without. He's everything to that D, and if he's unable to play at his high level, the Steelers could be in some serious trouble.
Don't they also have a lot of money committed to him? I thought he just signed an extension.

That would make it a double-whammy if Polu really has lost a step.

I should add, I'll believe it when I see it. This is the first time the Ravens new-look offense was fully unveiled, and Dick Lebeau did not get a full chance to game-plan for it. Rematch at their place could look a lot different.