Ravens hold off Steelers on sluggish Sunday night

Nevertheless, Baltimore has earned the second-best mark in the AFC with an 8-2 record, despite having some unresolved problems, according to Baltimore Beat Down:

From Behind the Steel Curtain:

Going forward, the Steelers won’t have room for error if they hope to make the playoffs with a wild-card berth.

Things actually started well for Pittsburgh, as they got on the board in the first minute of the game. Leftwich did his best Roethlisberger impersonation on a 31-yard touchdown scramble just 31 seconds in to give the Steelers an early 7-0 lead.

Winners: The Baltimore defense atoned for some poor performances earlier in the year with a great effort on the road. Meanwhile, Jones’ punt return helped turn the game in the Ravens’ favor. Jones also gets an A for his sweet celebration:

To begin the second half, their cold streak from earlier seems to have carried over. The Ravens need to find something that works and execute, or it’s going to be a long night for Flacco and this offense.

Fantasy Analysis: Joe Flacco has been a pretty solid fantasy option for most of 2012. He has a rocket arm and a plethora of targets. Even more so, he seems to have a perfect amount of confidence. He should be able to get things going in the second half.

It’s halftime on Sunday Night Football. Stay tuned for the conclusions of Ravens-Steelers, where Ray Rice could finally breakout.

Fantasy Analysis: This is not a good start for Ray Rice. But this is no need for owners to panic. Rice is on pace to get 20 carries this game and he could build momentum in the second half. Hopefully the team begins to use him as an all-purpose threat, and throw to him out of the backfield.

Isaac Redman made an early exit on Sunday night with a concussion. He will not return for the second half against the Ravens, leaving Jonathan Dwyer and Rashard Mendenhall to handle the workload in the backfield.

Dwyer has five carries for 15 yards while Mendenhall has three carries for just eight yards after the first half.

The jerseys are just one part of the Steelers’ annual Alumni Weekend that is taking on even more significance this year due to the 80th season celebration. The Steelers will be honoring 17 former greats during an on-field ceremony at halftime against the Ravens.

Back in 1934, the Steelers were known as the Pirates, like the baseball team in the city. The team was actually really bad in that season, going 2-10 and getting shut out five times. The Pirates became the Steelers six years later in 1940.

We’ll know more on Pitta’s status for Week 12 sometime this week. Dickson likely won’t be worth a pickup unless Pitta misses a significant amount of time.

For more fantasy info, head over to the SB Nation Fantasy War Room 4-8:30 p.m. ET Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday. Check out SB Nation’s own Fantasy Football game, Pick 6!

“How hard can it be,” he wonders.

Mendenhall has only appeared in two games this season, missing the first three due to offseason knee surgery and the last four because of the Achilles. In his two outings he has just 19 carries for 74 yards and four receptions for 44 yards and a touchdown.

It will be interesting to see how the Steelers work Mendenhall back into the mix as he returns to the field.

The Ravens will not have the following players available for the game:

The Steelers have released the following players names as inactive:

Fantasy Impact: High ankle sprains typically take about 2-4 weeks to heal, so a Week 13 return would be right in that timeline. We won’t know for sure, of course, until he starts practicing again.

For more fantasy info, check out the SB Nation Fantasy War Room 4-8:30 p.m. ET Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday. Check out SB Nation’s own Fantasy Football game, Pick 6!

Smith has 31 catches for 548 yards and seven TDs on the season.

Smith can be slotted in as a WR3 for Sunday night. He’ll look to impress against a hated divisional rival.

And the Steelers have lost every one of those games.

Roethlisberger is out and the Steelers could be playing the first of several games without him as some reports have him missing three weeks, possibly longer.

The rib injury turned out to be more of a concern than the shoulder. Roethlisberger initially thought that his aorta was in harm’s way, but team doctors think the surrounding blood vessels, arteries and tissue are more threatened. Rest is the only treatment for the injury, so it could be a while before Big Ben sees the field.

Sunday, Nov. 18, 8:20 p.m. ET

Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Leftwich was 7-of-13 for 73 yards last week, leading one touchdown drive in a game where the heavily favored Steelers struggled for the full 60 minutes. He certainly brings less to the table than Roethlisberger, so Todd Haley could rely on the ground game and use a “dink and dunk” approach that was the subject of some mild controversy earlier in the season.

Baltimore maintains a one-game lead in the AFC North, weathering injuries and holding off a streaking Steelers team. They have a pretty steady run-pass balance on the offensive side of the ball – a unit most responsible for their 7-2 start. Much was made of an impending Flacco breakout season, and the fifth-year pro has put up solid numbers through the first half of the season.

The Ravens are favored by 3.5 points on Sunday. At CBSSports.com, they pick against the spread, and six of the eight experts are going with Baltimore. The six experts that chose Baltimore are the ones that have the best records picking games so far this season.

Over at Yahoo! Sports, three of the four selections are for the Baltimore Ravens, with only Les Carpenter, who has the worst picks record on the site, choosing Pittsburgh.