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Steelers seek to avenge embarrassing loss to Ravens

Dec 24, 2006 - 5:48 PM Baltimore (11-3) at Pittsburgh (7-7) Sunday 1:00 pm EST

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Ben Roethlisberger has a score to settle with the Baltimore Ravens.

The youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl 10 months ago, Roethlisberger was sacked nine times and committed three turnovers in the Pittsburgh Steelers' 27-0 loss at Baltimore on November 26.

The AFC North rivals meet again on Sunday. The Ravens have already clinched their second division title in four years while the Steelers are barely alive in the playoff race.

Baltimore is tied with the Indianapolis Colts for the second seed, which assures a first-round bye. However, the Colts have the edge in the tiebreaker.

The Steelers have won three straight since their loss at Baltimore to even their record. However, they trail four 8-6 teams - Cincinnati, Denver, Jacksonville and the New York Jets - in the wild-card race.

Last season, Pittsburgh won its last four regular-season games to earn the last wild-card spot before winning four playoff contests.

But now it appears the Steelers will become the first Super Bowl champion to fail to make the playoffs the following season since the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Baltimore hopes to ride its defense to the Super Bowl this season. The Ravens are allowing a league-low 13.4 points per game and have set a franchise record with 52 sacks.

Last week, Baltimore recorded six sacks, two by defensive end Trevor Pryce, and two interceptions in a 27-17 win over Cleveland.

Ends Pryce and Terrell Suggs each had two sacks and linebacker Bart Scott added 1 1/2 in the rout of the Steelers.

"They (the Ravens) just get after it," Roethlisberger said. "They throw so many different things at you, it's tough to pick up. Not just for me, but for the linemen and everyone else."

The most damaging sack was by Corey Ivy, who came in on a safety blitz and stripped the ball from Roethlisberger. Linebacker Adalius Thomas recovered the fumble and raced 57 yards for a touchdown.

The Ravens also limited Willie Parker to 22 yards on 10 carries. Parker rushed for 132 yards on 23 carries in the Steelers' 37-3 win at Carolina last week, increasing his season total to 1,331 yards.

Steve McNair suffered a deep cut in his right hand in last week's win over Cleveland, but is expected to start against the Steelers.

Kyle Boller replaced McNair in the first quarter and threw for 238 yards and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead 77-yard bomb to rookie Demetrius Williams in the third quarter.