BALTIMORE — After months of anticipation and trash talk, the wait is finally over.
The Ravens will take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in what figures to be the most significant — and intense — season opener in the 16-year history of the franchise. While today’s outcome certainly doesn’t seal either team’s fate with 15 more games to play before the postseason, it will certainly have a lasting impact on who controls the AFC North in the early stages of the season in what figures to be a two-team race with Cleveland and Cincinnati lagging behind.
Baltimore has not beaten Pittsburgh in a game started by Ben Roethlisberger since the 2006 season when the Ravens swept the Steelers by a combined score of 58-7 in two games. This marks the fourth time these teams have met in the regular-season opener, with Pittsburgh holding the 2-1 edge. The Ravens are 7-8 against Pittsburgh in games played at home.
The Ravens are 7-8 all time in season openers but have won three consecutive and four of the past five. They’ve also reached the postseason in six of the seven years they’ve won the opener.
Pittsburgh leads the all-time regular season series, 18-12, and is 3-0 in the postseason against the Ravens.
Here are today’s inactives:
Pittsburgh
QB Dennis Dixon
RB Jonathan Dwyer
CB Curtis Brown
LB Chris Carter
OT Chis Scott
G Ramon Foster
WR Jerricho Cotchery
Baltimore
CB Chykie Brown
LB Sergio Kindle
WR Tandon Doss
OLB Michael McAdoo
DT Brandon McKinney
LB Jason Phillips
OL Bryan Mattison
***Join us in the Purple Haze live chat beginning at 1:00 p.m. as WNST.net brings you live coverage from M&T Bank Stadium. For the quickest updates and analysis, follow WNST on Twitter and be sure to subscribe to the WNST Text Service.***
Live from M&T Bank Stadium: Ravens try to knock off Roethlisberger for first time since 2006
Luke Jones
Luke Jones is the Ravens and Orioles beat reporter for WNST BaltimorePositive.com and is a PFWA member. His mind is consumed with useless sports knowledge, pro wrestling promos, and movie quotes, but he often forgets where he put his phone. Luke's favorite sports memories include being one of the thousands of kids who waited for Cal Ripken's autograph after Orioles games in the summer of 1995, attending the Super Bowl XXXV victory parade with his dad in the pouring rain, and watching the Terps advance to the Final Four at the Carrier Dome in 2002. Follow him on social media @BaltimoreLuke or email him at Luke@wnst.net.
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