PITTSBURGH — Trying to keep pace in a very competitive AFC North, the Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers renew their intense rivalry for Sunday Night Football for the third time in four years at Heinz Field.
With Cincinnati and Cleveland both winning on Sunday, the loser of Sunday night’s meeting will find themselves sitting in last place with a 5-4 record, an indicator of how tough the division has been so far this season. The Ravens seek their first regular-season sweep of the Steelers since 2011 while Pittsburgh is trying to win its third straight game for sole possession of second place right behind the Bengals.
The Ravens will be shorthanded in the secondary after cornerback Jimmy Smith was officially ruled out on Friday with a mid-foot sprain expected to keep him sidelined until at least after their Week 11 bye. Veteran Dominique Franks, who was re-signed by Baltimore less than a month ago — is expected to start opposite Lardarius Webb in the defensive backfield. How defensive coordinator Dean Pees uses the nickel package remains to be seen as strong safety Matt Elam handled the nickel position extensively earlier in the year when injuries at cornerback were a concern.
Tight end Owen Daniels is active and makes his return after only a one-game absence due to a cleanup procedure in his knee. He looked good running routes during pre-game warmups and practiced on Wednesday and Friday this past week.
As expected, defensive end Chris Canty (wrist) and right guard Marshal Yanda (knee) are also active after both were listed as questionable on the final injury report. Canty missed the last four games while recovering from surgery due to a wrist infection, but he was a full participant in practices all week.
After being inactive in each of Baltimore’s first eight games, second-year linebacker Arthur Brown is active for the first time this season. The 2013 second-round pick is expected to mostly fill a special-teams role, but he could see some snaps in the nickel package with his ability to blitz.
The biggest surprise on the inactive list was rookie safety Terrence Brooks after he was burned on a 53-yard reception on the Bengals’ final scoring drive last week. This will likely lead to more opportunities for safety Will Hill in the Baltimore secondary behind Elam and fellow starter Darian Stewart. Brooks was also inactive for Baltimore’s Week 3 win at Cleveland.
The Ravens will be playing Pittsburgh for the 38th time in their regular-season history as they own a 17-20 record. However, they have won three of their last four regular-season games at Heinz Field and own a 7-10 all-time record in Pittsburgh. The Ravens have won the last four games played in prime time against the Steelers as the teams have split the all-time prime-time series at 6-6.
The referee for Sunday night’s game will be Bill Vinovich.
According to Weather.com, the forecast in Pittsburgh Sunday night calls for temperatures to dip into the mid-30s, but no precipitation is expected and winds will only reach six miles per hour.
The Ravens will be wearing white jerseys with white pants for Sunday night’s game while Pittsburgh dons its black tops with yellow pants.
Below are the inactives for Sunday night:
BALTIMORE
CB Jimmy Smith
WR Michael Campanaro
S Terrence Brooks
LB Zach Orr
OL Gino Gradkowski
DE Lawrence Guy
OL Jah Reid
PITTSBURGH
CB Ike Taylor
S Ross Ventrone
QB Landry Jones
WR Justin Brown
CB B.W. Webb
DL Daniel McCullers
OL Chris Hubbard
