Oct 30, 2014 4 min read

PITTSBURGH – It figures that if a football team controls the time of possession, it should also control the game.

That was certainly the case last week for the Steelers in their 51-34 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Pittsburgh held the ball for nearly 40 minutes, gaining 639 yards, including a team-record 522 passing by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

It marked the seventh time in eight games this season that the Steelers have held a time of possession advantage over their opponents.

On Sunday, the Steelers (5-2) get a second opportunity to play the one team that won the time of possession battle against them when they host the Baltimore Ravens (5-3).

The key to the Steelers changing that this week will be stopping Baltimore’s rushing attack, which ranks eighth in the NFL, averaging 128.4 yards per game.

In their previous meeting with the Steelers, the Ravens rushed for 157 yards and held the ball for just over 35 minutes in a 26-6 victory.

“It all depends on stopping the run,” said Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward. “If we can stop the run early, then we can get after it. If we want to do it, we’ve got to take care of business.”

But there is more than one way to do that.

Against Indianapolis, the Steelers scored touchdowns on their first two possessions, forced an early three-and-out, then got a touchdown off an interception return by William Gay to take an early 21-3 lead.

“If our offense puts up the points, they’re going to have to go away from (the run),” Heyward said. “I have full confidence they can do it again.”

After the Steelers took that lead and it became apparent the Colts defense was going to struggle trying to slow Pittsburgh’s offense, Indianapolis’ running game was nearly non-existent. So the Steelers sacked, hurried or hit Colts quarterback Andrew Luck on nearly half of his pass attempts.

“It was a condition of the situation of the game,” said Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. “You could predict a little bit more of what they were going to do. You’re going to get more pressures in those situations.”

Expecting a similar output from the offense against the Ravens might be unrealistic.

Baltimore is allowing 16.4 points per game, the second-fewest in the NFL. As a result, quarterback Joe Flacco has been sacked just nine times this season.

“Their offense, they do a good job of getting the ball off,” said Steelers linebacker Jason Worilds. “That’s the difference between what we played last week and this week. Flacco’s whole mantra is the quick game, the rhythm routes. They max protect and get the ball out quick. It’s going to be interesting. It’s a unique challenge to get to him, but we have some things in mind.”

In the first meeting with the Ravens, the Steelers did a solid job of stopping Baltimore’s rushing attack, allowing 63 yards on 22 carries through three quarters. But Pittsburgh’s offense couldn’t solve Baltimore’s defense and after closing the score to 10-6 early in the third quarter, the Steelers fell apart in the fourth, giving up 94 yards on 14 rushing attempts.

The Steelers vow that won’t happen again.

“It’s just going to take a 60-minute game,” Heyward said. “It can’t be 40. It can’t be 50. We need guys in their gaps at all times. It’s two or three plays that can break open a game.”

Odds and end zones

Safety Ross Ventrone (hamstring) was the only member of the Steelers to miss practice Thursday. … Safety Mike Mitchell (groin) and cornerback Ike Taylor (forearm) were limited. … Linebacker Terrell Suggs (neck) missed his second consecutive day of practice for the Ravens, as did tight end Owen Daniels (knee).