Ravens Look to Erase Bad Taste

Players in the NFL always preach the mantra that each game is no different than the next, but that might not be true for the Ravens this weekend.

There is more to Baltimore's season finale.

Of course, the game is at M&T Bank Stadium, is against their bitter AFC North rival Pittsburgh Steelers and will certainly affect Baltimore's draft position next April.

But most importantly, the Ravens are looking to end an unprecedented nine-game losing streak.

With no playoffs in their future, the Ravens realize that their next contest won't be for another nine months. Closing out the season with a loss - 10 consecutive losses at that - is a lot to think about for an entire offseason.

"You want to try to get that monkey off your back so you can try to focus on winning football games and becoming a better football team," said linebacker Bart Scott. "Not worrying about, ‘Hey, we haven't won a game in this many months or this many years or [having any] extra pressure in the preseason.'"

The Steelers (10-5), the fifth division leader the Ravens have played in the past six contests, coast into Charm City already assured a home playoff game. According to several Pittsburgh media outlets, there is a good chance the Steelers will be on cruise control by sitting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who was limited the last two days of practice with an ankle injury.

Roethlisberger is coming off a week where he completed 16 of 20 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns against the St. Louis Rams, a performance that earned the fourth-year quarterback AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors. In addition, he shredded the Ravens for five first-half touchdown passes in a 35-7 rout on Monday Night Football earlier this year.

While there is no pressure for the Steelers to play their star signal-caller, the Ravens are feeling the heat to end their slide before it becomes too late.

"Regardless of what the season brings for you, you always want to go out on a positive note," explained wideout Derrick Mason. "I think by hopefully pulling out a victory in this last game against Pittsburgh, I think it will bode well for everybody's psyche."

The extraordinary way the Ravens' season derailed has made the losing streak that much more difficult to bear. Baltimore had Super Bowl aspirations after coming off a 13-3 campaign in 2006, but devastating injuries to several key players - including four Pro Bowlers on Injured Reserve - and a rash of turnovers and penalties all contributed to the Ravens' current 4-11 state.

"Regardless of how the season went, regardless of how many injuries we've had as a team, if we can go out on a winning note, I think that would be fitting to a very trying, emotional and very disappointing season," Mason continued.

Not having Roethlisberger in the game would be a bonus for a depleted Ravens secondary that is missing starting cornerbacks Chris McAlister and Samari Rolle, the same scenario that Roethlisberger exploited for his 13-of-16, 209-yard outburst on Nov. 5.

"I think we game-planned expecting one of the players to at least play," said defensive coordinator Rex Ryan. "When both of them were out, it took some adjusting, obviously. Pittsburgh, to their credit, took advantage of it. Roethlisberger was hot, obviously. I guess five touchdown passes pretty well covers that."

David Pittman, Derrick Martin, Corey Ivy, Ronnie Prude and now Willie Gaston, who started the last two games at corner, all have eight weeks of seasoning since that day, and are confident that they can rebound from their earlier meeting.

"We had to put that game behind us," Martin said. "But that just meant that we had to work harder. I think we've been doing better every week, improving with every game. This is a big week for us, to show that we have improved as a group."

Taking two interceptions from Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck in last week's 27-6 loss was a slight improvement, but Baltimore's 22nd-ranked pass defense still gave up two passing touchdowns.

Now, the Ravens need to show enough improvement across the board if they don't want the losing streak to be the topic of conversation for the entire summer.

"You can kind of get that sour taste out of your mouth," explained linebacker Terrell Suggs. "You definitely don't want to lose your last game before you go home for the offseason, because it's pretty much all you're going to be thinking about and it's all your relatives want to talk about.

"It's nice just to end the season on a win."