BALTIMORE — Something was definitely absent from the typical viciously over-the-top, white-hot, blood n’ guts Steelers-Ravens rivalry here Sunday.
Most notably the Ravens.
Where were the Ravens?
Wait, these are the Ravens? These guys? These are they?
That was Joe Flacco? He should maybe consider transferring back to Pitt.
“I sucked,” he said by way of explanation after the Steelers cobbled together a remarkably pain-free, 26-9 victory that was everything this storied and gloried rivalry is not. “I mean, you know, it wasn’t good.”
You can presume he was talking about the freshest four quarters in his memory, which were actually better than the previous four, the four in London against Jacksonville in which he failed to complete a pass longer than eight yards.