If you've seen it once, you've seen it 1,000 times in following the Steelers: Joe Flacco rears back, heaves the ball high, and if the Ravens are being honest, they're basically hoping to get a flag.
Here's one from 2013, Ike Taylor getting penalized on Torrey Smith:
And here's one from 2014, Cortez Allen on Smith in the end zone:
They aren't pretty plays to watch, but the results can be positively picturesque. Because, while pass interference in college football brings an automatic 15-yard gain, the NFL version matches the spot of the infraction. So the longer the heave, the greater the potential reward.
As Artie Burns, the Steelers' rookie corner, was telling me after practice Wednesday at the Rooney Sports Complex, "That's actually one of the biggest adjustments you make to the pro game. The swing is just so big."
Sure is. And it will be again Sunday, I'm betting, when the Steelers and Ravens meet at a Baltimore fork in the road likely leading toward the AFC North Division championship.
Yeah, yeah, I know. Some stuff has changed.
Smith, the aforementioned architect of so many of those deliberate pass-interference routes, has been gone a couple of years. That field-stretching role is filled now by Mike Wallace, who can still burn at age 30 but doesn't command nearly the respect from opponents or referees that Smith has.
Flacco isn't the same, either, whether it's because of his supporting cast or not. His average yards per completion has dipped three years in a row from 7.20 to 6.76 to the current career-low 5.76. His touchdowns have gone from 27 to 15 (in a 10-game 2015) to the current five.
And as for those deliberate-pass-interference routes, let's just say that, if you've seen it 1,000 times in the past, you've seen it only once all of this season:
It's true, just once. I asked our NFL analyst, Christopher Carter, how often Flacco tried the tactic in 2016, and the above example, with Breshad Perriman winning the flag three weeks ago against the Giants in New Jersey, was the only one he could uncover.
But if you ask me, this is the perfect pivoting point for John Harbaugh and Flacco to bring back their most dangerous play: The Ravens are 3-4 and basically just flagging along with a decent defense and a passing offense that ranks 22nd in the NFL, a rushing offense that's 27th. They've got no real identity. They haven't had one since Flacco could consistently go deep. And getting back to that while beating their archrival yet again ... it's just too perfect.
Oh, and do away with any misconception that Wallace, while more versatile than his 'one-trick-pony' days in Pittsburgh, has graduated beyond straight-line routes. Even with Steve Smith Sr. missing the past two games to an ankle injury -- he still hasn't resumed practicing -- Wallace broke free for 14 catches and 217 yards.
He also has sounded amply motivated by having been on both ends of the rivalry, judging by this remark to reporters in Baltimore: "I'm definitely on this side to win. When we line up Sunday, none of those guys are going to be my friends. We're out to kill them. We're out to win the division. I'm going to do everything I can to bring a win back this way."
Add to this, of course, that the Steelers' pass defense threatens no one with a ranking of 27th and a total of zero -- count 'em, zero -- interceptions by anyone in the secondary. All three picks have been by linebackers.
So I canvassed the room Wednesday, asking pretty much everyone in the secondary if they thought this might happen and, moreover, if it would make them more aware of not committing interference.
Burns: "They're going to try deep throws. We believe that. We've got a lot of floor to cover."
Mike Mitchell: "You know, there are times when a team plays for the flag. We've seen it. Guys will go out there, bounce off the corner, all that. But it can't be something you think about when you're out there making plays. That's true whether it's Flacco or anyone else."
Willie Gay: "I don't know if a couple PIs are going to change a game. You don't want them, but what matters is getting more points than the other team."
I found Ross Cockrell and Sean Davis sitting together, so double-teamed them with a video:
https://vimeo.com/190014527
You get the picture: The Steelers' secondary sounds equal parts confident and aware that there's a better-than-reasonable chance they'll get picked on deep.
To seek the opposite occupational perspective, I turned to Darrius Heyward-Bey. And he told the tale of what Al Saunders, his old OC in Oakland, used to tell him in his role as the Raiders' field-stretcher.
"Al would say to me," DHB began, " 'I'm going to put the ball up in the air and deep, and four things can happen: One is a completion. Another is an incompletion. Another is an interception. And there's that fourth one, too. I'll take that. It's a 50/50 ball.' "
He laughed after that.
"So yeah, it's part of the game."
I'm not going to overcomplicate the weekend, and that's the focus here.
Absolutely, Ben Roethlisberger's health could be a violent variable in the equation. Le'Veon Bell, if used properly — meaning enough, as in 25-30 touches — could be an overriding factor. The returns of Cam Heyward and Marcus Gilbert will upgrade both the production and prevention of the running game. And another what-the-heck-was-that showing from Jarvis Jones could make up for a whole lot else on defense. Any and all could prove decisive.
But I'm choosing to view this one from the vantage point of the two-time victors last season, as in what the Ravens would need to do to win. And all I see is yellow, which might necessitate a little caution.
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