The Baltimore Ravens head to Pittsburgh for Thursday Night Football to face the Steelers, who are without their starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
With Big Ben sidelined due to a sprained MCL, the Ravens will be looking to post their first win of the season playing against a Michael Vick-led Steelers offense. A change of quarterback could have prompted Baltimore s to prepare for Vick’s skill set versus Roethlisberger’s. However, this doesn’t appear to be the case, according to Ravens head coach John Harbaugh (via Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun):
“We have a lot of respect for [Vick]—a fine quarterback. He brings unique talents to the table, and those are things we’ve got to prepare for, but really the preparation is for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Their team is intact—all the things that they do, all the players that they have, that’s what they revolve around, is who they are a football team. And now he becomes a piece of that team that we have to be aware of.”
Harbaugh praised the Steelers stud players Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell, calling them “their two premiere guys.” He also complimented Heath Miller, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Markus Wheaton and DeAngelo Williams, who pounded out 203 rushing yards and three touchdowns while filling in for Bell when suspended.
While Harbaugh says they’re not focusing on Vick specifically, quarterback coach Marty Mornhinweg worked with Vick on the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Jets. Vick started three games for the Jets last season, completing 64 of 121 passes for 604 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.
Even though Vick’s skills are declining, he did look mildly impressive when given opportunities to start in the preseason for the Steelers. With that said, Vick is no Big Ben, so the winless Ravens have an ideal opportunity to attempt to take advantage of the Steelers.
If the Ravens can’t make this work, though, there’s a much bigger problem in Baltimore.