Marshall's Keys: Ravens vs. Steelers
AFC North supremacy will be on the line this Sunday when the Baltimore Ravens host the Pittsburgh Steelers this Sunday.
The Steelers currently sit in first place in the AFC North with a record of 6-0, remaining the lone unbeaten team in the NFL.
The Ravens are 5-1 and the reigning division champions, and a win against the Steelers would place them back atop the division standings and move their record to 3-0 in the divison so far this season.
Sunday's matchup will not only have major implications on the top of the AFC North, but on the AFC as a whole, and FOX Sports' Brandon Marshall laid out the keys to victory for Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.
1. Lamar must complete 75% of passes with 0 INT
Brandon's Take: "Last year [he had] three interceptions, he had accuracy issues, and he struggled reading coverage. So it starts with Lamar Jackson."
Though the Ravens secured a 26-23 win last year against the Steelers in Pittsburgh last season, Jackson was anything but sharp in one of the few subpar games from his 2019 MVP season.
He completed 19 of 28 passes for only 161 yards, while throwing three picks.
So far this season, he has yet to throw multiple interceptions in a game and has only two through six games.
The 75 percent completion percentage is also attainable for Jackson, who has hit that mark twice already this season.
He completed 80 percent of his passes in a Week 1 win over the Cleveland Browns, and then 75 percent in a Week 2 win over the Houston Texans.
2. Ravens WRs need 100+ yards after the catch
Brandon's Take: "I need 100 yards after the catch because this defense [Pittsburgh] does a phenomenal job of eliminating the big play. So we need to see slants and bubbles going for 15 yards, 20 yards, taking it the distance. That's the way you are going to win this game. You have to be efficient and you have to be really good with the yards after the catch."
To say the weakness of the Ravens offense would be their wide receivers would be an understatement, with Marquise "Hollywood" Brown being the only receiver on the team projected to reach the 1,000-yard mark this season.
The team recently signed free agent wide receiver Dez Bryant to its practice squad in hopes of finding help at the position.
On Sunday, Baltimore will need its current group to step up against a Steelers pass defense that ranks sixth in passing yards allowed, giving up only 217.5 yards per game.
Brown is the only Raven who has over 100 yards after the catch on the season, with 102.
3. Defense must confuse Big Ben, not themselves
Brandon's Take: "These guys thrive in chaos. They throw so many complex blitzes and disguises at you. So what you have to do is confuse Big Ben and not yourself because the way they play defense sometimes backfires on them and they give up the big play. And Big Ben will expose you if you give him the opportunity."
The Ravens have once again been dominant on the defensive side of the ball, holding teams to an NFL-low 17.3 points per game.
That success is due in large part to the fact that both of their starting cornerbacks, Marcus Peters and Marlon Humphrey, are All-Pro performers.
The Steelers currently rank fifth in the NFL in scoring, averaging 30.5 points per game, so this will be a clash of one of the league's premier offenses against the best defense.
Check out Marshall's full breakdown below: