NFL Week 13's Best Games: Pittsburgh @ Baltimore & the Jets @ New England

The two best prime time or evening NFL games of the year are scheduled for Week 13 of the NFL season. On NBC's Sunday night game that is scheduled to air at 8:20 pm on December 5th the match up is Baltimore versus Pittsburgh. ESPN will air the contest between the New York Jets and the New England Patriots which is scheduled to air at 8:30 pm on December 6th.

NBC Sunday Night Game
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Baltimore Ravens
This is the game of the year on the Sunday night NBC schedule...the Steelers are 8-3 and are headed for the playoffs while the Baltimore Ravens are also 8-3 and are battling the Steelers for the AFC North title. The Steelers are coming off an overtime win over Buffalo while the Ravens beat Tampa Bay by seven points in a home contest for Baltimore. The Pittsburgh market isn't a huge market, but the success of the Steelers over the decades has brought a lot of followers to television sets to follow them. The Ravens have a defensive-minded reputation like the Steelers and draw serious football fans. The game on Sunday night figures to be a low-scoring and hard-hitting game that will draw a big audience. These teams have almost identical offensive (points scored) and defensive numbers (points allowed.)

The Steelers lost to the Ravens in the September meeting in Pittsburgh (in a game which found Roethlisberger not playing due to a suspension) between the two divisional rivals...the Steelers had the ball late in the 4th quarter and only needed a first down to run out the clock but went three and out and handed the ball over. The Ravens came down and scored a touchdown and that was that. Ben Roethlisberger hasn't ever lost as a starter to the Ravens...he's 5-0. The Ravens on the other hand are 5-0 at home this year and have won eight straight home games stretching into last year. Joe Flacco is still very young but a very unflappable quarterback for Baltimore...he has thrown 18 touchdown passes this year...he stands in the pocket very well...he's actually taller than Ben Roethlisberger and is hard to sack. He's just as immovable as is Ben Roethlisberger for the Steelers.

Roethlisberger was injured in the Bills game and is wearing a boot on his injured foot to help heal the sprain. Hines Ward had a concusion a few weeks ago...he hasn't caught as many passes this year as he usually does. The Steelers have the amazingly fast Mike Wallace at wide receiver...he's averaged 22 yards a catch this year. I would guess the Steelers will try to get him matched up with someone other than Ed Reed of the Ravens who still covers as well as anyone on the Ravens...he got the 50th interception of his career against the Carolina Panthers recently.

ESPN Monday Night Football
New York Jets @ New England Patriots
On Monday night at 8:30 pm the New York Jets travel to New England to play the Patriots...this is the best combination of two games this year in prime time, evening viewing hours. The Patriots are looking unbeatable at 9-2 (and 5-0 at home) while the Jets are a serious challenger for the AFC East title which a lot of people assume will be won by the Patriots simply because they've been so dominant in recent years. The New York Jets are also 9-2...the Jets are from a major media market and the Patriots have a major following in the Northeast and actually all over the country...winning consistently has drawn a lot of fans to the Tom Brady-led New England team. The Jets are competitive and will test the Patriots formula for winning at Gillette Stadium. The Jets and Patriots have almost the same net points (the difference between offensive points scored and defensive points allowed) this year This will be a big ratings winner for ESPN.

Resources:
www.nfl.com
www.espn.go.com
www.nbc.com