Big Ben expects hard hits, respect

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

Ben Roethlisberger insists these late-season get-togethers between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers are “fun.”

Really.

“When you play Baltimore you are going to get your head knocked off, they’re going to knock your head off, you’re going to try to knock theirs off, but you’re going to help them up and respect it and say ‘Hey great job, let’s go at it again,’” the longtime Steelers quarterback said.

While many of the faces have changed over the past decade-plus, the stakes and the style of play between the AFC North rivals have not.

Neither, Roethlisberger stressed, has the level of respect between two teams that believe they’ve found a way to straddle the line between hard-nosed play and whatever transpired in Cincinnati last Monday when the Steelers (10-2) won their seventh straight in a messy and flag-filled 23-20 victory over the Bengals.

“I think there’s always been, and don’t want to say like a hatred, because you want to beat that guy but it’s just like it’s two kind of friends going at it in the playground,” Roethlisberger said. “You battle each other out. At the end of the day you shake hands and say hey, look forward to next year.”

Or, the surging Ravens (7-5) hope, maybe later this season.

Baltimore has emerged from an early funk to win four of five to get back into the playoff picture and needs a victory at Heinz Field tonight to prevent the Steelers from capturing the division title for the third time in the past four years.

It’s hardly far-fetched.

The Ravens are 2-3 in their past five visits to Pittsburgh, including a loss coming on Antonio Brown’s “Immaculate Extension” last Christmas.

“Look, this game means something,” Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco said. “They are pretty set up [for the playoffs], to be honest with you, with their record.

“But it still has a lot of implications for us and even for them at the top of the AFC at this point. It is a game that has meant a lot pretty much every time we played it since I can remember.”

Ravens receiver Mike Wallace broke into the league with the Steelers, so he’s been on both sides of this rivalry.

Asked how he felt about the Ravens when he was with Pittsburgh, Wallace replied, “Hate! Hate! It was hate. But it was respect, too.”

And now that he’s with Baltimore?

“I don’t hate them, it is all love,” said Wallace. “When I was there, I had a great time. It was a great organization to play for. I am where I am today because of the opportunity of playing there. It is never going to be any hate, but at the same time, I play for the Ravens.”

Pittsburgh will be without inside linebacker Ryan Shazier, who suffered a spinal injury in the first quarter against Cincinnati that left him in the hospital with the status of his burgeoning career unknown.