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Steelers Rest Everyone, Lose to Ravens and Finish Fourth in AFC

The Pittsburgh Steelers didn't act as if finishing fourth in the AFC bothered them in the least. That could turn out to be a curious decision after their B team failed to beat the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. The game leaves them hosting the Jacksonville Jaguars, the same team that smacked them in the mouth at Heinz Field a few weeks ago.

Things went wrong for Pittsburgh right from the get go. Willie Reid, subbing for injured returner Allan Rossum, coughed up the opening kickoff and set up a Musa Smith touchdown run. With Charlie Batch offering the defense little worry, the Ravens keyed on Najeh Davenport and slowed the offense down to a crawl for most of the first half. Batch was intercepted once and his biggest play came courtesy of a pass interference on Corey Ivy. The Ravens led 20-7 at the half and appeared to be in charge of the game.

They appeared to be pulling a Billick, as its come to be known this season, by losing that control late. Batch found Santonio Holmes and Cedrick Wilson for touchdowns to cut the margin to six but when David Pittman picked him off for the second time late in the fourth, a return date with the Jags was in place.

Ravens Hope Pittman Shows Up for Year Two

The Ravens have had great success at finding diamonds in the rough on draft day. Last year, the landed safety Dawan Landry in the fifth round, and in previous seasons, players like Jason Brown (4th), Ovie Mughelli (4th), Tony Pashos (5th), Chester Taylor (6th), and Adalius Thomas (6th). Okay, you get the point.

Well, it hasn't always been roses for the personnel department. The 2006 third-round pick, cornerback David Pittman was, to put it kindly, useless as a rookie. He was deactivated for all 16 regular season games and defensive coordinator Rex Ryan very pithily puts it in perspective: "We got nothing out of David Pittman... "

Kinda hard to misunderstand somebody when they're that blunt. But to Pittman's credit, he blames himself for his rocky first season:
Pittman ... said he struggled with confidence and concentration last year. If a receiver beat him on a route during practice, Pittman would become frustrated and sometimes lose his focus.
I don't know much about playing cornerback, but we hear all the time that the good ones have a very short memory. Pittman was also making a big adjustment, coming from D I-AA Northwestern State, where I'm certain he didn't face guys like Derrick Mason and Mark Clayton on a weekly basis.

Obviously, the Ravens would like to get a little more (some?) production from Pittman in Year 2, and they certainly haven't given up on him. But the club could also target a cornerback in the first or second round in this year's draft. Since, you know, a lot of what makes Baltimore's defense so successful is the aggressive play of their defensive backs.

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