Left tackle Michael Oher’s ability to protect quarterback Joe Flacco from against intimidating pass rusher James Harrison will be a deciding factor in Saturday’s AFC divisional playoff game
For those of you who tuned in last Sunday afternoon to the Ravens/Chiefs game, you noticed that Joe Flacco was taking quite a pounding from the opposing defensive line despite his exceptional performance. The most renowned pass rusher on the Chiefs' defense, Tamba Hali, accounted for two of the Chiefs five sacks, one of which was a forced fumble. Hali, 27, had 14.5 sacks in the regular season and is extremely talented but still a young player whose best football should be ahead of him.
Saturday at 4pm the Ravens take on well-rested division rival Pittsburgh Steelers, a team with a menacing defense that has gotten the best of Joe Flacco on numerous occasions. One of the keys to the Ravens victory is to give Flacco time to scan the field and make a decision. Steelers defensive coordinator Dick Lebeau will scheme up some elaborate blitzes to confuse the pass protection but also depend on linebacker James Harrison to apply pressure in non-blitzing situation.
2010 was not Harrison's best season but still far from a shabby one. He had 10.5 sacks, six forced fumbles and two interceptions (career high) over that 16 game period. Sunday he will line up across from Ravens’ Michael Oher.
Oher had a difficult time handling Tamba Hali last week and could very well struggle again this week against James Harrison. The last time these two teams met safety Troy Polomalu, ran around Michael Oher to sacked Flacco. Oher likely didn't block Polomalu because he had a glaring Harrison lined up across from him before the ball was snapped.
Michael Oher has to learn from his mistakes and be ready to block effectively for the Ravens offense to perform as well as it did last week.
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