Bell Tolls: Terrell Suggs needs to step up for Ravens

• With Ray Lewis out, Terrell Suggs needs to deliver a speech before the Ravens' next game
• Suggs can speak about his own adversity and quick turnaround from a torn Achilles
• Heinz Field is Suggs' favorite place to play on the road

John Harbaugh calls it his open mic policy.

With Ray Lewis down for the season with a torn triceps, somebody has to step up to try firing up the Baltimore Ravens in those emotional moments before they hit the field.

"It's like, whoever's feeling it," Harbaugh says.

Of course, nobody can deliver a fire-and-brimstone locker room speech quite like Lewis. That's essential to his heart-and-soul persona. He can preach with Reverend T.D. Jakes.

Still, somebody's got to try.

Harbaugh gave it a crack the first week without Lewis. Then it was Ed Reed. And so on.

"The main thing is that when you get the mic in your hand, you'd better say your best stuff," Harbaugh said. "We expect your best stuff."

Maybe this is just a hunch, but Sunday night at Heinz Field -- when the Ravens will go toe-to-toe against the Pittsburgh Steelers in another grudge match for first place in the gritty AFC North -- the floor in the visitor's locker room has to belong to Terrell Suggs.

That would be so fitting, on multiple levels. As the Ravens defense tries to re-establish itself as a championship-caliber unit despite the significant losses of Lewis and two of their top three cornerbacks, Lardarius Webb and Jimmy Smith, the NFL's reigning Defensive Player of the Year can make quite the statement about his capability to provide impact as he tries to regain his form following a remarkably quick return from a torn Achilles tendon.

It's also worth noting that there is no Ravens player who has worn the intensity of the NFL's best rivalry on his sleeves like Suggs. From his occasional trash-talking, to customized T-shirts blaring with obscene messages directed at the Steelers to, oh yes, some huge games against the team in black-and-gold, this is a moment the 10th-year pro lives for.

Earlier this week, Suggs likened these matchups with the Steelers to a "good, old-fashioned alley fight" that mean a bit more than the usual NFL street fights.

"This is why you play football, for games like this," Suggs said. "You remember some games, but these are the games that you tell your grandkids about. You know, when we go down to Heinz Field and you see the towels and you see the colors, you know you're in a fight. Please believe we know what they're going to do. As soon as we walk in the stadium, they're going to lock the gates. But that's what we want. We definitely want them to lock the gates behind us, so we can get in there and have it out."

Outside of the Ravens' home park, M&T Bank Stadium, there is no place where Suggs would rather play than at Heinz Field. He calls it his personal Madison Square Garden, where he gets an extra jolt by walking in as the hated villain.

They should despise him. Suggs has 13 1/2 career sacks against the Steelers, more than he had tallied against any opponent and more than any active NFL player has against Pittsburgh.

For added context, Suggs says, "I've never, ever had a down game at Heinz Field."

No, "T-Sizzle" doesn't need any notes for a pregame speech. Yet this is hardly about the locker room message -- and with Lewis coming to Heinz Field, he undoubtedly will pack a sermon that might be delivered firsthand.

It's always about backing up the talk.

After returning from the torn Achilles after five months, Suggs hasn't hit full stride. He played about two-thirds of the defensive snaps in last Sunday's rout of the Oakland Raiders, and contributed three tackles and two pass breakups in a game that saw the defense stung for two long touchdown passes.

In three games, Suggs has produced one sack -- and that came in his first game back, at the Houston Texans, almost a month ago.

Sunday would be an opportune time for Suggs to take his game up another notch.

Surely, his defense needs the boost. The Ravens are ranked 27th for yards allowed, and even before Lewis and Webb went down were seemingly destined to have a streak of nine consecutive seasons with a top-10 defense -- coincidentally spanning the years since Suggs arrived as a first-round pick from Arizona State -- snapped. While Suggs' signature is inked in his presence as a pass-rusher, his effectiveness against the run has long been overshadowed, and that could be as critical as anything against a Steelers offense that will probably look to rely on a physical rushing attack to ease pressure on backup quarterback Byron Leftwich, filling in for an injured Ben Roethlisberger.

Rankings based on yards, though, can be so tricky. Baltimore ranks 26th against the run, but has allowed just 3.9 yards per carry. And for all of the total yards yielded, the Ravens have the NFL's best red zone defense, with a 36.1% touchdown rate. On third downs, the unit has forced the second-most turnovers in the NFL (seven) and held quarterbacks to a 60.1 passer rating, third-best in the league.

Besides, you can throw the numbers out when it's Ravens-Steelers, and also consider that it's a different defense when Suggs is in his full element.

"You have to keep progressing," Suggs says. "You don't want to (say), 'Oh, we're getting back to our…' We fared pretty well the last two weeks and we're just trying to keep it going. So it's nothing to be happy about. We're just going to keep trying to get better."

After missing all of the offseason camps, training camp and the first six games, Suggs' return presented an unusual adjustment. Not only were Lewis and Webb gone when he came back, but the offseason departures of linebacker Jarret Johnson and defensive end Cory Redding were noticeable, too.

While all-pro mainstays such as Reed and tackle Haloti Ngata remain, transition is evident all across the defense. Defensive end Pernell McPhee and linebacker Albert McClellan, for instance, have combined for 14 starts this season after combining for one start as rookies last season. Versatile first-round pick Courtney Upshaw logged five starts before Suggs returned. Lewis' injury created bigger roles for inside linebackers Jameel McClain and Dannell Ellerbee.

"It's weird," Suggs said as he strolled through the Ravens' complex recently. "Your team changes every year, but a lot of those guys I'd been playing with for 10 years. So it's kind of weird and you have to re-establish trust with the new guys. Especially me. A lot of guys had training camp and got a chance to get accustomed to how guys played.

"I always knew Ray was coming over the top and Webb would be in a certain position. So really, for me, it's just building the trust in the guys that are here."

That's life in the NFL in a nutshell. The casts are always changing, either due to injuries, performance, free agent departures or the influx of new talent from the draft. It's a matter of how well the pieces can flow on a defense in transition.

"You're kind of feeling your way around a little bit," Harbaugh said. "You really just don't know what your guys are going to do. You kind of build the system around those guys (who have departed or were injured), and you think you should be able to do it, but the communication is not quite there, these young guys, they're thinking more than you'd want them to. We just have to figure that out. That's been the big X's and O's challenge. What can our guys do well? How can we get them to play fast as a defense?"

There are no excuses. The past two Super Bowl champions, the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers, are fresh examples for how teams can adjust to adversity on the fly and ultimately thrive.

And the Steelers can relate as backup quarterback Byron Leftwich prepares to make his first start since 2009 for an injured Ben Roethlisberger, while all-pro safety Troy Polamalu will miss his seventh game due to a calf injury. And Pittsburgh's backfield has been in flux and the O-line recast, too, due to injuries.

The AFC North race will feature another Ravens-Steelers clash on Dec. 2 in Baltimore, and the results on Sunday night and the next matchup will likely determine who wins the division crown. But the swing factor will likely be a case of which team best handles their adjustments fueled by adversity.

"It's not like it just happens," Harbaugh says. "You can't just snap your fingers and all of a sudden you're playing at your efficient best. There are games, struggles and hopefully, you can work your way through it until guys start playing well or get healthy, and then be playing great at the end of the season."

Harbaugh pondered this for another moment, and captured just how fluid the formula can be.

"You never know how you're going to do it," he said. "You have a gameplan going in and you think it's going to play out a certain way and this is what you've got to neutralize, and this is what you've got to take advantage of…and then the game starts.

"And it's like, 'Whoa! Adapt!' In this league, they will find a weakness and exploit it. That's why it's great to have more options to attack or defend with. Because you're going to need them."

Having Suggs back into his game-changing mode is one weapon the Ravens will likely need in a big way, if they are to win on their third consecutive trip to Heinz Field.

He's getting his wind back, looking to regain his full explosion.

Close to 100%?

"I don't know," he said. "The only thing that can really determine that is my play."

There's no better place for Suggs to find that out than Heinz Field.

And that's with or without grabbing the open mic.

Also in play for Week 11:

Who's hot: A.J. Green. The second-year Bengals receiver can set the franchise's single-season record for most consecutive games with a touchdown reception at Kansas City on Sunday. The last time he hasn't scored a TD? That would be Week 1 at Baltimore. Since the season opener, Green has ripped off a string of eight games with a score, matching the mark T.J. Houshmandzadeh set in 2007. The club record that Carl Pickens established over two seasons (10) and Jerry Rice's NFL mark of 13 consecutive games are also in sight for the explosive wideout, who has caught 58 passes for 820 yards on the season. And clearly, Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton isn't the only one who notices his dynamic partner. Green was the leading vote-getter among wide receivers when results from the first round of balloting for the Pro Bowl was announced this week.

Pressure's on: Philip Rivers. If the Chargers are to ever make amends for their Week 6 meltdown against the Broncos -- when Rivers threw four picks to help blow a 24-0 lead -- it has to include a huge upset at Invesco Field on Sunday. What a daunting task. Denver carries a four-game winning streak, Peyton Manning has found his rhythm as the NFL's leading passer again (108.0) and the Broncos defense leads the NFL with 31 sacks. Rivers, not surrounded by the supporting cast that he used to have, is hardly responsible for all of San Diego's woes. But he's certainly done his part, with 12 picks and six lost fumbles. After throwing a career-high 20 interceptions last season, he's on pace to top that this season. There's no room for error now. A win Sunday can revive hopes for another late-season rally, a loss opens a three-game lead for the Broncos.

On the couch: Larry Fitzgerald. After ripping off four consecutive victories to start the season, the Cardinals head into Sunday's game at Atlanta with a five-game losing streak. And there's been little that Arizona's dynamic receiver, Fitzgerald, can do about it. The injury-depleted, 31st-ranked offense -- quarterbacked by John Skelton, then Kevin Kolb and now Skelton again due to injuries -- has averaged 10.6 points per game during the losing streak. Fitzgerald has had just one 100-yard game this season, but his numbers aren't too bad. He's on pace for 90 catches. What's worse, though, is that the Cardinals are on pace for a long offseason and serious questions about the long-term answer at quarterback…and whether one of the greatest receivers if this generation will waste away in the desert without another legitimate chance to add a championship to his sparkling resume.

Rookie revue: Nick Foles. For weeks, the drumbeat has thumped for the struggling Eagles to bench Michael Vick and give the second-round pick from Arizona a shock. It can't get much worse with Foles, right? He still has to play behind that patchwork O-line that factored into Vick taking more hits than any NFL quarterback this season. Unfortunately, Foles gets his first NFL start at Washington on Sunday because the last hit that Vick took left him with a significant concussion. Now the kid they call "Shaggy" because of his resemblance to the cartoon character from Scooby Doo, is poised for an extended stint as drama unfolds with intense speculation that coach Andy Reid won't be around to develop the franchise's quarterback of the future. Foles had some flashes after replacing Vick in the second quarter of last Sunday's loss to the Dallas Cowboys, including his rollout-and-launch, 44-yard TD strike to Jeremy Maclin. But he also had a pick-six and goal-line fumble to set up two Dallas scores. With a full week of preparation, Foles can really make quite the statement against a team triggered by the most electric rookie quarterback in the class, Robert Griffin III.

Key matchup: Reggie Wayne v. Aquib Talib. Andrew Luck will have a tough task outgunning Tom Brady at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, but anything's possible. The Colts rookie quarterback wasn't supposed to be in the mix for the playoffs so soon, either. Luck has had the good fortune (and sense) to keep an eye out for Wayne, the trusty vet who leads the NFL in receptions (69) and receiving yards (931). Now comes a most intriguing matchup. The Patriots rank 29th in the league against the pass, but that was before Bill Belichick landed Talib, an immensely talented cornerback whose growth has been repeatedly stunted by off-the-field issues. Talib will make his Patriots debut on Sunday, fresh off a four-game suspension for using Adderrall, the drug of choice dealing with ADD. Talib might be the Patriots' most talented cornerback since Ty Law, but the crux of the matter will be whether he will settle down and adjust to the Patriot Way. Belichick has quite the history in such reclamation projects. It worked with Corey Dillon. It didn't quite work out with Albert Haynesworth and Chad Ochocinco. Nonetheless, Talib can make a great first impression if he can shut down Wayne.

Next man up: Dezman Moses. The Packers head to the Motor City without three-time Pro Bowl linebacker Clay Matthews, who is tied for fourth in the NFL with 9 sacks but is sidelined by a hamstring injury. That opens the door for Moses, an undrafted rookie from Tulsa who was converted from college defensive end, to make his first NFL start in Green Bay's 3-4 scheme. He will get some help, with Frank Zombo back from the physically-unable-to-perform list and veteran Erik Walden figured to roll with Moses in a rotation. It remains to be seen whether Moses and the others can mimic the type of presence that Matthews brings as one of the league's top playmakers, but try they must.

Reality check: It's amazing what one win at Philadelphia can do. It has fueled hope for the Dallas Cowboys that this season can be salvaged. Never mind the weekly drama in Big D, and the fact that the Cowboys haven't been above .500 since a Week 3 victory against Tampa Bay. Tony Romo is 20-3 in November, with the best winning percentage in November (.870) of any quarterback in the Super Bowl era, and the Cowboys (4-5) head into a short week with home games against Cleveland on Sunday and Washington on Turkey Day offering the promise to enter December with a winning record. Sure, December's been, well, a trap month for the Cowboys for more than a decade. But after a brutal schedule during the first half of the season, the Cowboys have a slate the rest of the way that features just one opponent currently carrying a winning record (Pittsburgh). Can they get hot at the right time?

My road to Super Bowl XLVII goes through… Pittsburgh. The conditions seem ripe for the Steelers to try to control Sunday night's game with their rushing attack. Ben Roethlisberger's out, and so is explosive wideout Antonio Brown. But Rashard Mendenhall is back after missing four games with an Achilles injury, added to a backfield mix that has survived in recent weeks with the likes of Jonathan Dwyer, Issac Redman and Chris Rainey. It's simply logical that O-coordinator Todd Haley will want to take pressure off backup quarterback Byron Leftwich -- in his first start since 2009 -- by supplying him with a consistent rushing attack. Besides, the Ravens run defense this season hasn't been what it used to be, ranked 26th in the NFL.

Did you notice? In back-to-back victories against the Eagles and Falcons, the Saints rushed for 140 and 148 yards, respectively. Sure, the offense revolves around the arm of Drew Brees, who leads the NFL with 2,847 passing yards. But as New Orleans heads to Oakland looking to finally get to. 500, it's evident that the prolific offense really kicks into sync when it has the type of balance that a rushing attack suddenly juiced by Chris Ivory and Mark Ingram can provide. Brees posted a season-low 27 passing attempts against the Eagles, then had his second-fewest attempts (32) against the Falcons as the Saints had close to a 50-50 split with rushing and passing plays the past two games. And hey, a potent rushing attack can cut down on the time the Saints' leaky pass defense has to spend on the field.

Stat's the fact: Bucs rookie Doug Martin tallied 858 yards from scrimmage the past five games, most by a rookie over a five-game span since Edgerrin James (914) in 1999. With 209 yards at Carolina on Sunday, Martin can surpass the rookie standard that Eric Dickerson set in 1983 with 1,066 yards over six games.