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The Ravens are known for their opportunistic, turnover-forcing defense.
Through the first three games of the 2010 season, while that defense ranks No. 1 in the league in yardage allowed, it finds itself in a place that it's not used to being - last in the NFL in takeaways.
The Ravens have recovered just one fumble and are one of only three teams that doesn't have a single interception so far this season, which is strange for a group that consistently ranks among the league leaders in those categories.
Defensive coordinator Greg Mattison isn't concerned about the lack of turnovers, however, saying that he thinks the balls will start to bounce the Ravens' way soon.
"The thing you talk about in defense - and all the years you've done this - you know they come in bunches," Mattison said. "You can't press and say, 'Boy, look at the stats. We haven't gotten many turnovers; we haven't gotten many interceptions.' You know what? The thing you've got to look at is, have you gotten as many as you could have gotten? And we had a couple we've dropped, and that's two of them, but other than that there aren't a lot of other ones that we could've gotten had we played something differently."
While the Ravens haven't been able to secure many takeaways, their opponent this Sunday, the Steelers, have had no such trouble.
Pittsburgh's defense has grabbed five interceptions and recovered five fumbles so far this year, and they lead the NFL in turnovers forced.
All-in-all, the Steelers have a +6 turnover ratio, tied for the best mark in the league, while the Ravens have a -6 turnover ratio, which is tied for last in the league.
A large part of that ratio obviously falls on the shoulders of Joe Flacco and the Baltimore offense, but the Ravens are well aware that they need to do a better job of getting takeaways and giving their offense a short field.
"They're going to come," Mattison said. "Our secondary is doing a tremendous job. And as long as they keep doing what they're doing, and we get the other parts cleaned up - which we will - I'm looking forward to it."
