BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Ravens’ defense is about to face an extremely difficult challenge Sunday night against a Pittsburgh Steelers offense headlined by red-hot quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

And they’ll have to try to stop Roethlisberger without their top cornerback. Jimmy Smith is out for at least a few weeks, if not much longer, due to a sprained left foot suffered in a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Roethlisberger is coming off the best game of his career in which he completed 40 of 49 passes for 522 yards and six touchdowns during a win over the Indianapolis Colts last Sunday.

With Smith sidelined, the Ravens likely will have to go with Dominique Franks as their starting cornerback opposite veteran Lardarius Webb.

In Roethlisberger’s last two games, he has passed for 787 yards on 63 of 82 accuracy for eight touchdowns and zero interceptions.

“It’s always been stop No. 7,” Webb said of the goal against the Steelers. “That’s always been our thing. If we can stop (him), we can win the game. The front seven guys, they’ll take care of the run. We have to just take care of No. 7.”

“Guys are going to step up,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “We have the guys we need. Every team faces some kind of a situation at some position, and we’ve had injuries all year in different positions, and you just have to step up. It’s not something we talk about. We don’t make a big deal about it. It’s not a point of emphasis for us.”

SERIES HISTORY: 38th meeting, Steelers lead series, 20-17, Ravens are 7-11 in Pittsburgh during the regular season. Ravens defeated Steelers, 26-6, on Sept. 11.

— TE Owen Daniels (arthroscopic surgery) returned to practice.

— OLB Terrell Suggs (neck) didn’t practice, but is expected to play Sunday.

— CB Lardarius Webb was given a day off and is expected to play Sunday.

— OG Marshal Yanda (left knee) didn’t practice, but is expected to play Sunday.

— CB Jimmy Smith (left sprained foot) didn’t practice and is expected to miss several weeks.

— WR Michael Campanaro (hamstring) didn’t practice and is expected to miss at least one game.

— DT Haloti Ngata (shin) didn’t practice, but is expected to play Sunday.

— RB Justin Forsett (ankle) didn’t practice, but is expected to play Sunday.

— DE Chris Canty (wrist surgery) returned to practice and is expected to play Sunday.

GAME PLAN: The Ravens’ defense will attempt to keep Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in the pocket to prevent him from throwing on the run, when he’s particularly dangerous. The Ravens’ offense needs to cut down on turnovers, the receivers need to defeat press coverage and the running game needs to grind out a lot of yards.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH:

Ravens CB Lardarius Webb vs. Steelers WR Antonio Brown: Webb is becoming more effective each week as his lower back gets stronger. Brown is a difficult assignment as a shifty, elusive downfield target. He leads the NFL with 60 receptions and ranks second with 852 yards. Brown caught seven passes for 90 yards in the first meeting, but that was against Jimmy Smith, who’s out this game.

Ravens OLB Terrell Suggs vs. Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger: Suggs has 99 career tackles in 22 career games against Roethlisberger, including 14.5 sacks and two interceptions with three forced fumbles. He has sacked Roethlisberger 16.5 times, including the playoffs, the most of any NFL defender against the two-time Super Bowl winner.