Steelers at Ravens Preview

By Matt Quinn

Throughout the course of sports history there have been great matchups, intense rivalries, and historic moments. Think Bears and Packers, the oldest rivalry in the NFL, with legends like Bart Starr and Dick Butkus being big fixtures of the earlier matchups. You can even go to the NBA back in the 80s when the Bulls and Pistons beat each other up on a game by game basis. No matter where you look in the history of sports, you’ll always find these types of rivalries. Nothing quite compares, in recent memory at least, to the classic AFC North battle between the Ravens and Steelers. Hall of Famers litter the history of this rivalry. From legends like Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Ben Roethlisberger, and Troy Polamalu, to the more modern era of Lamar Jackson against TJ Watt, big time players have been in these big time games. These teams have played in just about every circumstance. There have been relatively meaningless regular season games in this rivalry and there have been matchups that would determine who represented the AFC in the Super Bowl. Either way, whether meaningless in terms of record or not, these games always matter. This Saturday, one of the biggest games in this rivalry in several years takes place. The AFC North Division Title is on the line in this one in the biggest game of the year for both teams. Let’s dive into who wins and why.

Currently the standings in the AFC North depict a two horse race. With the Bengals and Browns doing Bengals and Browns things, both are irrelevant to this conversation. As it should be, this comes down to Ravens vs. Steelers, the two best teams in the division and best overall franchises in the division. The Ravens got off to a rocky start this season, losing their first two games of the season, while the Steelers started fast, jumping out to a 3-0 record and taking an early division lead, which they have yet to relinquish. Six games into the season the Steelers sat at 4-2 but something was missing. QB Justin Fields was starting in place of the injured Russell Wilson and while he did show improvement from his time in the disaster that is the Chicago Bears, he didn’t do enough to make people think this team could be a serious contender at the end of the year. So head coach Mike Tomlin made a controversial call to go to Russell Wilson, despite the team being 4-2. Since becoming the starter, Russell Wilson has changed the outlook of this team, going 6-2 and throwing 13 TDs to just 3 INT, including a monster performance in Cincinnati where he threw for over 400 yards and 3 TDs. The offense finally looked competent and they have carried that momentum to a 10-4 record and possible division title.

As for the Ravens, they have had a pretty up and down year, all things considered. Inexplicably losing a couple head scratching games against the browns and raiders and usually reliable kicker Justin Tucker missing over ten kicks, a career high for Tucker. QB Lamar  Jackson has had a tremendous year though, along with Derrick Henry, which has led this team to a 9-5 record, with an opportunity to take the division crown from Pittsburgh. The first time these two teams met this year was in Pittsburgh, an 18-16 victory for the Steelers, was won off the foot of Steelers kicker Chris Boswell, who is arguably the best kicker in the league this year and is having his best season of his impressive career to this point. The Steelers failed to score a TD in this game but were still able to get the win thanks to a dominant defensive performance. They completely shut down Derrick Henry, forcing a rare early fumble and doing to Lamar Jackson what they seemingly always do to Lamar, making him look average. Lamar had three turnovers in that game and the Ravens never really got anything going. The Steelers, with that win made it 8 wins in the last nine games against the Ravens. The Steelers are built to beat the Ravens and they showed it in that game.

As for this game, the Steelers come into the game a bit banged up, TJ Watt, though he will play, suffered a low ankle injury in last week’s loss to the Eagles, while WR George Pickens continues to nurse a hamstring injury which will keep him out of his third straight game. This certainly is not good news for the Steelers but if you have followed this rivalry at all, you will know that situations such as this rarely effect the outcome of the game, as these teams always play close games no matter what. Don’t believe me? Here’s a stat for you: over the course of the last 33 games in this rivalry, 27 of those have been decided by one score or less. That is by far the most in the NFL between two teams. If you think missing a key player here or there will truly effect this game, I also present to you another example. Back in the COVID year, the Ravens were 10 point underdogs due to the fact that a whole bunch of players were missing from the Ravens lineup due to COVID, including Lamar Jackson. The Steelers still won that game but it was another close game that ended 19-14. All of this is to say, no matter who does or does not play in this game, this is going to come down to the very end, as always and I’m going Steelers to win this game, take the division and get some much needed rest before the playoffs. Steelers win 20-18.