For many years in the mid-2000s during the rivalry between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens, the Steelers seemingly always had a slight leg up, thanks to the presence of franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on their sideline.
The Ravens, though they won a Super Bowl in that era, couldn’t exactly say the same thing with Joe Flacco on the other side. Having Flacco in the rivalry often put the Ravens at a disadvantage because they didn’t have a Hall of Fame talent at the position.
Now though, the Ravens have the advantage heading into the 2023 matchup under center, thanks to the presence of Lamar Jackson. That has former Ravens linebacker Bart Scott reveling in it being Steelers week.
Appearing on ESPN’s Get Up Friday morning, Scott had some good-natured ribbing for former Steelers safety and ESPN analyst Ryan Clark. He asked Clark how it feels to be on the other side of the rivalry now that the Steelers don’t have the franchise quarterback, all while taking a shot at second-year Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett.
“It’s Steelers week. Double chinstrap, somebody gonna get laid the hell out. You leave this game as less of a human being. I love it,” Scott said on Get Up, according to video via ESPN’s YouTube page. “And it’s so funny because throughout this rivalry, so often when Ryan Clark was on the other side and I was staring and was like who has the better defense? They were first and then we were first. But they always had something that we never had: that’s a franchise quarterback.
“It’s no fun when the rabbit has the gun! Your quarterback stinks and ours is an MVP! Now you see what it feels like to be on the other side trying to stop a Hall of Famer when you got a guy over there with a pea-shooter and Junior Whopper hands!”
Well, then!
Scott isn’t wrong, either.
These weeks mean more than any of the other ones every season for the Steelers and the Ravens. Not only is it AFC North football, but it’s a heated rivalry where there is plenty of hatred, yet a ton of respect from both sides. The two teams seemingly always aim to be built similarly, which is with a fast, physical defense that hits hard and takes the football away and an offense that has a power rushing attack.
Problem is, the Steelers don’t have that rushing attack and can’t stop the run defensively, at least right now.
Though the Steelers have won five of the last six meetings in the historic rivalry, it feels as though the Steelers are entering the Week Five matchup at a major disadvantage, due in large part to the large gap in talent at the quarterback positions. Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson is playing arguably the best football of his career and is a clear MVP front-runner right now, while Kenny Pickett is a mess overall and is dealing with a knee injury.
The Ravens’ offense looks new and improved with first-year offensive coordinator Todd Monken, while the Steelers are still stuck in purgatory with Matt Canada.
For now, it feels like the Steelers are the little brother in the matchup even though they’ve won five of the last six. Things can change quickly in a week in the NFL though, and if the Steelers can get back on track, that’ll have guys like Scott figuratively eating crow — ironically.
It’ll be physical, chippy and big hits will abound, as normal. But can Pickett and the Steelers offense do enough in the rivalry game to come out with a win?
