The Baltimore Ravens have already secured the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs and thus technically have nothing to play for in their Week 18 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The prevailing thought, and the pattern of what the Ravens have done in the past, is that they will likely rest some of their key starters, including but not limited to QB Lamar Jackson.
Head coach John Harbaugh discussed the Ravens’ focus heading into this week via video of his weekly press conference posted on the Ravens’ YouTube channel.
“We have kind of a two-fold thought process right now. We have our priority, which is the Steelers game and putting our best foot forward and playing our best game against our biggest rival,” Harbaugh said Monday. “And then just planning for the next step in the playoffs. So those are two things we are looking at today, and after today it will be focused on the Steelers completely.”
Harbaugh added “I have not made a decision on any personnel yet,” when asked if he would be resting Jackson, the frontrunner to win the NFL MVP award. They are planning to sort out their injury situation in practice before making any decisions. The NFL features 53-man roster limits, so the Ravens cannot simply bench all of their starters. It makes sense for them 0to wait and see who is and isn’t available before making any decisions.
“We’re not going to keep it a secret,” Harbaugh said. “We’ll let you know what we’re gonna do once we start practicing.”
For now, the Ravens are not committing to resting anybody. History suggests they will. In 2019, the Ravens had already secured their playoff seeding and opted to rest Jackson and a handful of other starters against the Steelers in the final game of the season. Robert Griffin III and the Ravens beat up on the Steelers that day in a 28-10 win. So even if starters are resting, the Steelers must treat this game like any other. For them, it is a playoff game, and they have to show up with that mentality.
For what it’s worth, the oddsmakers seem to think Jackson will rest. The line opened with the Ravens as two-point favorites but has since shifted to the Steelers being four-point favorites on the road. There is no reason for that large of a shift in the Steelers’ favor other than oddsmakers assuming Jackson won’t play Saturday.
