No matter the circumstances surrounding it, whenever the Baltimore Ravens play the Pittsburgh Steelers, you know you’re in for a good game.
Tomorrow afternoon the AFC North rivals will face off in the final game of the regular season as the Steelers’ playoff hopes hang in the balance. Seemingly helping their cause is that the Ravens will be resting a significant amount of their starters, including QB Lamar Jackson, the likely 2023 NFL MVP.
Surface level, this looks like the Ravens are conceding victory to the Steelers, but I’m not holding my breath. Neither is Louis Riddick, who will be in the broadcast booth for the nationally televised game on ESPN.
“I can tell you without any shadow of a doubt, 1,000% certainty there is no roll over in the Ravens’ vocabulary,” Riddick said on Glenn Clark Radio. “From coaches to players, and we talked to both, they’re taking this game very serious.”
Considering the long rivalry and the fact that Pittsburgh has won the last two matchups against Baltimore this shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Baltimore will be without a total of six players including Jackson, Odell Beckham Jr., Marlon Humphrey, Daryl Worley, Kevin Zeitler and Malik Harrison. Also, rookie wide receiver Zay Flowers is unlikely to play — he has a doubtful designation for Saturday — while several others carry a questionable status.
Still, as Riddick said, the Ravens still should not be taken lightly. Before edging them in the 2022 season finale, the Steelers fell to a Tyler Huntley-led Baltimore team in Week 14 of the season. While he didn’t dazzle in the performance, throwing for just 88 yards, it was enough to secure the victory.
But let’s not forget, Huntley was a Pro Bowl quarterback a season ago and while Pittsburgh fans may laugh at that notion, the Steelers haven’t sent a signal-caller to the event since 2017. However, Mitch Trubisky was also a Pro Bowl quarterback at one point, so maybe it really doesn’t matter all too much.
Riddick also mentions that the Ravens are motivated following two consecutive losses to the Black and Gold dating back to last season. Even in last year’s win, the game came down to the wire. It featured Kenny Pickett’s best moment from his rookie campaign when he led the team down the field in the waning moments, finding Najee Harris on a game-winning 10-yard touchdown pass with under a minute left.
Ironically enough, the Steelers were desperately clinging to playoff hopes during their game with the Ravens last season, needing a win in the final week of the season. This year, it again comes down to the final week for the Steelers with the two teams trotting out their backup quarterbacks for the game.
Mason Rudolph, who has led the offense to two straight 30-point scoring games and wins, will look to make it three in a row, putting the team squarely in the playoff hunt.
Whether the Steelers make it lies in the Titans-Jaguars and Dolphins-Bills games (and possibly others), but first the team must focus on the Purple and Black.
