The Baltimore Ravens had nothing to play for entering Saturday’s Week 18 season finale against the rival Pittsburgh Steelers, considering they had already locked up the No. 1 seed in the AFC the week prior.
Despite that, the Ravens still wanted to make sure that they knocked the Steelers out of the playoffs with a win. They weren’t able to accomplish that on Saturday though, losing 17-10 to their AFC North rival.
For standout linebacker Patrick Queen, the loss — even with a number of backups playing — stings. But the Ravens aren’t hanging their heads after the loss. As Queen stated after the game, on the off chance they see the Steelers again, they’ll be ready.
“Can’t dwell on it. Even though you wanted to go out there, send ’em home, now they got a chance to be in the playoffs,” Queen said regarding the Steelers, according to video via the Ravens’ YouTube page. “So, it definitely stings a little bit, but at the end of the day we’ve written a lot of pages in our book right now. That sets us up pretty good right now. So, we got a week to prepare, then find out who we gotta play, then we go into that.
“So, nobody’s hanging ahead or anything and if we see those guys again, we’ll be ready.”
There might not have been anything to play for, but that doesn’t mean the Ravens didn’t want to win the game, even with backups on the field. That they weren’t able to get the job done has to be frustrating for them, especially with the Steelers getting into playoffs should they get some help on Sunday.
If the Steelers get in, they’d need to win the Wild-Card round matchup against whomever that would be, assuming that’s the Miami Dolphins, just to get another shot at the Ravens.
If that happens, the Ravens will have to be ready for it. They haven’t beaten the Steelers this season. In fact, the Steelers are 7-1 in their last eight games against the Ravens. The Steelers have owned the rivalry as of late, which is pretty remarkable.
Even with backups playing for the Ravens, the Steelers made it an emphasis to come out and play hard and take it to Baltimore’s backups. The game meant a great deal to the Steelers, who greatly improved their playoff chances. Now, they wait for some help.
But for running back Najee Harris, he hopes to see the Ravens again.
“…Hopefully we could, I think we’ll play them again, right? If things work out, we would go back,” Harris said regarding the Ravens, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page.
The Steelers need some help and then need to take care of business to see the Ravens again.
What fun that would be. Steelers-Ravens in the divisional round in Baltimore. Sign me up.
