Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson made headlines on his podcast by calling Steelers-Browns the best rivalry in football, a controversial take given how much notoriety the Steelers-Ravens rivalry has. On their Nightcap show, Shannon Sharpe and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson disagreed with Watson, calling Steelers-Ravens the best rivalry in football. They both agreed the physical nature of Steelers-Ravens games past and present helps it surpass Browns-Steelers for the best rivalry.
“In that division, it’s Baltimore-Steelers. We both know that,” Sharpe said. “Normally, people gonna leave on stretchers. Someone getting carried off the field. You go back and look at those hits that Ryan Clark and James Harrison and Ray [Lewis] and Ed Reed, and those guys, Hines Ward from the wide receiver position.”
“Especially Hines, he gonna do it with a smile on his face too,” Johnson said. “That’s a war zone, boy when they playing. The early 2000s when I actually happened to be in the league, I couldn’t wait to watch those games. If we weren’t playing a 1:00 game and they were on, boy it’s nothing but war.”
While Johnson was a close observer to the rivalry and never took part, Sharpe is very familiar with how Steelers-Ravens games can go, as he played for Baltimore for two years, in 2000 and 2001. There’s little doubt in the mind of most Steelers and Ravens fans that Steelers-Ravens is the best rivalry in the sport. The two teams are so similar in their process and play style, and while there’s mutual respect between the two clubs, there’s no love lost when they step on the field.
While to say that people are “normally” gonna leave on stretchers during a game between the two teams is a bit of an exaggeration, there’s no doubt there’s an added level of physicality when the Steelers and Ravens face off. The AFC North is a physical division in general, but when those two teams play, it kicks up a notch.
Obviously, it’s no surprise that Watson would say the rivalry involving his team is the bigger one. He’s never taken part in a Steelers-Ravens game and the Steelers and the Browns have been competitive against each other over the past few seasons. But Ravens week takes on a different meaning in Pittsburgh than Browns week. The same goes for Steelers week in Baltimore. Both are rivalries, sure, but nothing compares to the Steelers and the Ravens, and Johnson and Sharpe agree it is the best rivalry across the NFL.
The Steelers and Ravens won’t play each other until Week 11 this season, but there’s no doubt it’s a game that both teams have circled on their calendars as one of the biggest of the season.
