With the 2024 NFL schedule announced, I want to go through each of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ opponents and dive deep into the makeup of each team, including a recap of their offseason moves, key storylines to watch, and their series history against the Steelers. Today, we will be looking at Week 11 & 16 against the Baltimore Ravens.
Week 11 is the beginning of the gauntlet for the Pittsburgh Steelers. All six of their divisional matchups, as well as the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. What their record is entering this stretch could determine a lot for the franchise. If they are a couple of games under .500, might it be time to switch to Justin Fields and see what he can give you? Maybe they don’t because they believe Wilson still gives them the best chance of winning. That will just depend on his performance up to this point. But the Steelers could sure use some more data on Fields before free agency next offseason.
The Ravens are a team that should remain competitive after winning the AFC North, but they did lose some key players on both sides of the ball, which could destabilize the team at points throughout the season. They traded away OT Morgan Moses and let OG Kevin Zeitler and OG John Simpson walk in free agency. That is 46 starts between the three players who were lost along the offensive line. They added RB Derrick Henry, but will the offensive line prevent them from being a dominant rushing attack?
On defense, they most notably lost Patrick Queen to the Steelers, but they also lost some edge depth and some solid players in the secondary. However, they restocked the shelves in the draft during the last two years in those positions.
Here is a summary of all the Ravens’ notable offseason roster changes, per Over The Cap.
Additions:
– RB Derrick Henry
– WR Deonte Hardy
– LB Chris Board
– OT Josh Jones
– S Eddie Jackson
Departures:
– WR O’Dell Beckham Jr.
– OG Kevin Zeitler
– EDGE Tyus Bowser
– OT Morgan Moses (trade)
– CB Rock Ya-Sin
– RB Gus Edwards
– ILB Patrick Queen
– QB Tyler Huntley
– EDGE Jadeveon Clowney
– S Geno Stone
– CB Ronald Darby
– RB J.K. Dobbins
– RB Melvin Gordon
– CB Daryl Worley
– WR Laquon Treadwell
– WR Devin Duvernay
– LB Del’Shawn Phillips
– C Sam Mustipher
– OG John Simpson
Draft Class:
– CB Nate Wiggins
– OT Roger Rosengarten
– OLB Adisa Isaac
– WR Devontez Walker
– CB T.J. Tampa
– RB Rasheen Ali
– QB Devin Leary
– C Nick Samac
– S Sanoussi Kane
Despite the lopsided additions/departures, this is a pretty standard Ravens offseason. They typically don’t make many external free-agent additions and often let their own guys walk to continue accumulating compensatory draft picks in future drafts.
Todd Monken will remain their offensive coordinator for his second season and obviously performed well in that role in year one. However, on defense, Mike Macdonald became the Seattle Seahawks’ head coach. That is a potentially significant loss, but the Ravens promoted from within and made ILB coach Zach Orr their new defensive coordinator. We will see what kind of change that brings on defense. Assistant head coach and DL coach Anthony Weaver left to become the Miami Dolphins’ defensive coordinator, and DB coach Dennard Wilson became the Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator. That is a lot of lost coaching talent.
Nate Wiggins will add high-end athleticism to their defense, but how well can he hold up in the physical AFC North with such a slight frame? Roger Rosengarten may end up being a rookie starter at offensive tackle in a division with very good edge rushers.
They won’t be directly playing against each other on the field, but all eyes will be on Patrick Queen and Roquan Smith as the leaders of each team at inside linebacker. There will be plenty of rivalry storylines, with Anthony Averett and DeShon Elliott also flipping sides.
Ravens 2023 record: 13-4
Ravens three-year split: 31-20-0
Ravens-Steelers series record: 35-25-0 (Steelers)
Series record in Baltimore: 15-13-0 (Steelers)
Series record in Pittsburgh: 20-12-0 (Steelers)
Most recent matchup: 17-10 Steelers (2023)
Ravens 2023 by the numbers:
Offense–
Scoring: 28.4 PPG (4th)
Passing: 213.8 Yds/G (21st)
Rushing: 156.5 Yds/G (1st)
Defense–
Scoring: 16.5 PPG (1st)
Passing: 191.9 Yds/G (6th)
Rushing: 109.4 Yds/G (14th)
