For the Pittsburgh Steelers and their world-class fanbase, it’s been a long time since a clash with the Baltimore Ravens has meant this much.
Yes, the rivalry is genuine, and every game against the Ravens and Coach Mike Tomlin’s archrival, John Harbaugh, is full of adventure, grit, and suspense.
Even in years when one or both teams were below the standard, this intra-divisional rivalry still oozed relevance and intensity.
Still, for the past decade or so, the lead-ins to this confrontation have been slathered with heavy coats of nostalgia paint to make them more sellable and meaningful than they actually were.
Yet, this game is different. It’s different than it’s been for a long, long time.
No. There is no Ray Lewis. No young Ben Roethlisberger. No Ed Reed. Troy Polamalu is long in the past.
But now there are new stars, and both teams arrive as rising heavyweights.
Each is a legitimate Top-five-ranked team in the NFL. Both are coming in with impressive records and considerable momentum.
The first round of the battle, and perhaps the most central, will play out in Pittsburgh before the blurring gyrations of tens of thousands of Terrible Towels and with Renegade blaring from the stadium speakers.
There can only be one King of the North, and winter is coming. So, let’s give it a Spin.
Signs Of Success
The Steelers’ performance against the Washington Commanders wasn’t only notable for the team’s gritty resolve and the final results of the 28-27 victory away from home.
Yes, it was that, and it was also significant because of how they won the game.
They did it with a chessboard of defensive brilliance, which allowed them to shut down rookie quarterback phenom Jayden Daniels’s proclivity for running wild. It is important because it foreshadows a similar approach against the Ravens.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is not a one-dimensional player by any stretch. He can beat you with the pass and with his legs. Still, there is no ignoring that his true superpower is his extraordinary talents as a scrambler and runner.
That is where he is historically elite and why he already has two National Football League MVP trophies on his shelf.
And that arm? It’s as strong as anyone else’s, and he can shred defenses through the air when he is on his throwing game.
Jackson is the classic “You can’t stop him…you can only hope to contain him” player.
With this in mind, the Steelers must choose their poison with their brand firmly in mind. You can light up the scoreboard against us, but you will not run the ball down our throats. That’s simply not acceptable in the Steel City. And especially not against the team’s boiling-hot rivals.
So, we’ll give Jackson the Jayden Daniels treatment…thank you very much. Especially since there also is that OTHER guy.
Sadly, Jackson is not the only weapon of mass destruction the Ravens have in their arsenal. Derrick Henry is not only loaded up for bear…he could run through a herd of bears.
For you trivia enthusiasts, a herd of bears can be referred to as either a sloth, pack, sleuth…or, most appropriately, a maul. A maul of bears.
We do not want to get mauled by future Hall of Famer Derrick Henry. Unfortunately, a mauling by the Ravens’ running game is a distinct possibility.
So, please. Let’s load eleven in the box. We’ve got our reputation to uphold.
The Points
The Baltimore Ravens have achieved their 7-3 record by averaging 31.8 points per game on offense, which is tops in the NFL. However, in a very non-Ravens way, they have allowed an average of 25.3 points on defense.
This is not far off of the Steelers’ offensive projection for the game, as Pittsburgh has averaged 23.9 and seems to be growing in confidence under Russell Wilson’s experienced hand.
Where the two worlds will collide is with Pittsburgh’s second lowest surrendering of points in the NFL with a stingy average of 16.2.
Something is going to have to give. Either Pittsburgh’s defense will prove to be made of steel beams, or Poe, the Ravens’ mascot, will get to crow all over Steely McBeam.
It’s not typical to burn out the lights of the scoreboard during a Steelers-Ravens game…but this might be the rarest of exceptions.
Moonstruck
Russell Wilson’s moonballs are all the rage in Pittsburgh, especially since he has two cloud dwellers in George Pickens and newly acquired Mike Williams.
Not since Tim Duncan was paired with David Robinson, Ralph Sampson with Hakeem Olajuwon, or J.R.R. Tolkien was writing Ents has there been this much enthusiasm for the Twin Towers.
Williams’ critical touchdown reception against the Commanders might have led to more than just that regular-season win. It might have created significant ripples that could continue all through the playoffs.
To say that the past year and a half have been difficult for Williams is a gross understatement. Following a long recovery from ACL surgery and an underwhelming aborted experience with the New York Jets, he needed that kind of throw to fall into his arms from the heavens.
Catching that moonball from Russell Wilson in the endzone was as perfect of a “Welcome to Pittsburgh” moment as he could have possibly hoped for in his first game for the Steelers.
Strategically, this puts pressure on the defense, as a single high safety will have to make lightning-quick decisions between covering one tree or the other.
Defensively, this might force opposing teams to keep two safeties back, opening up seams for tight ends and running lanes for the land crews.
Of course, Williams currently has registered only one career reception for the Steelers, so maybe we’re all a little…moonstruck at this point.
Just Rewards
Considering Mike Tomlin’s longevity with the Steelers…he’s now in his 18th season…it’s somewhat surprising he’s never earned an AP NFL Coach of the Year award.
What makes it surprising is how popular he is around the league and how much outright adoration he receives from television announcers and NFL pundits alike. You would have thought he would have been a shoo-in for this honor at least once by now.
If you’ve been reading the Spin long enough, you’ve seen it written here that he hasn’t deserved the highest honors every year. I believe he underperformed during the seasons when he had an in-his-prime Ben Roethlisberger, an impressive offensive line, and some of the most gifted skill players the franchise has ever assembled. Good records some of those seasons. But he couldn’t claim the big prize.
There have also been other years when the Steelers got themselves into a deep ditch, and in Tomlinesque fashion, he was able to get the team back on the road to a respectable record.
In those cases, too many experts wanted to credit him with pulling the bus out of the ditch that he had driven the team into in the first place.
Other times, he would get credited for registering a decent record with a team of average talent. That’s great, except he also was heavily responsible for assembling that mediocre talent those same years.
That said, there is no denying that his record and long consistency of excellence are Hall-of-Fame-grade. Throughout his career, he has been one of the premier coaches in the league. And in some areas of his unique skillset, he’s been the best to have ever worn the headset.
In truth, he should have won Coach of the Year at least once by now.
Perhaps more than any other, this is the year it probably might happen. And one could say it should happen.
As long as the team doesn’t suffer a complete implosion, he should be a frontrunner from here to the end of the season. This is the year where he took some of the greatest risks of his career, and to date, they are playing out to perfection.
Then again, winning Coach of the Year isn’t exactly a career-defining reward. The two most recent winners, Kevin Stafanski (Cleveland Browns) and Brian Daboll (New York Giants), are currently sitting in two of the hottest seats in the league.
Past recent winners? They are already gone…gone…gone. Mike Vrabel (Tennessee Titans), Matt Nagy (Chicago Bears), Jason Garrett (Dallas Cowboys) and Ron Rivera (Carolina Panthers).
Is it a high honor? Or a coaching kiss of death?
Odds are…Tomlin could win the prize…and manage to keep his job.
The Battle Of Hard Feelings
Just as was the case last week against the Commanders, linebacker Patrick Queen will play a significant role in either the rise or the fall of the Steelers against Baltimore.
Against the Ravens’ powerful running game, he will either be a roadblock or a bowling pin. And if it’s the latter, there will be many Steelers pins flying everywhere, as well as a liberal flowing of tears in the stands.
The Ravens say they are anxious to play against their former teammate, with past linebacker Bart Scott describing Queen’s move to the Steelers as outright treachery.
Yet, it was Queen who felt he was wronged when the Ravens didn’t offer him a contract.
I suppose we can empathize with Scott’s point of view at some level. We still have nightmares about seeing Rod Woodson’s number 26 on the front of a purple uniform.
The more important question is whether Queen will play with a mighty chip on his shoulder after getting a cold shoulder from his former team. Will he be ready to strike vengeance, all for the benefit of Pittsburgh?
Perhaps. But he won’t be the only player on the field seeking out retribution. Diontae Johnson hasn’t exactly experienced a season to remember following his trade from the Steelers in exchange for cornerback Donte Jackson.
After a short bus ride with the Carolina Panthers, he was shipped off again to the Ravens, who so far haven’t made it a priority to get him on the playing field.
But it would be folly for Steelers Nation to dismiss Johnson’s talents or his ability to put together a poster-worthy performance against his old team.
It wouldn’t be out of the Harbaugh playbook to gameplan a big role for Johnson for pure personal trolling entertainment.
Both Tomlin and Harbaugh would only go on record as saying that all that matters is a win. Yet both of them have demonstrated in the past that a slight twisting of the knife makes those wins even pleasantly deeper.
When it comes to the revenge scenario, the critical difference for this game is that Johnson’s having a big game would be a Ravens luxury, while Queen’s having a big game is an absolute necessity for the Steelers.
Purple Bruises
What will be the outcome of this tantalizing matchup? I don’t think anyone can confidently predict the result.
What we do have confidence about is predicting it will be one of the most bruising confrontations of the year for both teams.
It might just be the most physical game all this year in the NFL.
One thing is clear. One team will do the breaking. The other will come out broken.
This is a game that would make James Harrison proud. There will be no participation trophies.
