The rivalry between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens is always heated. But it certainly feels like this year’s edition is primed to be metal-forging levels of hot. On the Steelers’ side, you have former Ravens in LB Patrick Queen and S DeShon Elliott. On the Ravens’ side, they acquired former Steelers WR Diontae Johnson before the trade deadline.
There are plenty of storylines just on the personnel side of the rivalry ahead of Sunday’s matchup. The biggest storyline of all is the rivalry’s recent record, though. The Steelers have won seven of the last eight matchups between the two teams, and the Ravens feel like they should have won multiple times in that stretch.
“I wasn’t aware of that at all, said Ravens WR Rashod Bateman when asked about the current eight-game stretch per a video from baltimoreravens.com. “All I know is that we lost the ones that we should have won. So I think we all looking forward to go out and redeem ourself from the past, you know, get the dub.”
Steelers fans love to hold up the fact that Pittsburgh has won seven of the last eight. And why wouldn’t they? It’s a big deal, winning that many in that time frame against a huge rival.
But the Ravens seem to feel slighted by what the record says. They feel like they should have won some of those games. And I get it. They’ll probably point to players letting QB Lamar Jackson down in key spots. And sure, that happened. But the reality is that the Steelers made the plays when they counted, and the Ravens haven’t in recent years.
And Jackson only has a 2-4 record all-time against the Steelers. Despite being one of 11 players in league history to have won the Most Valuable Player Award multiple times, he struggles against his team’s biggest rival.
Will that continue on Sunday? Time will tell, but Bateman feels the Ravens need to find a way to redeem themselves against the Steelers.
