Back-to-back losses in December are rare for the Pittsburgh Steelers, blowout defeats even more so. Yet, former NFL head coach Jay Gruden predicts they’ll suffer both Saturday against the Baltimore Ravens.
“I think Baltimore needs to relax. I feel like when they play Pittsburgh they tense up and they get a little nervous they got to make a play,” Gruden said via the Clean Pocket podcast with Jay Gruden and Colt McCoy on YouTube. “Just relax, Lamar. Be yourself, be Lamar Jackson from the University of Louisville. Just gut the Steelers. They got nothing for you man on defense. Get after their ass play after play after play — relentless. Get after ’em. Baltimore, easy victory.”
History is significantly against Gruden’s prediction. The Ravens have lost eight of their last nine against the Steelers and the vast majority of games between the two teams have been one-score affairs. Even with the Steelers getting the better of the rivalry lately, it’s been anything but easy. The last time either team won by more than one score was all the way back in 2019. That makes nine-straight games that have come down to the wire.
Gruden didn’t specifically give a score prediction, but he did mention an “easy victory”.
Lamar Jackson has played his worst football against the Steelers. He is 1-4 against Pittsburgh in his career, and his stats against them fall well short of his typical MVP-caliber play.
In five starts against the Steelers, he has completed 93-of-164 passes (56.7 percent) for 1,065 yards, five touchdowns and eight interceptions with three fumbles lost and 22 sacks taken. He has also tacked on 48 rushing attempts for 281 rushing yards and zero touchdowns. Basically all of those numbers are worse, and in some cases significantly worse, than his career averages.
Given how he’s done against basically all other competition throughout his career, it doesn’t make a ton of sense why the Steelers are able to bottle him up so consistently. One thing is for sure, it’s never been “easy” as Gruden suggests it might be on Saturday.
We will see how the injury situation shakes out with Larry Ogunjobi, DeShon Elliott, and Donte Jackson all dealing with injuries this week. If some or all of them can’t go, then it wouldn’t necessarily be a big surprise if Gruden’s prediction comes true. Especially given the defense just logged 77 snaps against the Eagles last Sunday before dealing with the Ravens on a short week. This will also be Jackson’s first time playing in front of a home crowd against the Steelers, which could prove impactful.
Until Jackson and the Ravens can overcome their Achilles heel against the Steelers, it’s hard to bet on that happening.
