The Pittsburgh Steelers are in the midst of a brutal stretch of games to end the season. They lost Sunday to the Philadelphia Eagles, one of the best teams in the NFL. It doesn’t get any easier from here on out, either. The Steelers visit the Baltimore Ravens Saturday and then host the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas.
On the bright side, there are reasons to think Pittsburgh can beat the Ravens and win their first AFC North title since 2020. Pittsburgh won the first matchup between these two teams. The Steelers played ugly offensively during that Week 11 game yet still managed to walk away with a win. This week’s showdown does carry more weight, though. With the Ravens trailing the Steelers by just a game, a Baltimore win this week would change the division race in a massive way.
Every week, the NFL’s official YouTube channel releases a preview video for each game on the slate. At the end of each video, analysts predict the winner of the game as well as the final score. In the video for the Ravens-Steelers matchup, only three backed the Steelers.
This doesn’t come as a huge surprise. The Ravens and their dynamic offense are rolling. Baltimore’s coming off a blowout victory over the lowly New York Giants. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh’s offense was suffocated by the Eagles in Philadelphia. When the Ravens lost to the Steelers earlier this season, it was in spite of another quiet offensive performance by Pittsburgh. The Steelers’ defense simply dominated the Ravens just enough to pull out a victory.
With both the Steelers’ offense and defense struggling against the Eagles, it’s reasonable to be worried about the their chances on Saturday. With that said, they remain a very good team. They’re 10-4 for a reason and have done well against the AFC North this year with a 3-1 record.
Pittsburgh has looked like the best team in the division this year yet isn’t getting the benefit of the doubt in Baltimore. The Steelers think of themselves as the class of the division. To prove that, they’ve got to come away with a win on Saturday.
