The Pittsburgh Steelers’ fan base is one of the largest in the country and travels well, which means even road games for the Steelers can feel like home games with Terrible Towels waving all over the stadium. When they travel to play the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium in a game that can clinch the division, Ravens TE Isaiah Likely wants to make sure the Steelers feel like it’s a road atmosphere.
“They don’t like us as much as we don’t like them. So, just keeping a home game a home game, I feel like, that’s the biggest thing that the Flock Nation tries to preach on every given Sunday, when we have a home game – or Saturday. [I’m] getting used to it,” Likely told reporters Thursday via transcript provided by the team today.
It’s usually tougher for the Steelers to take over an opponent’s stadium when it comes to AFC North games. The importance of those games isn’t understated no matter who they’re playing, and the atmosphere is jacked up. Despite the AFC North being close geographically, each team has a rabid fan base that makes it tough for opponents to fully take over the stadium. It’s not like when the Steelers play in Las Vegas or Los Angeles and are able to make the stadium their own, but there’s still going to be a good number of Steelers fans in Baltimore on Saturday.
You just won’t likely be able to hear them as much on the broadcast and their presence won’t be as felt as it was in a game like Week 1 in Atlanta when the Falcons had to use a silent count at their own stadium. Steelers-Ravens is one of the best rivalries in football, and Ravens fans are going to make themselves heard to try and help their team as much as possible as they try to stay alive in the AFC North. The Steelers can clinch the division with a win, and seeing the Steelers celebrate on their home turf is the last thing the Ravens and their fans will want to see on Saturday.
While the Ravens will have home-field advantage, it hasn’t mattered much in recent years, as the Steelers have won their last four matchups in Baltimore. We’ll see if they can keep that streak alive and send Baltimore fans home unhappy on Saturday.
