The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered a disappointing loss on Sunday to the Philadelphia Eagles. And on paper, things don’t get any easier when they travel to Baltimore to take on the Ravens. But recent history shows that the Steelers find ways to beat QB Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.
After the Steelers beat the Ravens 18-16 in Week 11, they stretched their recent advantage to 8-1 in the AFC North rivals’ last nine meetings. Does that string of recent successes affect preparation for facing the Ravens? Or will what’s at stake narrow the focus for head coach Mike Tomlin and his players?
“That’s probably a better question for them to answer,” Tomlin said Monday during his weekly press conference via video from the team’s YouTube channel. “I know that we respect the work that’s ahead of us this week. We know that this performance stands alone. We are excited about the opportunity to pursue a division championship this week. But I think the totality of recent games and things of that nature from a mental perspective is probably better directed at those guys.”
Despite having the Ravens’ number recently, the Steelers are in no position to overlook them. Part of that is simply that the Ravens are still quite a good team despite some noteworthy losses this season. And part of that is the Steelers have some underwhelming results as well.
But what’s more important is the opportunity to win the AFC North. The Steelers obviously own the tiebreaker after beat the Ravens in Pittsburgh earlier this season. But the last thing they want is to relinquish that control. A loss to the Ravens on Saturday undoes all the hard work from earlier this season. The Steelers have clinched a playoff spot despite their loss to the Eagles on Sunday.
But there’s a big difference between being on the road in the Wild Card round and hosting a playoff game. The playoffs are a completely different beast from the regular season, and that means home-field advantage is an even bigger deal. If the Steelers want to move past their recent playoff failures, winning the division could go a long way toward that end.
So sure, the Steelers have been beating the Ravens with regularity recently. And that can be a mental boost. But the team can’t go into Saturday’s game banking on that. The stakes are entirely too big to just rely on recent results. And the Ravens sure seem to be ready in their quest to reclaim the top spot in the AFC North.
