Will the Steelers beat the Ravens today and secure the AFC North title?
While today isn’t explicitly a do-or-die event, the Steelers can win the AFC North by beating the Ravens. It’s been a few years since they’ve been in a game that gave them a chance to clinch the division. And they haven’t won the AFC North since 2020, the Ravens being the defending champions.
Put simply, if the Steelers win, the AFC North race is over, but a Ravens win doesn’t put Baltimore in the driver’s seat. Even in a loss, the Steelers still control their fate and would take the division by winning out. If both teams lost one of their final two games, it would depend on which loss. If the Steelers won their last divisional game, they would win the division. If the Ravens won their last divisional game and the Steelers did not, Baltimore would take the AFC North title. If they both lost their divisional games but won the other, the Steelers earn the division title. That’s a little bit of fun with tiebreakers in the AFC North.
But are the Steelers going to beat the Ravens? They have done so frequently in recent years, but this is not just any game. The Ravens have everything to play for, and they also have a rare home game with Lamar Jackson against the Steelers. Yes, Jackson should be able to beat the Steelers on the road, too, but we’re only talking about today’s game. And they call it home field advantage for a reason.
The Steelers are looking to claim their eighth AFC North title under Mike Tomlin, while the Ravens are looking for their sixth under John Harbaugh. Lamar Jackson has won the division three times, but of course, Russell Wilson is new.
The Ravens have the most explosive offense in the league yet only managed 16 points against the Steelers earlier this season. They always seem to get Pittsburgh’s best, at least lately. But only today matters, at least as long as the Steelers win. Though even that may not be true. The Steelers and Ravens could very well see each other again in the playoffs, and you would certainly want home-field advantage for that. So you better win the AFC North, and Pittsburgh can do that today, while the Ravens cannot.
The Steelers’ 2024 season is underway, following another disappointing year ending in a first-round playoff loss. They have had a long offseason since the Buffalo Bills stamped them out of their misery back in January. There are positive signs, but things could jump off the rails any moment.
The biggest question hanging over the team is the quarterback question. Is Russell Wilson earning a lucrative new deal next year, and is Justin Fields still in consideration? How will the team continue to address the depth chart, which is surprisingly still in flux?
The regular season is here, following weeks of camp and preseason games. The Steelers made numerous moves through signings and trade—and release. More than usual, they seemed comfortable creating holes, confident they can fill them. Some they managed to fill, others not so much. Now that we have so many pieces of the puzzle, however, we merely have a new set of questions to ask.
