Entering December, the Pittsburgh Steelers were in the driver’s seat in the AFC North, holding a multi-game lead over the Baltimore Ravens.
The AFC North division title was within reach. Until it wasn’t.
The Steelers blew a two-game lead and ultimately finished two games back of the Ravens in the division, thanks to a four-game losing streak to close the season. Now, the Steelers have to hit the road to take on the Ravens in the Wild Card round as the No. 3 Ravens will host the No. 6 Steelers at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday night on Amazon Prime.
For Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, another matchup with the Ravens, it being the third matchup in nine weeks, is the tax for losing the division. Speaking to reporters Monday ahead of the Wild Card matchup, Tomlin stated he has a lot of respect and admiration for the environment in Baltimore but added that the matchup with the red-hot Ravens is the tax the Steelers have to pay for losing the division in the fashion that they did.
“Got a lot of respect for the environment. Going to Baltimore, particularly in playoff football, is something to be respected, man. I expect it to be a hostile environment. I welcome that, to be quite honest with you. It’s important that we smile in the face of that, as a collective. It’s just simply a tax to pay for not winning the division, and we pay that,” Tomlin said of the matchup on the road against the Ravens in the playoffs, according to video via Steelers.com. “But we are excited about the play, making the tangible things that will decide the outcome of this game.
“And we realized we got a short amount of time to prepare, and we’re preparing with an edge, and we look forward to pitting our skills versus the Ravens on Saturday night.”
While Tomlin has a lot of respect for the hostile environment that is M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, it’s not a playoff environment he’s ever been in. The three times the Steelers have played the Ravens in the playoffs under Tomlin occurred in 2008, 2010, and 2014 all of which were at then-Heinz Field.
The Steelers won the first two games by scores of 23-14 in the 2008 AFC Championship Game, and 31-24 in the 2010 divisional round. They lost to the visiting Ravens, 30-17, in the 2014 wild card round.
In total, the Steelers have played the Ravens four times in the playoffs, and all have been in Pittsburgh. So, Saturday night’s trip to Baltimore for the playoff matchup will be a first in the historic rivalry.
And that right there is the tax that the Steelers have to pay for losing the division. Not only did they blow a division lead, losing a shot at a home playoff game, they also lost a shot at a more favorable matchup with the Houston Texans in the No. 4 vs. No. 5 seed matchup due to their season-ending loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 18, setting up the road trip to take on the Ravens in the 3-6 matchup.
Though there’s plenty of familiarity there and quite a bit of past success for the Steelers against the Ravens, that all goes out the window in this matchup. The Steelers are preparing with an edge and are smiling in the face of adversity, but it’s a very difficult one to prepare for as the Ravens are red-hot and get to host a playoff game.
That’s a tough tax to have to pay.
