The AFC North just got a lot more competitive with the addition of Aaron Rodgers. While the Baltimore Ravens are still the top dogs and the Cincinnati Bengals have an elite quarterback of their own, they will all have to game plan against one of the best to ever step onto a football field. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was asked about the Steelers adding Rodgers today during a media session.
“I really don’t have a reaction. I mean, just respect. Respect for the Steelers. Obviously respect the team that they have, the coaches that they have. Head coach Mike Tomlin,” Harbaugh said in a video by ESPN’s Jamison Hensley on X. “We’ve always respected Aaron Rodgers as a player. He’s a Hall of Fame quarterback.
“We’ll have to go against the Hall of Fame quarterback with one of the premier teams in the league who happens to be our archrival. So we’ll be preparing for that.”
Rodgers has faced off against Harbaugh’s Ravens three times in his career with a perfect 3-0 record. His combined stat line over those three games includes 66 completions on 103 attempts for 846 yards, seven TDs and three INTs.
Up until their last two matchups, the Steelers had been completely dominating the recent series with the Ravens. Baltimore turned that trend around in their second of two regular-season matchups last year and then of course trounced them in the Wild Card round of the playoffs with 299 rushing yards.
Until the Steelers’ late-season collapse, it looked like they had the AFC North division crown locked up. The Ravens got hot while the Steelers collapsed and the rest was history as the Ravens claimed their second division title in a row.
The AFC North is often thought of as the toughest division in football. The Bengals and Browns underperformed last season, but it has every chance of being highly competitive once again in 2025.
