Week 15 for the Pittsburgh Steelers may present their final chance to make an advance towards the 2025 playoff picture. Tied with the Baltimore Ravens with equal records of 6-6, this Sunday’s game boils down to the winner taking the lead in the AFC North.
Both teams are coming off losses. The Ravens to the Bengals and the Steelers to the Bills. Baltimore’s loss was closer in the final score than Pittsburgh’s and the Steelers’ performance at home against the Bills was pitifully worse than Baltimore played in their loss at home.
Heading into this fierce rivalry game, the Ravens are reporting star quarterback Lamar Jackson as questionable as he is dealing with a sore ankle, but his Offensive Coordinator Tood Monken said he expects the M.V.P. winning QB to play. Devontez Walker is also questionable as is Nate Wiggins.
As for the Steelers, James Pierre is questionable along with Patrick Queen, Joey Porter Jr., and Kyle Dugger who did not take part in the practice last Thursday. Pierre did practice and Queen and Porter were limited. Ben Skowronek and Calvin Anderson appeared on the questionable list in earlier reports. The Steelers, however, signed free agent and veteran cornerback Asante Samuel to a contract earlier in the week and Mike Tomlin says he will see action in Baltimore.
Any Steelers/Ravens game is always a war. Hard hitting, hatred in some occasions, just simply a bitter rivalry. Since moving to Baltimore, the Ravens have played the Steelers 63 times and Pittsburgh leads the series 36-27, five of which were playoff games and the Steelers also won three of those. Pittsburgh has scored over 40 times twice beating Baltimore 43-23 in 2014 and 42-34 in 1997. Pittsburgh has also put 30 or more on the board on nine times all in winning efforts.
Baltimore has shut out the Steelers twice, winning 27-0 and 16-0 in 2006 and 2000, respectively. The Ravens on the other hand have never scored 40 points or more on a Steelers’ defense but they have hit the 30 mark 10 times, one of which came in a 2015 playoff win when Baltimore knocked Pittsburgh out of the big dance with a final score of 30-17.
In three games that saw the Ravens score at least 30, they still lost those games. The Steelers recorded one shutout on Baltimore winning 37-0 on November 9, 1997. The Steelers have had winning streaks against Baltimore of five games twice and four games twice. The Ravens won four in a row at one point and several times with three straight but never more than four.
In the last 12 games, Pittsburgh has won eight of those including two four game streaks from 2020 through 2022 and again from January 1, 2023, until a loss on December 21, 2024. The last game played was that blowout by Baltimore last season in the postseason when the Ravens ran roughshod over Pittsburgh, winning 28-14.
Whichever team loses this game they will be looking over their shoulders at the Cincinnati Bengals who with a win in Buffalo in week 15 would move to a record of 5-8 and be just one game behind second place. If Baltimore prevails in this game, the Bengals will have a chance to get within one game of the Ravens and these two teams play each other in week 16 in Cincinnati.
The Bengals have remaining games with Miami on the road, Arizona at home, and Cleveland at home. Essentially, if they win out, they will finish 9-8 where Baltimore will play the red-hot Patriots following the Cincinnati game. Baltimore finishes their season with a road game in Green Bay and a finale rematch with Pittsburgh at Acrisure Stadium. The Steelers have a much more difficult road to hoe with this Ravens game, then the tricky Dolphins coming to town followed by a scary game in Detroit, an always difficult game in Cleveland, and that finale with Baltimore.
Don’t be surprised that with the return of Joe Burrow, the Bengals could steal the AFC North title. The bottom line is that these three teams have fate resting in their own hands.
When the Steelers have the ball
Aaron Rodgers will return for this game after Joey Bosa made A-Rod’s face a part of the turf at Acrisure Stadium a week before. Following the game Rodgers went public to say some of his receivers were running routes incorrectly. Way to be a good teammate, Rodgers. That is typical Aaron Rodgers reaction he has shown in the past. Will it be any different in this game? Some of the Steelers were quoted to say Steelers fans will find out in this game what the team is made up of in an extremely crucial game.
Similar comments were made prior to the Buffalo game and look at the result. Pittsburgh will use what has been a solid running game to set up some offense in this one and the Ravens, who used to be excellent at stopping the run are giving up 118. 4 yards per game this season. In the air Baltimore is allowing opposing quarterbacks an average of 232 yards passing per game.
Darnell Washington has become a primary target for Aaron Rodgers, but the Steelers really need to find a way for Rodgers to get some long downfield yardage through passing. DK Metcalf was supposed to be the player who would provide that and he has been nothing more than a major disappointment.
When the Ravens have the ball
Lamar Jackson is hardly having his typical M.V.P. type of year but mostly because he has been plagued by injuries. With only 1,841 yards passing he is still a threat to run with 264 yards rushing and a per carry average of 5.1. In 227 passing attempts he has only been picked off four times. Jackson has also thrown for 15 touchdowns. He has been sacked 27 times, so the Steelers need to go after him big time.
While Derrick Henry is not having a banner season, he is close to another 1,000-yard campaign (931). On this day he will most likely go over 1,000. I can’t see Pittsburgh’s defense and how they have been playing holding the stud back to under 69 yards. At 4.7 yards per carry and having scored 10 times this season, you can put money down that after watching film of Pittsburgh’s last few games they will run Henry down Pittsburgh’s throats.
If Jackson is healthy and can throw the ball, the Steelers’ secondary that has been awful in most of the games could be in real trouble here. Baltimore has eight players with 100 yards receiving or more with Zay Flowers at the top with 767. Mark Andrews always seems to be a threat when playing Pittsburgh and this season he has caught 37 passes for 332 yards. Then there is the always dangerous Deandre Hopkins who has chipped in with 17 receptions and 257 yards.
If those receivers are not enough of a threat there is also Isaiah Likely and Rashod Bateman as well as Justice Hall, Derrick Henry out of the backfield, and backup tight end Charlie Kolar all these players over 100 yards receiving.
Intangibles
The momentum is clearly in favor of the Baltimore Ravens not just playing at home but because the Pittsburgh Steelers locker room has to be somewhat disrupted at this point. Also, the sports airwaves and online columns have been swarmed this week with the Mike Tomlin buzz about he and the Steelers parting ways. That must be on Tomlin’s mind if even just a little. That works against Pittsburgh and to win this game they would have to be nearly perfect.
Prediction
Given how Pittsburgh performed at home against the Bills and with the AFC North division lead on the line, there is no way I can say they will win this game. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens also lost their last game but in no way was embarrassing the way Mike Tomlin’s squad did. Jackson will bounce back much better than Aaron Rodgers. Ravens 33 Steelers 20.
Leave a Reply