Meeting in prime time for the first time since 2018, the Ravens and Pittsburgh have plenty for which to play despite this rivalry lacking the same buzz in recent years.
After clinching a playoff spot in Week 16, Baltimore can keep its AFC North championship hopes alive with a victory over the Steelers on Sunday night. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh needs a win coupled with a Miami loss to keep its slim postseason chances alive for Week 18.
The stakes have been higher in the past, but another absence for an injured Lamar Jackson also helps to explain the lack of electricity for Ravens-Steelers in recent years. Tyler Huntley will be making his third career start against Pittsburgh, which matches Jackson’s career total. It’s difficult to hype a rivalry game when its brightest star isn’t taking part and the other team just lost its future Hall of Fame quarterback to retirement this past offseason.
Of course, that doesn’t mean this one won’t be close as seven of the last eight meetings and 23 of the last 29 between these teams have been decided by a single score.
It’s time to go on the record as these AFC North rivals clash for the 58th time in the all-time series — counting the playoffs — with the Steelers leading 32-25. The Ravens are aiming for their fifth season sweep over Pittsburgh and first since the 2019 campaign.
Below are five predictions for Sunday night:
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1. Justin Tucker will kick a season-long field goal. You know it’s a rough patch for the six-time Pro Bowl kicker when he’s missed more fields goals over the last two games (three) than he did all last season (two), but that doesn’t mean there’s any cause for concern with two of those misses being blocked from 50-plus yards. The weather conditions will be much better on Sunday night, so you’d expect Tucker to bounce back. His season-long field goal was 58 yards in Week 5, which was another prime-time game in Baltimore.
2. Justin Houston will become the first Raven to reach double-digit sacks since Terrell Suggs in 2017. Remember how the 33-year-old had 8 1/2 sacks in a little over five full games played entering the bye? Houston picked up a half-sack against Carolina in Week 11 and has been blanked since then, but Pro Football Focus has still graded him 32nd among 121 qualified edge defenders this season. In other words, he’s overdue for a quarterback takedown. Calais Campbell, who’s officially questionable for Sunday, also remains a sack shy of 100 for his career. If he’s active, it’d be cool to see the 36-year-old reach that impressive milestone before a national audience.
3. Kenny Pickett will throw a touchdown pass as well as a key fourth-quarter interception. The Ravens knocked the rookie quarterback out of the game after only eight snaps in Week 14, so it’s difficult to say how he’ll fare compared to backup Mitch Trubisky, who threw for 276 yards and three picks in that first meeting. Pickett has thrown only one interception since Week 8, but will he be willing to push the ball downfield if Baltimore bottles up the Steelers ground game like it did the first time? Pittsburgh will need to take some chances through the air, and the Ravens will be ready to take advantage at some point — even without Marcus Peters in the secondary.
4. J.K. Dobbins will register his second career touchdown reception. Pittsburgh has been too strong against the run this season to just assume the Ravens will rush for over 200 yards again, meaning Huntley will probably need to make a few more plays through the air. According to Football Outsiders, the Steelers rank 29th in pass coverage efficiency against running backs, which could open the door to target Dobbins and Justice Hill out of the backfield and put the Pittsburgh linebackers in even more conflict. Dobbins registered a season-high 15 carries in the first meeting between these teams, so he figures to be very active once again.
5. The Ravens will hand Mike Tomlin his first career losing season and keep their AFC North championship hopes alive with a narrow 16-13 win. This one looks like another coin flip between teams with fairly similar profiles when you remove Jackson from the equation. John Harbaugh’s team has the better defense and running game, but the Steelers have more upside in the passing game with wide receivers Diontae Johnson and George Pickens very capable of making big plays. Still, it will be difficult for the Steelers to trust Pickett playing on the road in a rivalry game. The Ravens defense will do some bending as it often does, but the Steelers rookie quarterback will struggle to toe the line between making enough plays and not costing his team in a tight game. Knowing business is about to pick up substantially for the remainder of their season, the Ravens will take advantage of what will be their 10th straight game against an opponent with a losing record. The first-place Bengals await in Week 18.
