Four Downs: Time to Make Ravens-Steelers a Track Meet

The Baltimore Ravens have the most important game of their season staring them in the face the Saturday before Christmas. They host the Pittsburgh Steelers in a battle that either gives the yellow and black the division crown or keeps the purple and black in play for a top four playoff seed.

It doesn’t get bigger than this so let’s bring the jumbo set in, get Mark Andrews to take the snap from center and plow forward as we look at four downs for this game:

First Down: The Past Is Dead (Hopefully)

It’s no secret that the Pittsburgh Steelers have dominated this rivalry in recent years. The Ravens have barely scratched the win column against their heated foes in the past several seasons and for mental health reasons we don’t need to run down a list of the results. The Ravens’ first job is to conquer the psychology of this game. They need to come correct and erase the last game with Pittsburgh completely from their hard drive. There is a tightness that comes with this game that doesn’t serve the Ravens well. There’s an old saying that “you don’t become a real Raven until you beat the Steelers.” That saying leaves out an alarming amount of the current roster from being real Ravens, if you think about it.

John Harbaugh has been a part of every battle in this rivalry since 2008. He needs to take a good look at the past. Whatever he consistently says about this rivalry needs to be chucked into the trash can. The Ravens need a new attitude, a new mindset, and they must replace the way they approach this game with one that pumps them up rather than psyching them out. There is a psychology to this rivalry. The Steelers know it and they lean into it as much as Mike Tomlin leaned out to get in front of Jacoby Jones years ago. If the Ravens ignore the psychology of this game and the fact that they need to reframe everything about Steelers week, that will be the biggest risk of taking a heartbreaking loss.

The Ravens went into the last game with an offense that was producing at a historic clip and Lamar Jackson was front and center in the MVP conversation. What happened? They put up only 16 points and wasted several opportunities to sink the Steelers in a frustrating mess of a game. The Steelers are good, but that game felt like the Ravens laying an egg in their house of horrors. It had a formulaic stench to it and it was a sign that something desperately needs to change. Before we can even look at the strategy, X’s and O’s and game plan we have to admit that the psychology of this game is the biggest hurdle facing the Ravens.

If Harbaugh knows what’s good for him he’ll consider the past dead and he’ll look forward and find a fresh beginning against Tomlin.

Second Down: When Pittsburgh Has the Ball, It’s Advantage: Baltimore

The last time the Ravens played the Steelers, Pittsburgh won with six field goals. The Ravens have gained a lot of confidence on defense since that meeting and they already know they can hold this team out of the end zone. In that earlier meeting Russell Wilson was held to just 205 yards and an interception. Najee Harris picked up 63 yards on the ground but it took him 18 carries to do so, which is a bit of a flex for the Baltimore defense. The only thing that killed the Ravens was the eight catches for 89 yards and a touchdown that George Pickens provided his home crowd. The Ravens need to take a similar approach to this game they just need to have an answer for Pickens (if he plays) and avoid dumb pass interference penalties near the boundaries.

The Eagles just embarrassed the Steelers. To be fair, the Eagles also ran through the Ravens like a buzzsaw, but the way Pittsburgh struggled was notable. They managed just 10 first downs in the whole game. They had 163 total yards, punted five times and held the ball for almost a full 20 minutes less than the Eagles did. The Eagles look great and they very well could be the best team in the NFL; that doesn’t excuse how horrible the Steelers played. The truth about the Pittsburgh offense is that they aren’t exciting unless they are playing pinball football against the Cincinnati Bengals.

This game has a chance of being an ugly AFC North brawl. The Ravens have a newfound confidence. The worst showing since they lost to the Steelers in mid-November was giving up only 24 points to those same Philadelphia Eagles. The defense kept one of the best offensive attacks in football in check to make it a competitive game. If the Ravens offense took advantage of their opportunities it could have been a different outcome. The moral of the story is that the Baltimore defense is on the uptick while the Steelers offense looks like it needs a constructive pit-stop. It’s Ravens vs. Steelers, you know it could be ugly. The Ravens defense should be able to do their part in making it that way. The key is to be a little more disciplined in the penalty department.

Third Down: Lamar Needs a Little Help From his Friends…

There’s no secret that Lamar Jackson struggles against the Steelers and the narrative writers couldn’t even wait ’til Monday to go in overdrive. Quite frankly, the football world will become absolutely and diabolically insufferable if the Ravens lose this game. The pressure is on Jackson to deliver, to rewrite the script and shut up his critics. That being said, the pressure is on Jackson more so because he’s got to be the reason the Ravens win the game. The Steelers defensive front is impressive and thinking they already have Jackson’s number they will look toward stopping Derrick Henry as objective one, two, and three. The Ravens have already tried to run through the brick wall and beat Pittsburgh in three yards and a divisional scrum; they must now look to the passing game to beat the Steelers. It’s a tall order because Jackson has never had his best games against Pittsburgh, yet if he has a signature game, Pittsburgh won’t be able to keep up. Jackson needs his best players to show up big for him because he needs to throw his team to victory.

There are two statistics that don’t make sense in the November meeting between these teams. First, Zay Flowers only had two receptions and secondly Mark Andrews only had two grabs as well. The Ravens need to lean on their two biggest stars, getting them to combine for 10-12 receptions in the contest. Any time that the Steelers play zone they have to have Flowers sit in the window and make this a game of tag with their shiftiest and fastest weapon. When the Steelers want to play man coverage, Mark Andrews has to be a matchup nightmare.

I’m not talking about a run of the mill nightmare, I’m talking about making the Pittsburgh secondary lose sleep for the rest of their lives. Andrews has three games where he has 66-68 yards and a touchdown. He did it against the Washington Commanders, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Philadelphia Eagles. That has to be an element that is in play against the Steelers. Heck if I was Todd Monken I’d be looking to get Andrews his first 100-yard game since 2022. Jackson is facing his most daunting battle both professionally and personally and he has to lean on his favorite targets. Flowers and Andrews must deliver for the Ravens to win the game.

Fourth Down: Be The Aggressor

What did we talk about in first down? The psychology of this game. I stand by the idea that when I think of the Steelers in this rivalry, I think of a bully who thinks they’re the big bad wolf, the alpha and the aggressor. The one thing I want from this game from a Baltimore perspective is to see the Ravens being the aggressor. Don’t get it twisted, I want a clean game and for both teams to keep their heads about them, but there is an aggressive mindset that is needed in this game. They need to come into the game thinking this is their house, they aren’t going to take it from this team, and they need to decide that the Steelers are in trouble before they even put their pads on. We saw it in the AFC Championship Game. It’s like when Travis Kelce threw Justin Tucker’s helmet out of his way before the game. The Chiefs got under the Ravens skin and they reacted the whole time rather than giving Travis Kelce and company a reason to shut up. The Ravens can’t do anything stupid but they should make it abundantly clear that they are the big bad wolf lurking in the cold of night.

The aggressive mindset should apply to the coaches. If I’m John Harbaugh I have my foot on the gas pedal the entire game. My one goal would be to make this the one game that isn’t decided by one score at the end. If I was Todd Monken I’d want to see if I could put 40 points on the board. If I was Zach Orr, I’d want to see five sacks and two turnovers minimum from the defense. This is the game that defines the entire season and psychology matters as much as X’s and O’s here. The Ravens played in the mud in the first game and steered right into the brawl Pittsburgh wanted. In this game the Ravens need to try to make it a track meet. This is the game to go for it on fourth and short. This is the game where you need to throw everything, even the kitchen sink into your attack. Todd Monken, do you have a play you’ve been saving for a special occasion? The time is now. Zach Orr, do you have a spicy blitz? Unleash it on a key third down.

We began and ended this look at the game focused on its psychology. It’s for a reason. The Ravens have to decide that they’re done with the current power dynamic in this rivalry and do something about it. These games keep coming down to one score and they keep going the opponent’s way. There’s only so much you can say about these games. Breaking the cycle with a dominant victory has to be a choice.

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