OTL: Leave No Doubt

Congratulations, Baltimore Ravens, you’ve passed the first test. You beat New York, and quite convincingly I might add. Onto the next hurdle: Pittsburgh.

The Ravens are a game out of first place in the division with three games to go. Beating the Steelers would give both teams a record of 10-5. Pittsburgh still has to play Kansas City next Wednesday. The division lead could be the Christmas present we’ve all been waiting for.

Though, I could be getting ahead of myself.

The Ravens have lost eight of their last nine against Pittsburgh. As sad as that is, there has been a common factor in many, not all, but many of those losses: Lamar Jackson’s availability. Take it away, Kevin.

This is what M&T Bank Stadium looked like the last (and only) time Lamar Jackson faced the Steelers as a starter in Baltimore in 2020

Jackson has never played in front of a full M&T Bank stadium vs. Pittsburgh, and has never started both games vs. the Steelers in his career pic.twitter.com/oZvwCRGdUg

— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) December 17, 2024

That’s absolutely insane. Lamar and the Ravens have been snake-bitten to say the least against Pittsburgh in recent years, but not having your franchise QB on the field against your biggest rival isn’t a recipe for success. No such excuse this time around. Lamar’s healthy and playing some of his best ball. I stopped caring about the MVP race about 11 weeks ago, but a win against the Steelers and subsequently winning a division title certainly can’t hurt Lamar’s chances of capturing another award.

Something else I wanted to talk about this week: urgency. I harped on it a bit last week, and I saw something that really made me smile:

Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken didn’t like the WR approach to ball security drills to start practice, so he went up to go over it. He knows what Pittsburgh’s defense is capable of come Saturday.

Steelers are tied for first in turnover margin +18. pic.twitter.com/OuYJHT1J4X

— Morgan Adsit (@MorganAdsit) December 18, 2024

That, my friends, is urgency. I love it. I love seeing this kind of thing before a big game.

At the end of the day, all that matters this week is the win. You’ve got the best quarterback in football, yes I said it, you’ve got an offense coming off a heater, you’ve got a defense that continues to look better and better, and you’ve got home field advantage on a short week. There are no moral victories here. Win.

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