Baltimore Beatdown
Taking a look ahead for the AFC North division in Week 16.
Coming off a loss in a physical interconference matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles on the road, the AFC North-leading Steelers’ will have a second-straight away game on a short week when they travel to Charm City to face the Ravens on Saturday evening with a chance to all but sew up the division crown in Week 16. Pittsburgh has won eight of the last nine matchups in this storied rivalry including each of the last four and with a win, would pull off a regular-season sweep for the second year in a row.
In the first meeting of the season between these two teams saw the Steelers forced three tide-turning turnovers and bottled up the Ravens running game compared to their usually dominant standard, yielding 124 yards on the ground to a team that averages 178.4 per game.
The Steelers are entering this matchup with some key injuries and have already ruled out two players on Thursday. The most notable and impactful was wide receiver George Pickens (hamstring) who leads the team in receiving yards and will miss his third straight game. Backup quarterback Justin Fields (abdominal) was also ruled out and starting safety DeShon Elliott (hamstring) is listed as doubtful to play. All Pro outside linebacker TJ Watt (ankle) is expected to play after being removed from the final report while defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi (groin) and cornerback Donte Jackson (back) are listed as questionable.
The reigning AFC North champions are heading to a must-win home game against their archrivals with not only their pride on line having lost four straight to the Steelers dating back to the 2022 season. If they want any chance of repeating as division champs and hosting at least one playoff game, they have to come out on top on Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium. Unlike Pittsburgh who is coming off a hard-fought loss to an NFC East team, Baltimore was able to notch a dominant tune-up win over the New York Giants this past Sunday in which they got to pull most of their starters early in the fourth quarter.
The Ravens haven’t won a home game against the Steelers since the 2019 regular-season finale in which several starters sat after the team had locked up the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage. A Robert-Griffin III-led squad of mostly reserves defeated a Steelers team with everything to play for on a rainy night 28-10. A win on Saturday would mark the first home win over Pittsburgh of Lamar Jackson’s career since becoming the full-time starter midway through his rookie season in 2018.
The Ravens are in pretty good health heading into this huge matchup despite having nine of the 11 players listed on their injury report for non-personal reasons. Only two players were ruled out on Thursday’s final report with cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis (hamstring) being the only one dealing with an actual injury...
