Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Baltimore Ravens Wild Card Pick

The Pittsburgh Steelers travel to Baltimore tonight for a tense playoff showdown with the Ravens, where every play could determine their postseason fate. Both teams are familiar with the high stakes of this rivalry, which has produced some of the NFL’s most hard-hitting and dramatic moments. As the intensity ramps up under the bright lights, the Steelers will need to dig deep to overcome a tough Ravens squad in one of the NFL’s most electric environments. Read more Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Baltimore Ravens wild card pick.

Kickoff

When: Sunday, January 11th at 8:00 PM ET

Where: M&T Bank Stadium – Baltimore, MD

TV: PRIME/AMAZON

The Odds

Familiar Foes

What a difference a month makes. When these teams faced each other in Week 16 a Steelers victory would have secured the division title and earned them a home playoff game. Now, Pittsburgh must go on the road to face their bitter rival whose only goal is to win a Super Bowl. Not exactly how coach Mike Tomlin would have scripted it after such a hot start to the season. 

“Going to Baltimore, particularly in playoff football, is something to be respected. I expect it to be a hostile environment,” Tomlin said. “I welcome that, to be quite honest with you. It’s important that we smile in the face of that. As a collective, it’s just simply a tax to pay for not winning the division and we pay that.”

While the Steelers have lost the last four games the Ravens won their final four games in dominating fashion. It feels like Baltimore and Lamar Jackson are peaking at just the right time on their quest for a championship. While the Ravens and Jackson have struggled against the Steelers, the win last month seemed to be the proverbial “monkey off their back” game in route to the AFC North title. Tonight is essentially the rubber match as Pittsburgh won the first game with all field goals in week 11. 

“There’s a lot of things that have kind of been ingrained in your knowledge of a team in division like that who you’ve already played twice, so your jumping-off point is further down the road for sure,” Coach John Harbaugh said. “That’s about the only difference.”

It will be interesting to see what wrinkles the two longest-tenured coaches in the NFL come up with to combat the tendencies shown in the first two games. Harbaugh will have to devise a game plan to make up for the loss of their top receiver, Zay Flowers. Expect a run heavy scheme featuring Derrick Henry and the legs of Jackson. 

The Steelers, and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, should have Minkah Fitzpatrick or other safeties playing close to the line of scrimmage. In their last meeting Henry rushed for 162 yards which helped the Ravens win handily 34-17.

Hey, make sure you check out our picks on the GW Daily Picks page.

The Pressure is on!

Jackson has won two MVP awards and is the leading candidate to win a third after a remarkable season in which he became the first quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards and rush for 900 in the same year. The one glaring omission on his otherwise stellar resume is a Super Bowl victory. If he can bring into the playoffs any of the magic from a season where he threw 40 touchdowns and only four interceptions the Ravens can make a run at this championship and make light work of the Steelers. 

It’s been eight years since the Steelers had a playoff victory. If Jackson leads his team to victory on Saturday night, Tomlin and his staff will have many questions to answer. After last year’s first round playoff exit to the Buffalo Bills president Art Rooney was firm in his desire to stop this drought.

“There’s an urgency,” Rooney said then of winning a playoff game. “I think everybody, myself, Mike, guys that have been on the team for a while … everybody, we’ve had enough of this. It’s time to get some wins. It’s time to take these next steps.”

After starting the season 8-2 and being 10-3 with a chance to secure the division, the pressure is on Tomlin to get a win a make a run for a championship. 

The Pick

The Steelers were the only team in the NFL not to score a touchdown on their opening drive in any game. They must get out to a fast start to have any chance at beating the Ravens. Pittsburgh has lost five straight playoff games and fell behind by double-digits in the fist half in each of them. That is not the formula for playoff success. The Steelers must get George Pickens involved after coming off his worst game where he dropped three passes and looked like a shell of himself. It may be a good idea to get him some early throws on first down to set the tone for Wilson and this offense. 

The Ravens will struggle without Zay Flowers and become somewhat one-dimensional which will keep this game close. The Steelers are going to shock the world and upset the Ravens in Baltimore 23-20.