Familiarity in the AFC North breeds both healthy respect and ferocious competition, and the division’s most heated rivals will face off with the season on the line when the Ravens host the Pittsburgh Steelers in a wild-card round matchup at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday, Jan. 11, at 8 p.m.
“We know them [and] they know us pretty well,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said.
And for the fifth time in Ravens franchise history, the teams will meet in the playoffs, with one rival ending the other’s season. The last such meeting occurred after the 2014 season, when the Ravens went to Pittsburgh and scored a 30-17 win in the wild-card round.
All four previous Ravens-Steelers playoff games have been played in Pittsburgh, and the Steelers won the first three.
This season, the Ravens and Steelers split their two regular-season meetings, with each winning at home. Pittsburgh was held without a touchdown but slogged to an 18-16 win against the Ravens in Week 11, but then the Ravens pulled away for a 34-17 win at M&T Bank Stadium in Week 16.
That lopsided outcome was a rarity in this rivalry; the previous nine games had each been decided by one score.
That Ravens win came amid a four-game season-ending swing that decided the division. The sixth-seeded Steelers, who finished 10-7, led the AFC North by two games with four games left, but then ended the season with a four-game skid, including the loss in Baltimore. In that same stretch, the Ravens (12-5) rolled to four straight wins, including a season-ending 35-10 victory against Cleveland that clinched the Ravens’ second straight AFC North title and the fourth in seven years with Lamar Jackson at quarterback.
Steelers top wide receiver George Pickens did not play in the second meeting with the Ravens this year because of a hamstring injury, and the Ravens will be without their top receiver, Zay Flowers, this time around because of a knee injury.
Flowers suffered the injury in the second quarter of the regular-season finale against Cleveland and missed the remainder of the game.
The Ravens didn’t know their first-round opponent until Sunday — it was either going to be the Steelers or Los Angeles Chargers — but Harbaugh and Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin have matched wits for years. There probably isn’t a team in the league with which the Ravens are more familiar.
Still, Harbaugh described the meeting as “a chess game. … It’s always something different. There are always wrinkles thrown in every week.”
Here’s a quick look back at the four other Ravens-Steelers playoff games:
2001 Divisional Round — Steelers 27, Ravens 10
In a game that predated both Harbaugh and Tomlin, Ravens quarterback Elvis Grbac was intercepted on the third play of the game and it went downhill from there for the Ravens. The Steelers jumped to a 20-0 second-quarter lead and killed any chance for the Ravens to repeat as Super Bowl champs.
Grbac went 18-for-37 and threw three interceptions, and the Ravens’ only touchdown came on an 88-yard punt return by Jermaine Lewis. Amos Zeroue ran for a pair of touchdowns for the Steelers.
2008 AFC Championship Game — Steelers 23, Ravens 14
Rookie coach John Harbaugh and rookie quarterback Joe Flacco won a pair of road playoff games as the Ravens reached the AFC title game against the Steelers, who had won both of the regular-season meetings, including one in overtime.
The Ravens trailed 16-14 when they took over at their own 14-yard line with 6:50 left. But five plays later, Steelers safety Troy Polamalu jumped in front of a pass by Flacco, then weaved through traffic for a 40-yard interception return touchdown that ended the scoring.
Willis McGahee had a pair of touchdown runs for the Ravens, but Flacco finished 13-for-30 with three interceptions. The Steelers went on to win the Super Bowl against the Arizona Cardinals on Santonio Holmes’ last-minute sideline touchdown grab.
2010 Divisional Round — Steelers 31, Ravens 24
Rashard Mendenhall’s 2-yard touchdown run with 1:33 left broke a 24-24 tie and lifted the second-seeded Steelers to the victory. The game-winning score was set up by a 58-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Antonio Brown on third-and-19.
The Ravens had led 21-7 at halftime before Roethlisberger threw a pair of third-quarter touchdowns to draw the Steelers even. Lardarius Webb had a go-ahead, 55-yard punt return touchdown waved off by a holding call during the return. Five plays later, Billy Cundiff tied the game for the Ravens on a 24-yard field goal with 3:54 left.
2014 Wild Card Round — Ravens 30, Steelers 17
The Ravens held off the Steelers for their first playoff win against their archrivals thanks in large part to Terrell Suggs’ interception that became known as the “Thighmaster.” With the Ravens leading 23-15 midway through the fourth quarter, Roethlisberger’s pass under duress glanced off the hands of running back Ben Tate. Suggs made a diving interception, securing the ball between his knees as he rolled to the ground.
The Ravens essentially put the game away on the next play when Flacco threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to tight end Crockett Gillmore. Steve Smith Sr. had five catches for 101 yards in that game, and Torrey Smith caught a touchdown pass.
The Ravens’ quest for the Super Bowl ended the next week in New England in a 35-31 loss.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox
Updated Jan. 9, 2025