Redskins, Giants to be Ravens’ new rivals.
Heretofore, the Ravens’ twice-yearly AFC North Division battles with the Pittsburgh Steelers were among the most highly-anticipated games for fans leaguewide.
As the most intense, hard-hitting rivalry in the league, the Ravens and Steelers would often play under the prime-time lights before national television audiences, many times with plenty at stake.
Passionate fans on both sides will no longer have as many opportunities to witness such games as the NFL has announced a few changes to its divisional alignments, beginning in 2020.
Pittsburgh will remain in the AFC North, but the Ravens are being switched to the NFC East in a one-for-one swap with the Dallas Cowboys. Baltimore will now face the Washington Redskins, New York Giants, and current Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles twice per season, home and away.
“You could see the writing on the wall,” Ravens majority owner Steve Bisciotti said in announcing the move, which was overwhelmingly approved at the recent NFL owners’ meetings in Orlando, Florida.
“Actually, this is something we wanted to do several years ago, but the timing didn’t seem right. But to save on travel costs, we figured that if we were in the same division with New York, Washington, and Philadelphia, we could not only make it easier for fans to get to some of our road games, (the move) could stoke some new rivalries along the way.”
Previously, the Baltimore Colts used to play teams such as the Redskins, Giants, and Eagles on a more frequent basis under the old NFL alignment in the 1950s and 1960s.
Realignment, in the form of the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, took away some of those games, as well as rivalries with the Green Bay Packers and Cleveland Browns, much to the chagrin of some fans.
In that transaction, the Colts were placed in the AFC East, where new rivalries developed with the New York Jets, New England Patriots and, most notably, the Miami Dolphins.
Later, after the Ravens were born, the new Baltimore team soon engaged in highly-pitched battles in the old AFC Central against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans.
For many Baltimore fans, however, the sting of the Orioles’ two World Series losses to the Pittsburgh Pirates and numerous playoff losses by the Colts and Ravens to the Steelers continued to make Pittsburgh the number-one villain in the hearts and minds of Charm City denizens.
“Oh, man, this is awful news,” said Fells Point resident and Ravens season-ticket holder Buzz Killington, a regular at Mother’s Federal Hill Grille on game days. “Those are my favorite games of the year. I used to love watching the Ravens kick some Pittsburgh butt! Yeah, we didn’t win all the time, but man, kicking their black-and-gold asses was so sweet!”
Over the 22 seasons of the Ravens’ existence, Baltimore has posted a 21-27 record against Pittsburgh (including playoffs). The Steelers have won the last three meetings, sweeping Baltimore in 2017, but the Ravens won the last postseason meeting between the two, a Wild Card Weekend game following the 2014 campaign.
Luck has been slightly kinder to the Ravens in their lifetime series against the NFC East teams. Baltimore is 3-3 in regular-season play against Washington, 3-2 against the Giants and 2-2-1 versus the Eagles, with the only tie coming on a windy November day at Memorial Stadium in 1997 (10-10).
Severe alterations will need to be made to the Ravens’ preseason schedules, as they included NFC East teams on many occasions. That might be one of the avenues via which Ravens fans can see their favorite team take on Pittsburgh again.
“Dealing with changes like this is part of life in the NFL,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said. “We can only play who (the league) puts in front of us. We’ll just put on our gear and show up where we’re told to show up.
“Always, we will approach our jobs will enthusiasm, verve, vigor and the greatest amount of passion of any team in the league.
“You can count on that.”
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Read the first letter of each paragraph. HAPPY APRIL FOOL’S DAY!
