The Ravens have won each of their last two games in Pittsburgh. What’s the key to winning this time? Baltimore has to get the lead, hold it, and finish. That’s the three-step to victory.
WHAT: Week 12, Game 11 at Pittsburgh Steelers
WHEN: 8:20 p.m. (ET); Thursday, November 26
RESCHEDULED: SUNDAY, 1:15p
RESCHEDULED: TUESDAY, 8p
RESCHEDULED: WEDNESDAY, 3:40p
WHERE: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh (68,400)
RECORDS: Ravens, 6-4; Steelers, 10-0
LIFETIME SERIES (regular season): Steelers lead, 26-23, but the Ravens have won three of the last five overall meetings; in Pittsburgh, the Steelers lead, 14-10, but the two teams have split their last eight Steel City meetings, with Baltimore winning in each of its last two visits there.
TV and RADIO: WBAL-TV, Channel 11, WIYY-FM, 97.9
REFEREE: Ron Torbert
About the Steelers
–This game will mark the third occasion for the Ravens to be playing on Thanksgiving, with two of those games taking place against Pittsburgh. The Ravens won a 2013 home game against the Steelers, two years after beating San Francisco at home on the holiday in the first-ever “Harbaugh Bowl.” The only other time a Baltimore team played on this holiday was in 1965 when the Colts and Detroit Lions played to a 24-24 tie game in what was then known as Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium, since demolished).
–Pittsburgh and Cincinnati are the Ravens’ opponents they’ve played more than any other in Baltimore’s 25-season history. This Thanksgiving game will mark the 50th regular-season game and 54th overall lifetime meeting between the teams (including postseason); the Ravens have played Cincinnati 49 times and Cleveland on 43 occasions.
–Since the AFC North was formed after the 2002 realignment, the Steelers have the most division titles with eight, the most recent in 2017. But with Baltimore having won the division in each of the last two years, its total is now six. Cincinnati has four AFC North titles, the last coming in 2015, and Cleveland hasn’t won a division title of any kind since taking the old AFC Central in 1989.
–When the Baltimore Colts were part of the NFL, they met the Steelers 11 times (including postseason). Pittsburgh won eight, including a 4-2 record in Baltimore and a 4-1 mark in Pittsburgh.
–Historically, the Steelers franchise has had a contrasting dual identity. From 1933-1971, Pittsburgh had only eight winning seasons out of its first 39 with only one playoff appearance. Since then, it has added 30 playoff appearances (the total of 31 is the league’s third-most, one of only five teams with 30 or more), with eight wild-card berths and a staggering 23 division crowns, tied with the New York Giants and Chicago for the league’s third-most behind Green Bay (27) and Dallas (24).
–Pittsburgh’s eight Super Bowl appearances are tied for the second-most all-time with Dallas and Denver, and three behind record-holder New England. The Steelers’ six Super Bowl championships are tied with New England for the most and one better than the five each won by Dallas and San Francisco. Pittsburgh has made 16 appearances in the conference title game, tied with New England and Dallas for third-most all-time behind the New York Giants (19) and Green Bay (17).
–The return match in this rivalry is part of a rarely-seen scheduling quirk. This year, the Ravens are playing all three intradivisional return games on the road, with the games at Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Cincinnati taking place within the season’s final six weeks. As for Pittsburgh, its return matches with the Browns and Bengals will take place on the road.
–A total of 17 of the teams’ 49 regular-season meetings have been shown in prime time. The Ravens have registered four two-game season sweeps of Pittsburgh (’06, ’11, ’15, ‘19), while the Steelers have five sweeps (’97, ’98, ’02, ’08, ‘17) and will go for their sixth in this game. There have been 15 splits (including 2018, when each team won on the other’s home field, the sixth time that has happened), and Pittsburgh has won three of four postseason meetings, including the 2008 AFC Championship Game. All of the playoff meetings have been in Pittsburgh. Had the Ravens won the 2008 game, they would have played in Super Bowl 43 in Tampa, site of Baltimore’s Super Bowl 35 win (this year’s title game, Super Bowl 55, will also be in Tampa).
–The history of this rivalry has been enriched by the number of close games that have resulted. The Ravens and Steelers have played to one-score margins in 19 of their last 25 regular-season meetings, dating back to December 2007. Also, 14 of the last 25 regular-season meetings between these two teams have been decided by three or fewer points–the most by any pair of teams, outdistancing Dallas-Washington and San Francisco-St. Louis/Los Angeles (eight each). Since 2008, Ravens-Steelers games have had an average margin of 7.3 points, closer than any other pair of teams. In the teams’ last 31 meetings, the Ravens hold a 16-15 edge, with Baltimore also holding a slim 36-point advantage (666-634).
–Heinz Field was built near the Steelers’ former home, Three Rivers Stadium, which was imploded and demolished shortly after the Steelers moved out after the 2000 season. Adding to the luster of the rivalry is that the Ravens won in their last game at Three Rivers and then became the first visiting team to win at Heinz Field. In fact, the Ravens were the first visitors to win at five stadiums currently in use around the league: Pittsburgh, Denver, Tennessee, Washington, and New York (MetLife Stadium).
–Despite many successful seasons in the past, this year’s Steelers got off to a 10-0 start for the first time in franchise history. They are the last remaining undefeated team in the league, but, thanks to the pandemic, four of the first five games were at home, with two on each side of an adjusted bye week. Pittsburgh is playing Baltimore and Washington at home in back-to-back weeks, but the regular season schedule takes a hostile turn for Pittsburgh, ending on the road with a stretch of three such games in four weeks.
–Seven of Pittsburgh’s ten victories have been by ten or fewer points. The only lopsided games in this stretch was a 38-7 home blasting of Cleveland in the season’s fifth game, as well as yawners over Cincinnati and Jacksonville the past two weeks. The team’s run-pass ratio has suffered recently, as the Steelers have run the ball 265 times and attempted 394 passes (including ten sacks allowed), for a very unbalanced minus-129. Pittsburgh has outscored its opposition in all four quarters, with edges of 56-30 in the first quarter and 80-37 in the fourth. The Steelers’ plus-124 point differential is the league’s best.
–Defensively, the Steelers’ 38 sacks lead the league; they are one of only six teams to have 30 or more quarterback takedowns. They are currently on a streak of 67 straight games with a sack, two short of the league record set by Tampa Bay from 1999-2003, a team on which head coach Mike Tomlin played. Pittsburgh also has 99 quarterback hits, the most in the league. But Pittsburgh has allowed 15 passing touchdowns and 17 first downs via penalties, unusually-high numbers for a 10-0 team. The Steelers are also averaging 32:10 of possession time per game, the league’s second-best figure.
–The Steelers are in the middle of the league pack with 55 accepted penalties committed, a total ten fewer than Baltimore, whose 65 flags are the league’s fifth-most. In fact, Pittsburgh’s penalties have gone for 457 yards. The Steelers have been flagged for offensive holding ten times, one of only seven teams in double-digits in that category, and for defensive pass interference on seven occasions, but only once since the last time they played Baltimore. They have jumped offsides on defense only once all season; the Ravens have done so six times. Individually, only five Steelers have more than two penalties. Tight end Eric Ebron has six (including two false starts and three holds), and cornerback Joe Haden has four flags, three for pass interference.
–The Steelers are known for having a playmaking defense, and after a slow start, the team has ascended to the top of the league’s turnover ratio table at plus-12, grabbing the top spot from Tennessee only a week ago. The Steelers’ 15 interceptions and 21 total takeaways both lead the NFL, and the team has lost only four fumbles.
–Through ten games, the Steelers are ranked 21st in total offense (22nd rushing, 18th passing, fourth scoring at 29.8 points per game). Also, the Steelers are second in the NFL in average possession time (32:10), and the team’s 46 percent third-down conversion rate and 69 percent red-zone touchdown rate both rank seventh. Defensively, Pittsburgh is ranked fifth overall, allowing 306.9 yards per game (seventh vs. rush, third vs. pass, first scoring by allowing 17.4 points per game). Pittsburgh is one of only three teams allowing less than 20 points per game (Baltimore and the Los Angeles Rams are the others). The third-down defense ranks 11th, the red-zone touchdown allowed rate is eighth, and the 17.7 first downs allowed per game is the league’s lowest figure.
—Head coach, William & Mary graduate, and Hampton, Virginia native Mike Tomlin, now in his 14th season at the helm but still relatively young at 48, is the 16th head coach in Steelers’ franchise history. But he’s only the third since 1969, following former Baltimore Colts assistant Chuck Noll and Pittsburgh native Bill Cowher. Tomlin has a regular-season record of 143-74-1 (.658), the second-best winning percentage among active coaches (Bill Belichick), but a rather mediocre playoff mark of 8-7. Tomlin has never posted a losing record over a single season in his time coaching the Steelers; the worst he has done is 8-8, which has happened three times (2012, 2013, 2019). Against Baltimore, Tomlin is 13-14 in regular-season play and 2-1 in postseason games.
–Tomlin has won six division titles, reached the playoffs four times in his first five seasons (and in eight of his 13 years overall), and became the youngest head coach in NFL history to win a Super Bowl (36) when his team beat Arizona in Super Bowl 43 in Tampa. Tomlin’s teams have made three AFC Championship Game appearances and played in two Super Bowls, losing to Green Bay in Super Bowl 45 at Dallas. After several collegiate coaching stops, Tomlin coached defensive backs in the NFL at Cincinnati and Tampa Bay before becoming Minnesota’s defensive coordinator, then moving on to Pittsburgh after Cowher retired after the 2006 season. –Notable assistants working under Tomlin include secondary coach Teryl Austin (Ravens secondary coach, 2011-13), quarterbacks coach Matt Canada (University of Maryland interim head coach, 2018), inside linebackers coach Jerry Olsavsky (Ravens backup linebacker, 1998), and wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard, who played against the Ravens in Super Bowl 35 when he was with the New York Giants.
–Starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, a six-time Pro Bowl pick and two-time Super Bowl champion, is now in his 17th season. He made his NFL debut off the bench in Baltimore in 2004, when he replaced Tommy Maddox in the only game the 15-1 Steelers lost that year. He is 14-10 lifetime against the Ravens, but he did not face Baltimore last year due to an elbow injury. Roethlisberger has completed just over 60 percent of his passes lifetime against the Ravens, with 39 touchdowns, 23 interceptions, and a passer rating just over 85. The Ravens have sacked him 60 times, including twice in the teams’ earlier meeting this year. This season, Roethlisberger has hit on 67.1 percent of his passes with 24 touchdowns and five interceptions, playing to a passer rating of 101.3. He has been sacked only ten times. Roethlisberger is backed up by Mason Rudolph, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound South Carolina native taken in the third round of the 2018 draft (76th overall) from Oklahoma State.
–University of Pittsburgh product James Conner has seemingly overcome a few early-career fumbling problems to take over the main ball-carrying role on a team deep in rushing threats. Conner has had the lion’s share of the carries, averaging 4.4 yards on his 145 carries with five touchdowns, half the team’s rushing total. Conner is backed up by second-year back Benny Snell, a 2019 fourth-round pick (122nd overall) from Kentucky, who has three scores. Jaylen Samuels, a 2018 fifth-round pick (165th overall) from North Carolina State, already has an impressive resume, having played in 14 games (three starts) in 2018 and was the Pepsi Rookie of the Week in Week 15. This year, the Steelers drafted former Maryland back Anthony McFarland in the fourth round (124th overall); he has just 20 carries so far as he plays through an illness.
–The Steelers’ uncanny propensity for drafting top-flight wide receivers has continued in recent years with 2019 third-rounder (66th overall) Diontae Johnson, who also chips in on punt returns. Johnson has 49 catches, second on the team to Juju Smith-Schuster’s 58; that duo has combined for nine of the team’s 24 receiving touchdowns. Another gem came in the form of 2020 second-round pick Chase Claypool (49th overall), who has scored eight times (tops among rookies), is averaging over 14 yards per catch, and has an 84-yard touchdown to his credit. Smith-Schuster was slightly shaken up last week against Jacksonville, injuring his foot and ankle when he stepped on a penalty flag.
–James Washington, the team’s 2018 second-round pick (60th overall), has 21 receptions for an 11.6-yard average and three scores; he caught passes from Rudolph at Oklahoma State. In all, four of the Steelers’ top six pass-catchers are wideouts, the exceptions being veteran tight end, former Colt and former Lion starter Eric Ebron (35 catches, fourth on the team, 10.3-yard average, four touchdowns), and Conner, who has 25 receptions out of the backfield. Ray-Ray McCloud, a Clemson product, has 14 catches, and there is a new tight end on the scene in 2019 fifth-round pick (141st overall) Zach Gentry (Michigan).
–The Steelers’ offensive line had allowed only eight quarterback sacks through the season’s first six games but have been more stingy lately, yielding just two in the four games since for a total of ten, or just one per game. Pennsylvania native and left guard Matt Feiler was the only new face last year on a cohesive line, and he can also play right tackle, where he started ten games in 2018. Right guard David DeCastro, the team’s 2012 first-round pick, has made the last four Pro Bowls and is a two-time All-Pro. DeCastro plays next to right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor, a 2018 third-round pick (92nd overall) from Western Michigan. Center Maurkice Pouncey hasn’t missed a game since 2015, and left tackle Alejandro Villanueva is a United States Army veteran who is tough and dependable.
–The Steelers’ defensive line trio is responsible for ten of the team’s league-leading 38 quarterback sacks (12 different players with a sack, five with at least three). The first level leader is defensive end Stephon Tuitt (seven sacks, 32 tackles, 18 quarterback hits, seven tackles for loss), who is playing on a lucrative contract extension. Nose tackle Tyson Alualu was originally a 2010 first-round pick by Jacksonville (tenth overall), and he has 19 tackles and four pass breakups.
–Defensive end Cameron Heyward, who also is playing on an extended deal, is one of the best pass-rushing down linemen in the league. He had 12 sacks in 2017 and, in his last seven games against the Ravens, has three sacks, two forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. He has 34 tackles, sixth-most on the team, and an interception, four tackles for loss, and 14 quarterback hits this year.
–The outside linebacker tandem of TJ Watt (team-high nine sacks), brother of Houston defensive end JJ Watt, and former 2015 first-round pick Bud Dupree (five sacks) is one of the most feared pass-rush duos in the league. Watt, a 2017 first-rounder (30th overall) who usually lines up on the weak side, has 17 tackles and an interception, while strong-sider Bud Dupree (2015, first round, 22nd overall) can boast a total of eight sacks, 15 quarterback hits, and six tackles for loss. He also has 26 tackles.
–One of the more unheralded members of the second level is inside linebacker and 2013 sixth-round pick (206th overall) Vince Williams. He has a team-high 54 tackles, 14 of them for a loss, along with four quarterback hits and three sacks; he has had at least seven tackle in his last two games against the Ravens. With Devin Bush’s season-ending knee injury, Williams’ new inside partner is second-year reserve Robert Spillane, who was entrusted with the ‘green dot’ microphone in his first start against Tennessee, a Pittsburgh win that knocked the Titans from the unbeaten ranks.
–In recent years, Pittsburgh has tried desperately to revamp a leaky secondary, so two years ago, it hit the free-agent market last spring to bring in former Kansas City cornerback Steven Nelson. Nelson starts opposite veteran and Prince Georges County native Joe Haden. In his 11th year in the league, Haden has an interception, nine pass breakups, and 42 tackles, fourth-most on the team. Nelson’s acquisition bumped 2016 first-rounder Artie Burns to a backup role; he would eventually be released. Nelson has a pair of pickoffs, three pass breakups, and 30 tackles. Veteran corner Mike Hilton has had an occasional shoulder problem this year, but he has played through it.
–In the safety spots, the team’s 2018 first-round pick, Virginia Tech’s Terrell Edmunds (21 tackles, five pass breakups), is the starter at strong safety. Pittsburgh made an in-season trade at free safety last year to bring in disgruntled Miami Dolphins draftee Minkah Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick and Edmunds are second and third on the team in tackles with a respective 47 and 44. Fitzpatrick has four of the team’s 15 interceptions, while Edmunds has a pair of pickoffs. They have combined for 13 pass breakups. One of the backup safeties is special-teamer Jordan Dangerfield, a Towson University grad who is the Steelers’ special-teams captain.
–The Steelers’ special-teams unit is turning to former Clemson wideout Ray-Ray McCloud to handle their primary kick and punt return duties. Wideout Diontae Johnson also contributes in that area. McCloud is averaging a robust 13.5 yards per punt return, including a 57-yarder, and 24.2 on kickoffs (eighth-best in the league), while Johnson has averaged 7.1 on seven punt returns. The team average of 11.6 yards per punt return is the NFL’s fourth-best. The coverage teams are a mixed bag, allowing 10.2 yards per punt return and just 20.7 yards per kick runback; the latter number is the league’s ninth-best.
–Because the Steelers have finished off drives well with 36 touchdowns, veteran placekicker Chris Boswell hasn’t had to be called on very often in the field goal department, having attempted just 17 kicks. He has converted 16 of them, but only one of them beyond 50 yards. Boswell has missed three of 33 extra-point attempts. Interestingly, opposing teams have made 11 of 14 field-goal tries.
–The Steelers recently reversed themselves on one of their offseason moves, bringing back punter Jordan Berry, who performed that task for them from 2015-19 before being replaced by Dustin Colquitt, son of former Steelers punter Craig Colquitt. In his first stint with the team, Berry grossed 44.2 yards per punt and netted 39.9 with 131 coffin-corner kicks, and just 15 touchbacks with just one blocked punt. This year, Berry has just two touchbacks and 11 coffin-corner punts in 24 attempts. He is grossing 46.5 yards per punt and netting 39.7.
Prediction
This incredible AFC North Division rivalry has seen a lot of splits over the years (to be exact, 15 over the 24 seasons the Ravens have existed). On six occasions, the teams split by winning at each other’s stadium (1999, 2000, 2001, 2010, 2012, 2018), and I think that pattern will repeat itself this time.
Pittsburgh, going for its sixth-lifetime sweep of the Ravens, won a four-point decision at Baltimore just four weeks ago. But the Ravens–despite costly turnovers, a lack of offensive identity, and overall consistency–did a lot of things very well in that game and were in a good position to win late in the fourth quarter.
On top of that, the Ravens are 2-0 on Thanksgiving, with one of those wins coming against the Steelers. They’ve also won each of their last two games in Pittsburgh.
What’s the key to winning this time? Baltimore has to get the lead, hold it, and finish. That’s the three-step to victory.
Baltimore 26, Pittsburgh 23
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