Even though the Ravens are widely seen as one of the top teams in the AFC and a Super Bowl contender, they're looking up in the standings at the rival Pittsburgh Steelers.
And although Baltimore has had a better record than Pittsburgh since the start of the 2022 season, the Steelers have won seven of their eight games against the Ravens during that stretch.
There's no way around it. A rivalry that is regarded as maybe the fiercest and most tightly contested in the NFL has been lopsided in recent years.
As the Ravens (7-3) prepare to face the Steelers (7-2) Sunday at Acrisure Stadium, Baltimore knows it has to turn that around.
"If you want to win the division, you have to win division games," Head Coach John Harbaugh said Monday. "So that's the deal."
There are many reasons why the Steelers have dominated the series of late. The most noteworthy is that Lamar Jackson has started just three of those eight games. He missed one during COVID in 2020, one in 2021 due to an ankle injury, both in 2022 because of a knee injury, and one last year when the top-seeded playoff-bound Ravens rested all their starters in Week 18.
Jackson has started just four games against the Steelers. The Ravens won the first in 2019 and lost the following three by an average of four points. Jackson's 66.8 quarterback rating versus the Steelers is the lowest he has against any team in the league, as he's thrown four touchdowns to seven interceptions against them.
Jackson didn't get much help in last year's tilt. Baltimore was clearly the better team, but the Ravens lost in Pittsburgh, 17-10, when they dropped seven passes, including multiple touchdowns. The Ravens' backups had a chance to beat the Steelers in last season's regular-season finale, but (now Raven) Diontae Johnson changed that with a 71-yard catch-and-run touchdown in the fourth quarter.
"[The Steelers] have played well against us, and we haven't played well against them, in that sense, as far as moving the ball and scoring points and all that," Harbaugh said. "This is a new game. We don't live in the past."
Scoring has definitely been a problem against the Steelers. The Ravens have averaged just 14.9 points in their past eight games versus Pittsburgh and cracked 20 points just once.
Defense is synonymous with Pittsburgh, and that's the case once again with the Steelers ranked No. 2 in the league in points allowed per game (16.2) and eighth in yards (302.7).
"They've had a great season. They've done a great job against the people they've played against, and they've found ways to win different kinds of ways," Harbaugh said.
"[Their] defense has been very consistent. Obviously, it starts with the pass rush for them and the run defense. That's where they start, and then you have to deal with that. Then, obviously, I think their safeties and their corners do a great job of triggering versus the run and getting up there and making tackles, and then, they're very aggressive in coverage. And you know what? Every year for the last 17 years, that's what you could say about Pittsburgh's defense."
This year's Steelers pose a new challenge. After struggling to find a consistent threat at quarterback in the two years since Ben Roethlisberger retired, Pittsburgh has caught lightning in a bottle with veteran Russell Wilson.
Wilson has won three straight games as the starter taking over for Justin Fields and the Steelers have scored 91 collective points in those games. That's not as much as the Ravens' 110 points in the past three weeks, but the Steelers' offense is hot.
"I have a lot of respect for 'Russ' and what he does well," Harbaugh said. "I think they're leaning into to his skillset, and they have some receivers that match that up a little bit. [The] offensive line continues to grow, and they have two really good [running] backs. That's who they are right now."
The Steelers and Ravens have separated from the pack in the AFC North, as Baltimore holds a three-game lead on second place after sweeping the Bengals. This will surprisingly be the Steelers' first AFC North game this season, as they have all six in the final eight weeks.
As it stands now, it looks like the division crown will come down to Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh – another classic AFC North slugfest down the stretch. Sunday's game won't decide the winner (the Week 16 rematch at M&T Bank Stadium may), but it will set the leader.
Harbaugh said he'll talk to his team about the stakes, but that it doesn't really need to be conveyed to the team. They know.
Cornerback Arthur Maulet, who played two seasons with the Steelers in 2021 and 2022, felt the sting of getting swept by his former team last season with the Ravens.
There's a saying in Baltimore that you're not a Raven until you beat the Steelers. There's still a bunch of players in Baltimore's locker room looking for that badge.
"I just want to win Sunday. That will be my favorite memory," Maulet said. "I'm not a Raven yet and I want to be a Raven."
