The Pittsburgh Steelers renewed their bitter rivalry with the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. In what has historically been one of the hardest hitting games of the year between two teams, it didn’t fail to live up to that hype. In this defensive battle, Pittsburgh defense led by superstar TJ Watt would stifle the Ravens offense making one of the most dominant units in the NFL look pedestrian.
However, Baltimore would return the favor preventing Pittsburgh from scoring a single touchdown the entire game. The black and gold had to rely on six Chris Boswell field goals to win this one. Quarterback Russell Wilson remains undefeated as the Steelers starter, winning his first game a part of this historic rivalry.
Steelers Offense Does Just Enough
The Pittsburgh rushing attack was one of the keys to this game. Najee Harris was able to rush for 63 yards, while Jaylen Warren added an additional 41 yards of his own. The quarterback Wilson replaced; Justin Fields even got in on the action rushing twice for 17 yards including coming up just one yard shy from icing the game for the Steelers.
Wilson was being pressure most of the game, resulting in being sacked four times. The former Badger managed to manipulate the pocket and prevent this number from being much higher. Wilson played a solid game, despite throwing one costly interception in the endzone. The veteran signal caller passed for 205 yards, 89 of which went to star receiver George Pickens who continues to thrive since the quarterback change.
The Pittsburgh defense would create some turnovers of their own, rookie linebacker Payton Wilson picked off Lamar Jackson. Then former Raven linebacker Patrick Queen got some revenge on his old team, forcing and recovering a fumble from Isiah Likely. The defense would also pressure Jackson the entire game, getting home twice. Jackson had one of his worst performances of the year against this dominant Pittsburgh defense.
Historic AFC North Rivalry
This Sunday marked the 36th meeting between head coaches Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh. A rare thing in the NFL world, two coaches able to be with their organizations so long to build up such a storied history together. After Sunday’s 18-16 Steelers win over the Ravens, Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin has a 21-15 record going head-to-head with Harbaugh.
This storied rivalry has seen plenty of big names attached to it, Ben Roethlisberger, Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, and many more. Now we can add, Russell Wilson and Derrick Henry to the list of NFL greats to be a part of this historic AFC North battle.
The Pittsburgh Steelers now sit in first place of the AFC North with an 8-2 record. Baltimore slips to 7-4 after suffering their first loss of the month. These two teams will meet again in Baltimore on December 21st, that matchup could very well be what decides who wins this division. Expect both these teams to be in the playoffs and battling for the AFC crown come January.
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