The Pittsburgh Steelers are gearing up for a pivotal matchup against the Baltimore Ravens. Even though the two have been bitter rivals for decades and they always play each other close, the Steelers have had their way as of late. Pittsburgh has won seven of the last eight meetings, and Lamar Jackson has not defeated them since 2019. That's when his team needed overtime and a great play by Marlon Humphrey to defeat Devlin "Duck" Hodges, who was taking his first career snaps after Mason Rudolph suffered a major concussion earlier in that game.
Ravens Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken is well aware of the series, as well as the fact that Baltimore got swept in 2023, which was his first year with the team. He addressed the recent "rivalry," and thinks that only one side truly feels the effects of it.
"I think, when it comes to divisional rivalries, and depending on how far they go back or the meaning of them ... Sometimes [they're] one-sided rivalries, where you get beat down so much [that] it's a rivalry to you, but you've got the hell beat out of you for so long that the other team doesn't see it that way; that's not as much fun."
Monken's offensive unit put up a combined 20 points against the Steelers during their two matchups during the 2023 season. Even though many of their starters were resting in that Week 18 game, he still doesn't believe that him or his offense has earned the respect of the Steelers' defense.
He later specified that the Ravens played horribly on the road in their last visit to Acrisure Stadium, and he is not wrong. After taking a 10-0 lead in the second quarter, the offense failed to get anything going. The receivers kept dropping the ball, Jackson got sacked four times, and they got shut out the rest of the way. A blocked punt led to a safety and sparked the Steelers' comeback to win 17-10.
Monken Is Likely Reading Steelers Wrong
Monken almost sees the Steelers like the bully that thinks they can push around their little brother at will. He sees them like the Alabama Crimson Tide living rent free in the heads of Tennessee Volunteers fans for many years. Even as a coach of a different SEC team, he saw how that was a one-sided rivalry, but that is not the case with his NFL team.
There have been plenty of criticisms of Head Coach Mike Tomlin's ability to be successful with the X's and O's portion of the game. However, he always has his team prepared against the Ravens. He puts most of his effort into shutting down Jackson's legs and forcing him to win with his arm.
In this particular case, he has moved backup quarterback Justin Fields from second-team offense to scout-team quarterback. It helped that they had to prepare for Jayden Daniels the week before, so the Steelers' defense has already done a lot of preparation for Jackson throughout the last couple of weeks in practice.
The recent record between the two teams means nothing to Tomlin. The dominance has not taken away his respect of the Ravens. He will do everything to make sure Jackson is not comfortable on the field. If he wants to get over the hump and defeat the Steelers, he will have to do so in the pocket.
Steelers-Ravens games are always bloodbaths. No matter who wins, a win will not come easy. Both teams will exhaust every resource they have to eke out a likely three-point win. The Steelers are not content with beating them in the past. They want to win now, and if Monken can't adjust well, he will be on the losing end once again.
