ExtremeRavens Posted November 15 Posted November 15 Terrell Suggs used to tell younger Ravens teammates that playing the Steelers would define them. He also said he and his comrades wanted to kill Hines Ward. Joey Porter stalked the Ravens’ team bus, hoping to fight Ray Lewis as retribution for perceived taunts from the Baltimore sideline. More important than these extracurricular words and ill feelings were the games. The stakes were high; Pittsburgh and Baltimore finished one-two in the AFC North seven times between 2010 and 2020. But that only hinted at the essence of this neighborhood war. As violent as a typical NFL game is — the proverbial car crash on every play — Ravens-Steelers tapped into something more primal. Even a casual fan watching on television picked it up. “I remember watching it,” Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson said Wednesday as his team prepared to renew hostilities with the Steelers. It was the rare NFL rivalry that meant something to fans with no stake in it, a twice-annual encounter with the uncomfortably compelling brutality at the heart of America’s favorite sport. In recent years, however, Ravens-Steelers turned stranger and somehow less central to the story of the NFL or even the story of the AFC North. With Jackson as their centerpiece, the Ravens have made the playoffs five times since 2018 while the Steelers have reached three postseasons. At the same, time, Pittsburgh has owned Baltimore head-to-head, winning seven of the past eight meetings by a combined margin of 28 points. Those losses featured some odd lapses such as the Ravens’ seven drops in Pittsburgh last year. More importantly, Jackson, a natural successor to Suggs, Ben Roethlisberger, Ward and Lewis as the rivalry’s central character, has missed six starts against the Steelers. He was sick with COVID-19 once, resting up for the playoffs twice and injured thrice. Without him, the games were close, unpredictable but diminished. When was the last time a meeting between the Ravens and Steelers produced an indelible memory? Antonio Brown’s stretch over the goal line on Christmas Day 2016 that secured a 31-27 win and the AFC North for the Steelers? Maybe Pittsburgh’s 39-38 comeback win on a Sunday night in December the following year? In other words, before most players on either current roster joined the fray. Which helps explain why Sunday’s matchup in Pittsburgh is so tantalizing for old-school fans of the blood feud. Pittsburgh (7-2) and Baltimore (7-3) again hold first and second place in the division, both three wins clear of the Cincinnati Bengals, who muddied the picture at the top in recent years. Both have played well enough to inspire visions of deep postseason runs. Jackson will lead one of the most efficient offenses in recent NFL history against the Steelers’ No. 2 scoring defense. “It’s trying to win the division; that’s the first way to get in the tournament, first way to try to win a world championship,” Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken said. “We didn’t play very good last year on the road. Gave that away.” There are big new characters to freshen things up, from Derrick Henry leading the league in rushing for Baltimore to Russell Wilson adding a downfield passing element to Pittsburgh’s suddenly threatening offense. Others have crossed battle lines, with linebacker Patrick Queen going to the Steelers and wide receiver Diontae Johnson coming to the Ravens. On a Sunday that also features the 9-0 Kansas City Chiefs visiting the 8-2 Buffalo Bills, it’s a showdown compelling enough to seize center stage. “It’s exciting,” Ravens tight end Mark Andrews said when asked if it feels fitting to face Pittsburgh with a chill in the air and the division lead on the line. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson talks with wide receiver Diontae Johnson, a former Steeler who came over in a trade from the Panthers. “I feel like social media has just changed the difference between how intense the rivalry was back then versus now,” Jackson said of the Ravens-Steelers clash. (Kim Hairston/Staff) He did not, in his next breath, profess enduring dislike for the gold and black or threaten to bury his former teammate, Queen, with a block. Such jabs rarely creep into statements from either side in this era. The Ravens’ locker room was, if anything, unusually buttoned up as preparations for the Steelers accelerated. Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr, who also played in the rivalry, said there’s no less intensity: “I think you probably just can’t say it out loud anymore.” A young Jackson might have delighted in watching those old defensive stare downs. But he’s not sure such a singular rivalry is possible these days. “I believe [that] social media [has] got everyone [as] rivals right now,” the reigning NFL Most Valuable Player theorized. “Every team we go against, no matter who we’re playing, some kind of way, [there’s] some history. So, I feel like social media has just changed the difference between how intense the rivalry was back then versus now.” He’s not wrong. Fans are more apt to pit him against the Bengals’ Joe Burrow or the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes than they are to obsess over his record against Pittsburgh. That said, a virtuoso performance against the defense that has held him to a 66.8 passer rating would be another highlight in a season shaping up to be Jackson’s greatest. If there’s a player most apt to stoke the old animosity between Pittsburgh and Baltimore, it might be Queen, who has now seen the rivalry from both sides. He spoke to Pittsburgh reporters Wednesday about the hurt he felt when the Ravens did not offer him a contract in the wake of his 2023 Pro Bowl season. But he made it clear that what will happen Sunday transcends his personal emotions. “A whole lot of trash talk. A whole lot of hitting. That’s basically it,” Queen said. “It’s not going to be a lot of trick stuff going on. It’s going to be football plays. We are going to line up and see who lasts the longest. … Practice is going to be more intense. Meetings are going to be more intense. Everybody is going to be locked in.” That might not stack up to Porter wanting to rumble with Lewis in the parking lot or Haloti Ngata breaking Roethlisberger’s nose or Steelers safety Ryan Clark knocking himself and Ravens running back Willis McGahee loopy in a terrifying head-on collision. But it’s a start. Have a news tip? Contact Childs Walker at daviwalker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6893 and x.com/ChildsWalker. View the full article Quote
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