As the Ravens head into Pittsburgh on Sunday, many fans and media have made a big to-do about “Steelers Week.” All of this talk about the big showdown at Heinz Field got me thinking about Ravens rivals, and from what I remember the Steelers were not always considered our main rival. The Tennessee Titans were the team that we Ravens fans always loathed, but somehow that has changed in recent years.
This total transition in who is considered our top “rival” seems a bit ignorant considering the long history of epic battles between the Ravens and Titans. In Week 11 of the 2000 season, the Ravens became the first team to beat the Titans at Adelphia Coliseum in a comeback win that included a missed extra point and field goal as time expired by Titans’ kicker Al Del Greco. In the Divisional round of the playoffs that year, the Ravens had possibly their most exhilarating win in franchise history in Tennessee. Anthony Mitchell’s touchdown on a return of a blocked field goal and Ray Lewis’ interception return for six points led the Ravens to a 24-10 victory over the favored Titans.
The fierce battles continued on after the Ravens run to Super Bowl XXXV. On a Monday night in 2001, the Ravens defense stopped Steve McNair on a quarterback sneak from the one yard line as time expired to hold on for a 16-10 victory. In the 2003 playoffs the Ravens were on the losing end of a great battle, as a 15 yard penalty on Orlando Brown helped Tennessee gain valuable field position for a late field goal to give them a 20-17 victory. The Ravens and Titans met again in 2006, and the Ravens were able to seal a 19 point comeback when Trevor Pryce blocked a Rob Bironas field goal for a 27-26 win.
These great matchups did not end in the early 2000s, as the 2008 season produced two excellent games. In the regular season matchup, an extremely questionable roughing the passer call against Terrell Suggs extended a Tennessee drive that ultimately led to the game winning touchdown. In the Divisional round that year, the Titans dominated the Ravens except for three costly turnovers on the Ravens half of the field. Joe Flacco was the beneficiary of an extra second or two on the play clock while converting a pass to Todd Heap for a critical first down during the game winning drive, ultimately ending on a Matt Stover field goal to put the Ravens ahead 13-10.
Any topic on the Ravens’ most bitter rival of course is a bit subjective. To morph this into objective let’s make a few comparisons between the Ravens’ series with the Titans and that of the Steelers. On the Steelers side of the equation, the Ravens are 11-19 and 0-2 in the playoffs. Of those 30 games, 16 or 53% of them were one possession games (8 points or fewer difference in final score). The average point differential in these matchups was 10.6 points.
In the all time series against the Oilers/Titans, the Ravens are 10-9 and 2-1 in the playoffs, which is a pretty even series. Of the 19 games, 13 or 68.4% were one possession games. The average point differential in these games was 8.3 points.
To recap the numbers, the Ravens and Titans series has played to an almost even record over 19 matchups whereas the Steelers have dominated the Ravens, especially in the playoffs. A Ravens/Titans matchup has been a one possession final score more often by 15%, and the Ravens/Titans games have been closer by an average of 2.3 points per game.
These anecdotes and numbers suggest that there is some credibility to the Ravens/Titans matchup being on par with the Ravens/Steelers.
Trust me, the stench of Pittsburgh, the arrogance of Roethlisberger and that smirk on Hines Ward’s face makes my blood pressure skyrocket just as much as any other Ravens’ fan. Perhaps blinded by our deep rooted hatred of the Steelers we have all but forgotten who our first true bitter rival really was.
Without question, today the Pittsburgh Steelers is the team we love to hate most.
