Over the years, Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs had t-shirts created to stoke the rivalry with Pittsburgh.
In 2009, the shirt read: “You Bet Your Sweet Ass I Hate the Steelers.”
Two years later, the t-shirt said, “Hey Pittsburgh” at the top with a giant purple Raven flipping the bird.
In 2014, Suggs wore a shirt making fun of Steelers coach Mike Tomlin for stepping onto the field and almost impeding a kickoff return by Jacoby Jones. “We will never forget,” the shirt said. “The North remembers.”
Check out Terrell Suggs’ T-shirt. #SteelersWeek pic.twitter.com/X0f0G6wp0A
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 9, 2014
There were no similar antics this week heading into the game.
“Maturity, man!” Suggs said about axing the tradition. “You don’t want to give them any extra locker room material.”
Even though the days of banter and bulletin board material between the Ravens and Steelers are long over, don’t think for one second the Steelers would like nothing better than to bury their AFC North rival.
Since the Ravens took down Pittsburgh 26-14 in Week 4, the teams have gone in different directions.
The Steelers have won three straight games and sit atop the AFC North. Meanwhile, the Ravens have lost three of four and are mired in third place in the division.
As a result, the Ravens likely need to go 6-2 over the second half of the season to end a three-year playoff drought. A loss to the Steelers would be a devastating blow to Baltimore’s playoff hopes.
The high stakes of this game are not lost on either team.
“It’s a big game for us. It’s a division game,” said Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, whose team leads the all-time series 24-21. “It’s a road game. It’s Baltimore. Pick one, or all of the above. We have respect for this rivalry and our participation in it, and we’re preparing with that in mind.”
Pittsburgh’s improved running game has coincided with the recent winning streak. The team had to make adjustments when Le’Veon Bell decided to hold out. Second-year player James Conner has carried the load and enters this week’s matchup with three straight 100-yard games. Conner was held to 19 yards in the first meeting against the Ravens, but linebacker C.J. Mosley has missed practice time this week and that could hamper the defense.
The Ravens also must find a way to contain Antonio Brown, especially if Marlon Humphrey is out of the lineup again with a thigh injury. Brown was held to five receptions for 62 yards in the the first meeting, but he leads all NFL receivers with eight touchdowns.
If Humphrey can’t play, Jimmy Smith will likely matchup against Brown. However, Smith, who suffered a season-ending torn Achilles last season, has struggled since returning from a four-game suspension. The Ravens are just 1-3 with him back in the lineup.
“4-4 is not where you want to be, obviously,” Smith said. “It doesn’t mean your season is over, it just means that every game now is so much more critical. You can’t go on slumps. You can’t go on two-game losing skids now, because you don’t want to leave it up into chances of somebody being 9-7. You know how that stuff goes. You don’t want to chance it. You want to be out there. You want to win the game. So, that’s our mindset.”
Ravens coach John Harbaugh knows he will see a different Steelers team in this second meeting. He also understands the pressure to win this game.
After the bye week, the Ravens play another huge game against the Bengals, who beat them in Week 2.
Pittsburgh has made the proper adjustments to put itself atop of the division. The question is whether the Ravens can do the same.
“They’ve won three in a row. They’re playing really well. They’re not giving up the big plays like they did a little more earlier in the year. They’ve tightened up that part of it. They’ve talked about that. I’ve seen that. To me, they’re playing Steeler football in that sense.
“They’re playing hard defensively. They’ve made big plays on offense. They’re running the ball very well. That’s probably the biggest thing that sticks out. They have James Conner really rolling. The offensive line is healthy with [David] DeCastro back there. They’re the same team that we’ve seen over the years. They’re playing very well, and that’s where they’re at,” Harbaugh explained.
The Ravens have not swept Pittsburgh since the 2015 season.
Harbaugh likes to talk about the need for his team to “stack wins.”
That process better start Sunday.
