Getty Ben Roethlisberger greets a member of the Ravens during a 2020 game.
The Baltimore Ravens have to find a way to scratch and claw into the playoffs this year, and ironically, they might need some major help from an old rival in order to get there.
Baltimore is 9-5 and still on the outside looking in for the playoff push. They will need help in several major ways in order to work themselves into the postseason, and perhaps ironically, the Pittsburgh Steelers could hold the team’s fate in their hands.
Thanks to who the Steelers play on the schedule moving forward, they could boost the Ravens with a win or harm them with a loss, meaning fans could very well have to pull for Pittsburgh if they want a chance at the postseason.
ESPN’s Jamison Hensley recently explained how the Steelers could help hold Baltimore’s fate in their hands.
“One of Baltimore’s clearest paths to clinching a playoff berth: The Ravens win out, and their rival Pittsburgh Steelers beat either the Indianapolis Colts (10-4) on Sunday or the Cleveland Browns (10-4) in the season finale. Baltimore (9-5) is currently the No. 8 team in the seven-team AFC playoff field and holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Indianapolis and Cleveland because the Ravens beat the Colts earlier this season and swept the Browns.”
In other words, the Ravens had better hope the stumbling Steelers can right the ship in a hurry. Pittsburgh has lost three straight games since beating the Ravens just after Thanksgiving, and Baltimore has been trending in the other direction, winners of three in a row themselves.
The prospects of rooting for the Steelers right now might not seem great, but the Ravens have to do it in order to make their playoff dreams a reality.
Ravens-Steelers 2020 Battles Fierce
The game is one of the best rivalries in the NFL at this point, and the 2020 versions have lived up to the hype on the field. Though Baltimore was narrowly defeated 28-24 and 19-15, the games were close, hard hitting and simply epic battles between the sides that mirrors plenty of what’s happened in the rivalry lately. Last season, the Ravens swept the Steelers with some close wins en-route to the AFC North title. This season, the shoe was on the other foot both times.
Now, though, the Ravens will have to let bygones be bygones and cheer for the Steelers to provide them a tiny extra boost so that each team can make the postseason.
Ravens Playoff Hopes Boosted With Wins
Baltimore’s dominating work the last few weeks has helped put them in position for a playoff birth, even as they remain on the outside looking in of the AFC conversation. Miami’s win over New England didn’t allow Baltimore to move up, and the Ravens will now have to hope the Dolphins slip up over the final two weeks of the season against either the Raiders or the Bills in order to allow them to sneak in with a pair of wins themselves. Miami owns a tiebreaker over Baltimore for the final playoff spot. The Ravens, however, might not need to worry about this if they are able to get some help from their NFC North foes the rest of the way.
The margin of error for both teams is very narrow at this point, so wins are the only way in for the Ravens. Not only will they have to win, others might have to as well.
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