Skip to player
Skip to main content
Skip to footer
Search
Connect
Watch fullscreen
Like
Comments
Bookmark
Share
Add to Playlist
Report
Ravens vs. Steelers: A Critical Playoff Showdown Analysis
SportsGrid
Follow
1/11/2025
Category
🥇
Sports
Transcript
Display full video transcript
00:00
What this game represents to me is so perfect.
00:05
If you are the Ravens, and you are the,
00:09
if this is finally the year where being the best team
00:13
in the regular season, by the way, 12 and five,
00:15
three seed, absolutely not the best team
00:16
in the regular season, they're not.
00:19
But if that's, if it's gonna finally translate,
00:22
it translates by beating the Pittsburgh Steelers by margin.
00:27
Not squeaking it out with Justin Tucker in a clutch kick,
00:30
not Russell Wilson turning it over late,
00:33
you dominate this team.
00:35
Because this Steelers team is the same team
00:39
that made the playoffs, Mason Rudolph,
00:43
or the final year of Big Ben, they show up,
00:48
they're completely outmatched, they are only here
00:51
because Mike Tomlin going 500 is completely undeniable,
00:55
and they get absolutely rolled.
00:58
But what is challenging for Baltimore
01:01
is no opponent has been better at grabbing the Ravens
01:06
and saying, get right down here to our level
01:08
than the Pittsburgh Steelers, every time without fail.
01:13
Not only did Pittsburgh beat this team
01:15
in a preposterous victory earlier on this year,
01:18
even the 17 point win that went the Ravens way
01:23
at one point was I think a seven point game
01:26
and Lamar threw an interception
01:28
that looked like it was gonna flip
01:30
the whole thing on its head.
01:31
And then Russ threw a pick six and the rest is history.
01:34
That's why I say that, Nani, because either
01:37
we're going to find out that this year, to me,
01:40
like I know Lamar's had some fine round ones, this is it.
01:44
If the Ravens roll here, it is actually going
01:47
to look different for Lamar in this postseason.
01:49
If this is a four point victory,
01:52
it's gonna feel like the same thing as always.
01:54
Yeah, if we are setting up the game too,
01:55
look at it this way.
01:56
This is one of the few times where it'd be basically
01:58
a double digit playoff spread and you say,
02:00
Donnie, Baltimore won that game.
02:02
Yeah, that's what they're supposed to do.
02:03
Donnie, the Pittsburgh Steelers won that game.
02:05
Yeah, what'd you think?
02:05
That game was gonna be a blowout?
02:06
I mean, it's the Pittsburgh Steelers
02:07
and the Baltimore Ravens.
02:08
It has an odd connotation to it.
02:10
But here's what I like to bring it up to.
02:11
And you're not supposed to think this way.
02:14
Their best wide receiver, Joe,
02:15
is not gonna play in this game, Zay Flowers.
02:17
Gets hurt, you know, banged up knee,
02:18
hopefully he's back next week.
02:19
You know what I say?
02:20
Good, don't throw, like, I'm not saying
02:23
you don't throw the football,
02:25
but it feels like if I have weapons,
02:26
I have to use them, I have to keep this football
02:28
on the ground, that's how you can break
02:30
the Steelers on defense, as opposed to throwing
02:32
the football and putting it in harm's way.
02:34
So when I look at this matchup and say,
02:36
either way it goes, and we're expecting, obviously,
02:38
a Pittsburgh Steelers loss in this game,
02:40
which, who knows what's gonna happen in the future,
02:41
a quarterback, we can get into that later.
02:43
But for me, if you are going to beat this Steelers team,
02:46
run the football, Joe, right at that front side.
02:48
And I think it's with Derrick Henry
02:50
and Lamar Jackson breaking contain.
02:51
He did that in the first half against Cleveland,
02:53
made a lot of plays outside the pocket with his legs.
02:56
Once they built a lead, then they started
02:58
throwing the football a little bit more.
03:00
I think that's the recipe.
03:01
You look at Baltimore's offense right now,
03:03
they've won four games, Kev, by an average margin
03:06
of victory of 23 points per game, right?
03:08
They have the quarterback advantage.
03:09
They already beat this team three weeks ago
03:12
and dominated them in the second half by 17 points.
03:15
And to your point about Russell Wilson
03:17
and Pittsburgh right now, they've lost four straight.
03:20
They haven't had the quarterback advantage
03:21
over the last four games.
03:23
They played Jalen Hurts and lost.
03:24
They played Lamar, they lost.
03:26
They lost to Pat Mahomes and they lost to Joe Burrow.
03:29
And in each one of those games,
03:30
they try to drag those teams into a lower scoring game
03:34
and they couldn't do it.
03:35
They're gonna need a monumental effort,
03:36
in my opinion, from Russell Wilson
03:39
to potentially cover this line or win it out right now.
03:42
They might be able to back the word
03:43
if they get them into a lower scoring game.
03:45
Maybe it's 23-10 and all of a sudden
03:47
they tack on a late touchdown and it makes it look good.
03:51
But at the end of the day, you have to break tendency
03:54
and without throwing the football consistently,
03:57
how are they gonna score points?
03:59
How are they gonna score?
04:00
If George Pickens is getting eight targets
04:02
and he has two catches for eight yards
04:05
and Friar Muth is your big target coming out
04:07
in terms of the tight end, you can't win games like that
04:10
against better elite quarterback competition.
04:13
So again, I think Baltimore,
04:15
they try to run the football early.
04:17
If they have success and build a lead,
04:19
put the game on Russell Wilson
04:20
and he's gonna have to deliver
04:22
in order to pull this game out.
04:23
I do lean Pittsburgh because it is a divisional game,
04:27
but I do feel this game is an under
04:28
just because of how inconsistent
04:30
Pittsburgh's offense has been.
04:32
By the way, real quick on this.
04:33
You know, like you handicap a regular season,
04:35
you play four or five really good teams
04:36
and now finally we get the Carolina Panthers.
04:38
They played really good teams down the stretch
04:40
and get a really good one in the playoffs.
04:42
So there's not anything we can lean back on
04:43
when I talked about the 16 and a half points.
04:45
Like, oh, they'll get it together today.
04:46
Will they?
04:47
It's another good team.
Recommended
2:27
|
Up next
Steelers vs. Ravens Game Analysis: Playoff Prospects
SportsGrid
1/11/2025
3:28
Ravens vs. Steelers Game Analysis & Betting Insights
SportsGrid
1/11/2025
2:24
Steelers vs. Ravens: Crucial AFC North Showdown Preview
SportsGrid
12/20/2024
4:03
Ravens vs. Steelers Rivalry Showdown: Hopes and Stakes
SportsGrid
12/17/2024
6:50
Steelers vs. Ravens: Epic NFL Playoff Showdown Preview
SportsGrid
1/10/2025
2:10
Steelers Struggling into Playoffs: Analysis & Predictions
SportsGrid
1/7/2025
1:37
Steelers vs. Ravens: Playoff Showdown Preview and Insights
SportsGrid
1/6/2025
1:15
Steelers vs. Ravens: Betting Insight on Their NFL Showdown
SportsGrid
12/18/2024
2:28
Harbaugh Discusses Strategy for Ravens vs. Steelers Matchup
SportsGrid
1/7/2025
4:38
Steelers and Ravens Clash: A Pivotal NFL Game Preview
SportsGrid
11/12/2024
3:27
T.J. Watt Cleared to Play, Key Insights on Steelers vs. Ravens
SportsGrid
12/19/2024
4:45
Steelers vs. Ravens Preview: AFC North Battle Heats Up
SportsGrid
11/15/2024
7:06
Ravens vs. Steelers: Intense Rivalry and Game Strategy
SportsGrid
11/17/2024
5:08
Baltimore Ravens Secure Playoff Spot, Top AFC North
SportsGrid
12/22/2024
3:25
Steelers vs. Ravens: AFC North Showdown in the Steel City
SportsGrid
11/14/2024
2:09
Mike Tomlin Preps Steelers for Rivalry Game with Ravens
SportsGrid
11/15/2024
2:18
Steelers vs. Ravens: Game Insights and Predictions
SportsGrid
11/21/2024
3:03
Steelers vs. Ravens: Surprising Spread and Game Predictions
SportsGrid
1/10/2025
5:55
Ravens vs. Giants Showdown: NFL Week 15 Game Analysis
SportsGrid
12/15/2024
0:59
Ravens vs. Steelers Rivalry: Predictions for Saturday's Matchup
SportsGrid
12/19/2024
4:35
Ravens vs. Bills: The Weekend's Top Playoff Showdown
SportsGrid
1/14/2025
1:58
Steelers Score 44 Points in Stunning Victory Over Bengals
SportsGrid
12/2/2024
5:43
Steelers' Playoff Woes Intensify After Crucial Loss
SportsGrid
1/5/2025
2:14
Steelers vs. Bengals Showdown: Critical AFC North Clash
SportsGrid
1/3/2025
2:03
Ravens vs Bills: Epic Showdown at AFC Division Round
SportsGrid
1/16/2025