At around 4:20pm last Sunday, Lamar Jackson fell to the turf at M&T Bank Stadium with the ball still in his possession. As the clock rolled to triple zeroes, the 2025 Ravens’ season officially went on life support.
In the long and storied history of the Ravens-Steelers rivalry, there have been countless memorable moments.
This past Sunday was not amongst the pantheon of those moments.
Yes, the AFC North lead was at stake in early December but outside of that, not much from this contest was worthy of Ravens-Steelers lore.
While the Ravens have enjoyed a great deal of regular season success over the last 7-8 years, the Steelers have been mired in mediocrity for most of that time. Even when the Ravens have dropped games to the arch rivals over the last few years, it was clear that Baltimore was the better team. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case.
What transpired in Week 14 was a stalemate between two middling football teams, riddled with shortcomings up and down their respective rosters. Along with two longtime head coaches with murky futures.
Both teams have expensive but underperforming defenses, questionable offensive lines and limited weapons on the outside. The one advantage Baltimore does hold over Pittsburgh is that they have their franchise quarterback, while the Steelers are once again trying to squeeze the last drops of competitive play out of a grizzled veteran.
Despite what should be a leg up at the most important position on the football field, it was the Steelers long in the tooth old pro, Aaron Rodgers that made the right reads, put the perfect touch on his throws and audibled at the right time to keep the Ravens defense off balance at important moments of the contest. A Pittsburgh offense that hadn’t completed a pass of 20 air yards in the last 5 weeks combined (they were 0 for 13 with 3 INTs in attempts of 20+ air yards during that span), connected on 4 of those passes this past Sunday alone.
On the other hand, Lamar Jackson continually looked hesitant and indecisive behind a shaky at best offensive line. The offense also faltered in the red zone yet again, scoring just 2 touchdowns in 6 red zone chances. Then, with the game on the line and a chance to drive for a game winning touchdown, Jackson and the offense looked positively befuddled. The attempt at a 2 minute offense looked more like a sloppy drill at training camp in early July. The ill fated final drive ended in the afore mentioned sack of Lamar Jackson at the Steeler’s 38 yard line.
While you cannot ignore the highly questionable officiating that had a major impact on the outcome of the game, the Ravens are not in the position to gripe about calls not going their way. The same self inflicted mistakes, turnovers and penalties, surfaced at the worst possible times to sink any hopes of a victory on Sunday.
In spite of back to back lackluster performances in division games at home, even with an uncharacteristic 6-7 record in December, this Ravens team can still pick themselves up off the mat and find a way to an AFC North title.
This entire organization, from GM Eric DeCosta, to Head Coach John Harbaugh, to their superstar Lamar Jackson, on down to the special team players and back ups, need to take a long look in the mirror. For all of the talk of injuries and unclear explanations from NFL officials, the ultimate responsibility for Baltimore’s current predicament is falls on their own collective shoulders.
While there are longer term, big picture issues that cannot be solved over the coming weeks and months, the Ravens can certainly man up and still salvage something out of this 2025 season. But are they capable?
Jamie has been a Baltimore sports fan since he can remember. He grew up in Gwynn Oak and currently resides in Hampstead with his wife and 2 kids. He graduated from UMBC with a Bachelor of Arts in History. He’s currently employed at Verizon Communications in Hunt Valley.