OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Round three of Ravens versus Steelers is only five days away.
It's the 5th time these two rivals will play in the postseason, but the first time it'll be in Baltimore.
Back in Week 11, the Ravens traveled to Pittsburgh and suffered a tough 18-16 loss in a game where the Steelers didn't score a single touchdown.
Baltimore played well defensively, holding the Steelers to 4 for 16 on 3rd downs.
However, it was two Justin Tucker missed kicks and 12 penalties proving to be too costly for them.
Fast forward to the rematch in Week 16, the Ravens led the entire game, winning 34-17, gaining 418 yards in total offense.
"We know them, [and] they know us pretty well. There’s always that little chess game going on—Game of Thrones [or] I don’t know, whatever—with them because it’s always something different. There are always wrinkles thrown in every week, so that’s the part of it that we study really hard," says Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.
Saturday proves to be the rubber match with the season on the line.
"You probably have certain things that are understood. There’s a lot of things that have kind of been ingrained in your knowledge of a team in division like that who you’ve already played twice, so your jumping-off point is further down the road for sure," says Harbaugh.
Health-wise, the Ravens say Pro Bowl wide receiver Zay Flowers knee injury is not season-ending and is day-to-day.
It'll take an effort from guys like Rashod Bateman to step up Saturday.
"[Bateman] has always been high on my list and on my charts. I think he’s a tremendous player, tremendous athlete, tremendous competitor, [and] excellent wide receiver. He brings a tremendous skill set to it. He's been playing at a high level all year. He made big plays for us in that game [against Cleveland] this past week. He was a factor in those drives in getting us into scoring position numerous times, so yes, he’s good, but it’s not just Rashod. I don’t think it’s about one guy—it’s everybody. We have a lot of weapons. We can move guys around in different ways, scheme those guys up, and they can all make plays," says Harbaugh.
Defensively, the team looks to continue its excellence on that side of the ball. Flipping the script from what they were earlier in the season.
"You stick to your principles of what you’re trying to do. You try to solve the problems. So much of everything in life is problem-solving, no more so in this kind of a deal. Football is a multi-faceted game. There’s just so many things that go into it. There’s a lot of scheme things. There’s a lot of personnel things. There’s a lot of personality things. There's physiology [and] matchups—there's just a lot that goes into it. There’s day-to-day personal lives. There's psychology, I guess you’d say. So you just try to do the best you can week to week [and] day to day and try to improve," says Harbaugh.
Saturday's Wild Card matchup is Saturday at 8 o'clock, and you can watch it right here on WMAR.
