The Baltimore Ravens crossed a major hurdle this weekend as far as their hopes for competing for a Super Bowl are concerned.
They’ve struggled against the Pittsburgh Steelers for much of the last few years, but the Ravens beat the Steelers 34-17 on Saturday and now are tied with them for first place in the AFC North at 10-5 with two games left in the regular season. After a rough stretch in the middle of the season, the Ravens have begun to turn a corner and are starting to resemble the championship-caliber team that everyone expects them to be.
Baltimore’s defense had one of its best games of the season against the Steelers (who were missing their best wide receiver in George Pickens). They held them to 1.7 points per drive and had three sacks and five tackles for loss, and also returned an interception for a touchdown that sealed the game at the end. This defense has come a long way from the early portion of the season where they were allowing explosive plays routinely and getting gashed through the air. They held the Pittsburgh passing game to -0.27 expected points per dropback and did a good job of surviving the few explosive plays that Russell Wilson was able to create.
The defense dominated the Steelers in general in the second half, holding them to a success rate of just 31.8%, according to TruMedia. They were able to really put the clamps on when Pittsburgh was trying to get back into the game, especially when it needed to throw the ball. All Wilson and his teammates could manage was 6.1 net yards per attempt in the second half, which just wasn’t enough with the Ravens offense taking over the game.
This is why the defensive improvement is so crucial for this Baltimore team — the offense is capable of winning a Super Bowl. Lamar Jackson threw three more touchdowns to give him 37 passing touchdowns for the season to just four interceptions, and Derrick Henry was able to run over the Steelers to close out the game. In the second half, Henry had 87 yards on just 11 carries and averaged an obscene 5.4 yards before contact. When the game becomes one-dimensional and all the Ravens need to do is lean on the run game to close things out, they become one of the most dominating teams in the league. They finally might have found the perfect running mate for Jackson to actually win the elusive Super Bowl that they are capable of winning.
Jackson had the good game against the Steelers that had been evading him, Henry redeemed himself after fumbling in the first matchup between these teams, and the defense was able to perform up to their talent level. Getting a home game in the first round of the playoffs will be important, but this Ravens team should still be viewed as a dangerous and credible threat to make a run for the Super Bowl title. The Ravens’ offense has still been able to score 30 points in three of their last four games, only failing to in a loss to the Eagles. The stability that Henry has brought may be the reason why the Ravens can actually punch through this time.
The top of the AFC is incredibly loaded this year, but Baltimore deservedly should be considered in that group. If it can get just enough defense moving forward, the rest of the conference should watch out.
