Cheat Sheet: Steelers at Ravens

HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN

• TV coverage: Broadcast nationally on the NBC Network (WPXI-TV locally in Pittsburgh).
• Steelers Radio Network - Game coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. ET; Pregame programming begins at 12:30 p.m.; Postgame coverage starts immediately following the game.
• Don't miss a minute of the action... check out all of the ways that you can watch, listen and follow along on gameday. Click here >>>

INJURY UPDATE

The Steelers will travel to Baltimore to take on the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium.
Check out the most updated Injury Report: Click here >>>

SERIES HISTORY

This outstanding rivalry started in 1996 when the Ravens moved from Cleveland to become the Ravens. Since then, Pittsburgh leads the series 34-25, including four playoff matchups. In the playoffs, the Steelers have lost just once against Baltimore. Pittsburgh won six of the first seven meetings. They've also won six of the last seven, including the most recent matchup earlier this year, a 17-10 victory in Week 5. The Steelers have swept Baltimore in two of the past three seasons and will look to make that three of the past four. Mike Tomlin is 20-16 against the Ravens. John Harbaugh is 15-19 against Pittsburgh.

MATCHUP OVERVIEW

• Baltimore has not only clinched the AFC North crown, but also is the top seed in the AFC playoffs. The Ravens' six-game winning streak is the longest in the NFL and their plus-210-point differential also tops the league. Baltimore has outscored its opponents by 97 points over the past six games. The Ravens are 6-2 at home, but only 3-2 in the division. The Steelers are 4-1 in the AFC North and 4-3 on the road. Pittsburgh has a minus-27 point differential and is on a two-game winning streak. Baltimore has led in the final two minutes of all 16 games this season, tied with the 2007 Patriots as the only team to do so.
• The AFC North has a combined record of 41-23, the best of any division. The NFC North and NFC West are a distant second with 33 combined wins.
• Since the NFL went to an 18-week schedule, the Steelers are undefeated (5-0) in Weeks 17 and 18.
• Pittsburgh is coming off its highest scoring weeks in each of the past two games, with 64 combined points against the Bengals and Seahawks. Baltimore scored 89 points over the past two games.
• The Ravens' plus-12 turnover differential is the best in the NFL, but Pittsburgh is second at plus-11. Baltimore leads the NFL with 29 takeaways and is third with 18 interceptions and fourth with 11 fumble recoveries. The Steelers have 25 takeaways, but the league's fewest giveaways with just 14. Baltimore has turned the ball over 17 times and its seven interceptions are the fewest in the league. The Steelers have only thrown nine interceptions and their five fumbles lost is better than every team other than Cincinnati. Baltimore turned the ball over three times in Week 5 in Pittsburgh.
• Baltimore has am average time of possession of 31:23, which is fifth-best in the NFL. Over the past three weeks the Ravens are at 31:58. The Steelers season-long time of possession is 29:18 (21^st) and over the past three weeks, Pittsburgh sits at 30:48. The Steelers ran 22 more plays than Seattle in Week 17 and possessed the football for 37:33 on the road.
• The Steelers have allowed 713 more passing yards and 10 more passing touchdowns than they have themselves this season.
• In terms of yards per route run for the season, Baltimore's Odell Beckham comes in at 1.91, Zay Flowers at 1.64 and Rashod Bateman at 1.15. For the Steelers, George Pickens is at 2.2, Diontae Johnson at 1.82 and Allen Robinson at .73.
• Baltimore has scored 30 more touchdowns than it has allowed this season and has created 56 more first downs. The Ravens average 2.2 more yards per pass attempt than they allow and are plus-20 in sack differential. The Ravens have 21 more rushing touchdowns than they have allowed and average .5 yards per carry more than they give up.
• Baltimore's offense is second in points per game and its defense is first in points allowed. Of all the top seeds in their respective conference for the playoffs since 2018, none of those 10 teams can say the same.
• In terms of EPA on just first and second downs, the Ravens have the NFL's fourth-best defense, and the Steelers are eighth. Baltimore also has the fifth-best early down offense while the Steelers are 19^th.
• Pittsburgh uses a nickel package with five defensive backs on the field 36.2% of the time, 31st in the league. Baltimore's defense is in nickel 82.1% of its snaps, the highest rate in the league.
• Only Nick Bosa (35) and TJ Watt (34) have more quarterback hits this year than Ravens defensive tackle Justin Madubuike (32).
• Mason Rudolph is now 7-4-1 as a starter for the Steelers.
• Over just the past two weeks, Baltimore's offense has the NFL's best EPA/play, the Packers are second and the Steelers are third with Rudolph at quarterback. Over those two weeks, the Steelers are third in EPA per dropback and second in the league in rushing EPA.

WHEN PITTSBURGH HAS THE BALL

• The Steelers now average 5.1 yards per play, but over their past three games they are at 5.9. Only the Browns are better than Baltimore's 4.6 yards per play allowed, but over the Ravens' last three games, they allow 5.8.
• Pittsburgh has thrown the ball just 53.7% of the time this year. Only five offenses throw it less. In the past three games, only the Bills, at 45.4 %, throw it less than Pittsburgh. When ahead on the scoreboard, Pittsburgh has just a 45.7% drop back rate. Only one offense under such circumstances throws less. When the Steelers have led in the second half of games, they throw just 36.7% of the time, the lowest percentage in the NFL.
• The Steelers offense is in 11 Personnel (1 RB/1 TE) 75.4% of their snaps this year. That is the fifth-highest rate in the league. Opposing offenses are attacking the Ravens out of 11 Personnel 79% of the time, which is the highest rate in the NFL.
• Baltimore allows just 16.4 points per game, best in the NFL. The Ravens also are first in sacks and takeaways. Baltimore is second in the league in red zone scoring and touchdown percentage allowed, as well as fourth in total yards allowed (302.1) per game and sixth in passing yards allowed (195.6) per game. They allow the third-lowest completion percentage.
• In terms of offensive points per game, Baltimore has faced the Dolphins (1^st), the 49ers (3^rd) and the Lions (5^th). Baltimore's offense is second so that wasn't an option. In those games, the Ravens outscored their opponents, 127-44.
• The Steelers put up a season-high 468 yards last week in Seattle in game in which they didn't have a three-and-out offensively. Only five different Steelers skill position players, and just two wide receivers, touched the ball in that game.
• Mason Rudolph's total EPA of 12.5 was the seventh-highest among all NFL quarterbacks in Week 17. Rudolph targeted out-breaking routes on 37.5% of his attempts last week, completing all nine of those for 149 yards.
• Just isolating Week 16 and 17 among NFL passers with 20-plus attempts, Rudolph has the NFL's sixth-most passing yards (564), the highest yards per attempt (11.1) and the 10^th highest yards per attempt (9.0).
• Rudolph averages 10.5 yards per pass attempt compared to 6.4 for Kenny Pickett and 5.9 for Mitch Trubisky.
• George Pickens has 326 receiving yards over the past two weeks and is averaging 29.6 yards per catch with Rudolph as the starting quarterback. The last time he faced Baltimore, Pickens racked up 130 receiving yards. In Seattle, Pickens averaged 5.04 yards per route run. Of wide receivers with at least 50 targets this season, Pickens ranks second in routes run per team drop back, fourth in yards per target, second in yards per reception and sixth in yards after the catch per reception. Rudolph has targeted Pickens on 30.6% of his pass attempts this season, the highest rate on the team. Pickens has five receptions of 34-plus yards over the past two weeks with Rudolph.
• Diontae Johnson has been targeted nine times over the past two games, catching six passes for 91 yards. His 42-yard reception last week was his longest gain of the season, and his 76 receiving yards was the most since Week 9.
• Baltimore allows 5.9 yards per target to receivers aligned on the perimeter, the best in the league.
• The Ravens have 15 different defenders with a sack this season. Madubuike leads the way with 13, followed by Jadeveon Clowney with 8.5 and Kyle Van Noy with 8. Madubuike has at least half a sack in 12 of his last 13 games. Rudolph has only been sacked twice in the past two games.
• Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren have combined for 329 carries for 1,514 rushing touchdowns and nine touchdowns. They have combined to catch 80 passes for 502 receiving yards. No other Steelers player has more than 54 rushing yards.
• Warren has route participation marks of 83%, 59%, and 81% over the past three games and has received at least 20% of the team's targets over that stretch. Of all NFL running backs with at least 50 targets, Warren is sixth in targets, fifth in receptions, 12^th in receiving yards, eighth in team target percentage, third in targets per route run, fifth in yards per route run, and fifth in yards after the catch.
• Two weeks ago, Harris' 19 touches tied his season high. Last week, Harris touched the ball 27 times, all rushing attempts. He's scored three touchdowns over those two games. Just based off EPA in Week 17, only James Conner and Aaron Jones gave their respective teams more than Harris. And Warren wasn't far behind, finishing as the 10^th best running back in Week 17. Of Harris' 122 rushing yards last week, 118 came after contact.
• Of running backs with at least 100 carries, Harris ranks seventh in percentage of runs to go for 15-plus yards. He needs 77 rushing yards to reach his third-straight 1,000-yard season to start his career. Harris is shooting for his third-straight game with 75-plus rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. Last week, Harris' 27 touches were his most of the season.
• Of running backs with at least 100 carries, Warren ranks second in yards per carry and second in percentage of runs to go for 15-plus yards. Warren has 50-plus yards from scrimmage in eight of his last nine games. Warren's 17 touches last week were also a season high.
• The Steelers averaged just 2.9 yards per rushing attempt against Baltimore earlier this season, but did have 30 rushing attempts. But since Week 10 against Cleveland, the Ravens' run defense has allowed 878 yards on the ground (125.4 per game). During those most recent seven games, Baltimore's opponents have averaged 5.2 yards per carry.
• The Ravens' starting linebackers, Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen, have only missed a combined 53 snaps this season.
• Kyle Hamilton is the only defensive back in the NFL with 10-plus tackles for loss and pass defenses.
• Per EPA, only five offenses have faced a more difficult slate of defenses thus far than Pittsburgh … and the Ravens currently have the NFL's second-best defense per EPA.
• The Steelers have secured their 20^th-straight season without a losing record, the second-longest streak in NFL history.

WHEN BALTIMORE HAS THE BALL

• Baltimore's 6.0 yards per play is only behind the 49ers and Dolphins, and over the past three games they sit at 6.6. The Ravens averaged 8.9 yards per play against Miami. Pittsburgh's defense allows 5.5 yards per play for the season.
• Baltimore's 49.4% pass rate is lowest in the league and two full percentage point less than the 31^st ranked offense in this regard. Only the past three games, only the Bills and Steelers throw it less than Baltimore, which is at 46.5%.
• The Ravens use the highest rate of 10 Personnel (1 RB/0 TE) and the third-highest rate of 21 Personnel (2 RB/1 TE) as well as 22 Personnel 2 RB/2 TE) and therefore, are 27^th in their usage of 11 Personnel (1 RB/1 TE). The Steelers see 13 Personnel (1 RB/3 TE) at the league's second-highest rate and 21 Personnel at the fourth-highest rate.
• Baltimore's .54 offensive EPA per play against the Dolphins last week was in the 100^th percentile as was their 1.28 EPA per dropback. In that game, Lamar Jackson's 26.6 Total EPA not only was the best of any quarterback in Week 17, but it was nearly double that of Brock Purdy, who was second at 14.1.
• Tyler Huntley got the start against the Steelers in Week 17 last year and will start again in this game. In that game he attempted 21 passes, completing 14 for 130 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He has appeared in 19 career games and has a 65.6% completion percentage with a touchdown to interception ratio of 7/7 and a 5.8 yards per attempt. Huntley has attempted 314 career passes and has taken 25 sacks, a 12.6% sack rate. For context, the Giants have surrendered a 14.6% sack rate this season, worst in the league, and Tennessee is 31st at 11.7%. Huntley has attempted only nine passes this season.
• Zay Flowers leads the Ravens in end zone targets as well as targets on third and fourth downs. He is seeing 42% of his targets coming off play action. But while battling a calf injury last week, Flowers ran a route on just 54% of the drop backs.
• With Flowers hampered, Rashod Bateman received his largest route participation (88%) last week and led the Ravens with a 27% target share. That is the second time in the past three weeks that he has gotten at least 27% of the targets.
• With tight end Mark Andrews out of the lineup the past five games, Isaiah Likely has averaged 4.8 targets and has run a route on 85% of the drop backs. He's caught four touchdowns and 251 receiving yards over his last four games. 
• Last week, Justice Hill ran a route on 54% of Baltimore's drop backs and received a 23% target share.
• Watt had two of the Steelers' four sacks when these teams last met and is currently tied for the league lead with 17 sacks. He has nine-straight games against Baltimore with at least half a sack. Jackson was sacked just once by Miami last week.
• Jackson has 821 rushing yards this season which leads the Ravens. His 148 rushing attempts are Jackson's most since 2020.
• Huntley has 107 career rushing attempts for 469 yards (4.4 yards per carry) and three touchdowns.
• The Steelers have only allowed 147 rushing yards over the past two weeks. Of those, 25 yards came on a Geno Smith scramble. Running backs have only accounted for 129 rushing yards against Pittsburgh over the last two.
• Baltimore was six-of-six in converting red zone opportunities to touchdowns last week.
• Baltimore has run 1,068 plays this year. Among their offensive linemen, John Simpson has missed just four of those snaps. But the other four starters, Kevin Zeitler, Tyler Linderbaum, Morgan Moses and Ronnie Stanley have missed a combined 946 plays in 2023.
• The average Ravens drive this season starts on their own 32.8-yard line. That is the best starting field position in the league. Meanwhile, the Steelers defense has begun their drives, on average, on the 29.5-yard line. Only eight defenses begin with more difficult field position.
• The Ravens are under center just 20.2% of their snaps, the lowest in the league.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• Of all kickers in NFL history with at least 100 field goal attempts, Justin Tucker is the most accurate at 90.2%. However, Chris Boswell is sixth at 87.1%. Tucker has missed five field goals this season. Boswell has missed two.
• The Steelers leaders in special teams snaps are as follows: Nick Herbig 329, Miles Killebrew 297, Miles Boykin 294, Mark Robinson 291, James Pierre 250, Conner Heyward 229 and Chandon Sullivan 208. Pierre missed one game this season, but everyone else listed has appeared in all 16.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT

Jan. 15, 2011: Steelers 31, Ravens 24, AFC Divisional Round game, Heinz Field

Baltimore manhandled the Chiefs in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, winning 30-7, while the Steelers were on bye to open the postseason. After a slow start, Pittsburgh got on the board first with a Rashard Mendenhall touchdown plunge. But the Ravens roared back and took a 21-7 lead into halftime on the road. The third quarter belonged to the Steelers though with Ben Roethlisberger throwing touchdown passes to Heath Miller and Hines Ward to tie the game. The two teams exchanged field goals before Roethlisberger hit Antonio Brown 58 yards downfield to put the Steelers on the two-yard line very late in the game. Mendenhall sealed the Steelers' victory with a touchdown run with just 1:33 left on the clock. Even with 54 total points scored, this was a defensive battle without question. Baltimore finished with just 126 yards of total offense. Terrell Suggs had three sacks and the Ravens sacked Roethlisberger six times. James Harrison had three sacks of his own as Joe Flacco was sacked five times. Baltimore finished with just 35 rushing yards, while the Steelers could only muster 71 yards on the ground in a very physical affair. After edging out the Ravens, Pittsburgh went on to defeat the Jets in the AFC Championship.

KEY MATCHUPS

Ravens TE Isaiah Likely vs. Steelers safeties - Mark Andrews has been missed, but Likely has really stepped up in his absence. With all the injuries at linebacker and safety the Steelers have been forced to endure, opposing tight ends have been producing big numbers against Pittsburgh to finish out the season.

Steelers Interior offensive line vs. Ravens DT Justin Madubuike - Who is to say how much Madubuike, a true breakout defender, will play in this game, but if he is out there, he presents major problems to the interior of Pittsburgh's offensive line from both a run stuffing and pass-rushing standpoint. Madubuike's contract is expiring after the season, and he will surely demand a massive new deal.