(6) Pittsburgh Steelers @ (3) Baltimore Ravens
Saturday, January 11, 8:00 PM ET (Prime Video)
Behind the Houston Texans, the Pittsburgh Steelers have got to be the most overrated team in the postseason this year.
The Steelers started off the year hot despite Russell Wilson recovering from a calf injury that he had been dealing with since the start of training camp, and even after they made the switch from Justin Fields to Wilson (which wasn’t a unanimously popular choice), they managed to look like one of the best overall teams in the AFC.
But the more Russell Wilson and Arthur Smith put on tape, the more NFL defenses became wise to the Steelers’ ways. The key for this team is simply the same as it has been for years now: The defense is going to have to keep this a tight game until the 4th quarter.
And at that point, who knows? Maybe Wilson can work some magic.
I’m not banking on it with the Steelers going to Baltimore to face off against the Ravens. Even winning one game in the last month of the season would have likely given Pittsburgh the much more favorable matchup of a road trip to Houston, but they lost not only their hold on the AFC North, they could barely hold onto the 6th seed. Thank goodness for the 13-6 win over Denver early this season…
The Ravens just look like a team that is too focused to get beat by an opponent they know this well. It will take the Steelers either dominating defensively and forcing a bunch of turnovers to win this game, perhaps Russell Wilson channeling the version of himself we saw early this year and winning a shootout.
In either scenario, I’m still taking the Ravens, who are favored by a whopping and borderline disrespectful 9.5 points.
Prediction: Ravens win 31-22