Ravens' Five Keys to Victory vs. Steelers

The Baltimore Ravens are slight favorites to come out on top of their Week 18 road primetime matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers to close out the 2025 regular season.

This will mark their third straight primetime game after coming up clutch to save their season in vindicating fashion last season. With a win, they'll punch their tickets into the playoffs while eliminating their archrivals.

In this AFC North do-or-die showdown between two teams who are very familiar with each other, the two-time reigning division champions can become the first team to ever to three-peat by improving their record to 9-8 if they follow these keys.

Continue leaning on the birthday boy

The recipe for success for the Ravens, far more often than not in the Lamar Jackson era, is leaning into their usually dominant rushing attack. That trend has proven to be especially true over the past two seasons since the addition of the future Hall of Fame running back, who will be celebrating his 32nd birthday on game day. They are almost unbeatable in games on which he is a focal point of their plan of attack and is heavily involved, particularly late in the season when the weather turns, and defenders are more reluctant to try to tackle or impede the human locomotive that is King Henry.

In last week's season-saving win over the Green Bay Packers, he closed out December with a historically prolific performance to remember. He racked up a season-high 216 yards on the ground and scored 4 touchdowns on a career-high 36 carries to move into 10th all-time in rushing and fourth in rushing scores. Leaning on him heavily once again, with some occasional change-ups from third-year speedster Keaton Mitchell sprinkled in, would help the Ravens dominate time of possession, dictate the pace of the game, and take some of the onus off of Jackson to have to power the team to victory in his return to the lineup.

Derrick Henry this December…

❄️90 carries (1st)
❄️538 rush yds (1st)
❄️6 rush TD (1st)
❄️29 rush 1st downs (1st)
❄️395 rush yds after contact (1st)

Henry is the only player in NFL history with 500+ rush yards in December in 4 different seasons.@Ravens | #RavensFlock https://t.co/13sH3TpUig
— NFL Researcher (@NFL_Researcher) December 31, 2025

Defend deep passing attack better

Green Bay Packers cornerback Bo Melton (16) catches a pass against Baltimore Ravens cornerback Nate Wiggins (2) in Week 17. — Green Bay Packers cornerback Bo Melton (16) catches a pass against Baltimore Ravens cornerback Nate Wiggins (2) on Saturday, December 27, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. The Ravens won the game, 41-24. Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin | Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Ravens were one of the best defenses at not allowing big plays through the air over the top for the first three-fourths of the season, but have struggled mightily in that aspect in three of their last four games. In last week's win, they made Packers backup quarterback Malik Willis look like an All-Pro by getting beaten every which way by their wide receivers down the field. Their inability to hold their water late in Week 16 against the New England Patriots allowed second-year signal caller Drake Maye lead a furious comeback for one of the marquee wins of his MVP campaign.

In the first meeting of the season against the Steelers, they got carved up by Aaron Rodgers, who was barely pushing the ball downfield up to that point, but went after them from the very first play, finishing with a still-season-high 284 passing yards. Thankfully, he won't have Pro Bowl wide receiver D.K. Metcalf at his disposal due to a suspension because the two of them connected 7 times for 148 yards back in Week 14. While Pittsburgh will be without its top pass-catching weapon and best vertical threat, Baltimore doesn't plan on getting caught off guard this time around and anticipates getting tested until they can prove it's no longer a weakness.

"When you're going against a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers, who can pinpoint, place the ball where he wants to, like I said, they're still taking those shots and everything," defensive coordinator Zach Orr said. "We have to be better on those plays than we were last time."

Take advantage of Steelers over aggressive run defense

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson runs for a touchdown against Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Payton Wilson. — Dec 7, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) runs with the ball for a touchdown against Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Payton Wilson (41) during the first half at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images | Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

The Steelers defense will put up much more of a fight in the trenches than the Packers did last week, with an emphasis on not getting steamrolled by Henry again like they were twice late in the season and playoffs last year. They were able to hold him to just 3.8 yards on 25 carries in their first matchup this season, in large part because they didn't feel like there was a dangerous enough threat from the quarterback position with Jackson being physically compromised. It freed up the backside edge defender to come crashing down the line to make plays in the backfield.

That was the last game that Pittsburgh's eight-time Pro Bowl outside linebacker T.J. Watt played in, and he made a pair of tackles for a loss of 2 yards and no gain on the Ravens' opening drive of the game on plays that would've gone for huge gains had Jackson decided to pull the ball instead of giving it to Henry. In this game with the season on the line, expect to see the two-time league MVP make the Steelers pay dearly if they take the same approach by keeping the ball on some early zone read plays in a similar fashion to how he's done in the past when healthy and how Pro Bowl backup Tyler Huntley did in some key moments last week.

Exploiting Pittsburgh's overzealousness when it comes to trying to slow down the run can also take place through the air, particularly in the play-action passing attack. The Ravens can take advantage of favorable one-on-one matchups at the deep and intermediate levels of the field for chunk plays and even touchdowns. Getting two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Zay Flowers going on deep crossers and attacking the seams with their talented trio of tight ends could lead to a well-balanced attack that the Steelers have no answers for how to defend without compromising themselves one way or another.

Interior pressure needs to step up

Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders is sacked by Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Travis Jones in Week 11. — Nov 16, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) is sacked by Baltimore Ravens cornerback Keyon Martin (38) and defensive tackle Travis Jones (98) during the third quarter at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Ravens' pass rush was woefully inept in their first matchup against Rodgers in a Steelers uniform, not sacking him once and only managing four quarterback hits despite him dropping back nearly 40 times. Not even Defensive Player of the Year favorite, Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns, could get to Rodgers off the edge last week, with the single-season sack record nearly within his grasp. With cerebral quarterbacks like the four-time league MVP, who is a master of manipulating the pocket even at 42 years old, the best chance at sacking and pressuring them is right up the middle.

Getting quick wins off the line or collapsing the pocket flush him out and into the arms of an edge defender or just to force a throw away will be key to the Ravens success on defense in this game. Rodgers will be looking to get the ball out of his hands quickly, but it'll be hard to do if his own offensive linemen are getting put in his lap or can't hold up long enough for him to step and deliver an accurate ball down the field. This will be a big game for the recently extended defensive tackle tandem of fourth-year pro Travis Jones and John Jenkins, as well as hybrid pass rusher Dre'Mont Jones and Tavius Robinson.

Keep the ball out of harm's way

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers runs with the ball after the catch against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 14. — Dec 7, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers (4) runs with the ball after making a catch against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second half at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images | Peter Casey-Imagn Images

Despite being the superior team in terms of talent and momentum more often than not, dating back to 2019 in Jackson's first season as the full-time starter, the Ravens have a losing record against the Steelers of 5-9 over that span, including the playoffs. A big reason for their shortcomings against their annually underwhelming arch rivals, who are perennially mediocre, is that they’ve struggled to avoid self-inflicted wounds and unforced errors, with turnovers being the main culprit.

Pittsburgh's defense has been wildly inconsistent this season, playing absolutely atrociously at times against the best and worst competition. However, they are at their best and most dangerous in games where they can take the ball away and get their middling offense either a short field or more at-bats with the hope of finally hitting on a key touchdown drive. The Steelers are tied with the Houston Texans for the third-most takeaways in the league with 26 and are tied with the Minnesota Vikings for the most forced fumbles with 17.

A lack of ball security, especially late in games and in crunch time, has been the Ravens' most glaring fatal flaw this season and has cost them at least four wins. Making sure ball carriers aren't being loose with the ball in the open field or when trying to fight for extra yards will be paramount, as is Jackson not lobbing ill-advised passes with a defender underneath or trying to zip a ball into a tight window in situations where the defense has the numbers advantage. Not losing the turnover battle against this specific defense that is infamous for being a turnover merchants that feed off the momentum, causing them to generate and struggle to get off the field in games where their opponents don't give the ball away.

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