Could Ravens Take Week 18 Spotlight?

As part of the NFL's never-ending quest to make as much money as possible, the league strives to put as many marquee games in primetime as possible. The Baltimore Ravens are facing down such a game in Week 18 with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Nowhere is that more apparent than in the final week of the season, where the league waits to schedule games so that the ones without playoff implications are early on, the ones with them are in the late window and a winner-take-all game, either for a playoff spot or division, is on NBC's "Sunday Night Football."

This year, the Ravens travel to face the arch rival Steelers in Week 18, potentially making for a perfect game to close out the regular season in primetime. In fact, Mike Tirico, NBC's play-by-play announcer for "Sunday Night Football," believes it to be the best option to flex into the prime-time slot.

“If this is Aaron Rodgers’s last year, then why not one game to win the division, or perhaps make the playoffs and keep his career going?” Tirico said, per SI.

Jul 25, 2025; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) participates in drills during training camp at Saint Vincent College. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images | Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

SI's Mitch Goldich felt similarly, but placed the game as the second-best option for the prime-time slot behind the NFC Championship Game rematch between the Washington Commanders and Philadelphia Eagles.

"However you feel about him, Rodgers would be ratings gold," Goldich wrote. "I think people will be fascinated in how he does in Pittsburgh, whether he’ll get back to the playoffs for the first time since he left Green Bay, if he’ll keep Mike Tomlin’s streak of .500 seasons alive, if he’ll be good enough to warrant coming back in 2026, etc., etc. I don’t know that the Steelers are really a Super Bowl contender, but they were good enough to make the playoffs behind a combo of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields last year, and they always seem to be in the mix.

"The Ravens might be the best team in the AFC, and even if the AFC North is settled by Week 18, this could easily be a game dripping with playoff seeding ramifications for them. This is also a classic rivalry that honestly makes me think of 'Sunday Night Football,' and it would feel very much at home here. It would be a great way to end the season."

The Ravens-Steelers rivalry rightfully draws eyes every time, hence why two of the three matchups had their own time slots last season (the Week 16 was at 4:30 p.m. on a Saturday, so not primetime but still not competing against any other games). With the star power on both sides, this will definitely be a strong candidate for prime-time if there's anything at stake at all.

In each of the past two seasons, the Ravens have kicked off Week 18 at 4:30 p.m. ET in a flexed game. They lost what was essentially a meaningless game against the Steelers after already clinching the No. 1 seed in 2023, then thrashed the Cleveland Browns to clinch the AFC North in 2024.

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