1) Can Lamar and Ravens break Pittsburgh curse? Lamar Jackson is in the midst of arguably the best season in his career, and thus, the Ravens have looked like a top team for most of the season, including in last week’s five-TD beatdown of the Giants. But when it comes to the Steelers, they can’t quite seem to get it done. Pittsburgh has won eight of the last nine matchups, with Jackson personally 1-4 in the rivalry as the starter. The first showdown this season featured uncharacteristic mistakes all around by the Ravens, as kicker Justin Tucker missed a pair of field goals, Derrick Henry and Isaiah Likely fumbled away the ball and the team was penalized 12 times. It was Baltimore’s only game this season with multiple giveaways, and its first with at least three since Week 5 of last season versus — wait for it — the Steelers. And as for Jackson, he had his worst game of the season, completing just 48.48 percent of his passes for a 66.1 passer rating, both season-lows. All together this allowed the Steelers to win the game despite not scoring a touchdown, a far cry from the Ravens’ dominance on both sides of the ball in other games. Baltimore is a legitimate postseason contender on a good day. But in order to make good on that potential and secure their playoff spot this season, they’ll need to overcome this mental block of the Steelers.
2) Will Pickens return, and will offense return with him? For much of the season the Steelers offense has been a bit of an enigma, as the group under Russell Wilson has at times looked impressive (see 44 points scored against the Bengals), but at other times inefficient. Last week was one such frustrating game, as the Eagles dominated time of possession and Wilson and Co. couldn’t seem to get a rhythm going all afternoon. It didn’t help that Wilson was missing his favorite target, George Pickens, who’s been out with a hamstring injury the past two weeks. The mercurial wideout leads the team in targets (90), receptions (55) and receiving yards (850) and has become a particularly dangerous pass catcher on Wilson’s long balls, leading the NFL with 14 catches for 474 yards on deep targets in 2024 (20-plus air yards). After averaging 271 yards in his first six games, Wilson has averaged 143 the last two outings without Pickens. Head coach Mike Tomlin said there’s a chance Pickens could be healthy enough to go on Saturday, but the wideout did not practice on Tuesday nor on Wednesday. Whether he’s on the field Saturday or other players like Calvin Austin III and Pat Freiermuth again shoulder the load, the Steelers will face a daunting task in overcoming the Ravens’ recently surging pass defense. Though Baltimore has allowed the second-most pass yards per game this year (258.9), since Week 11 the Ravens have averaged just 169.0 pass yards allowed, the second-fewest in the league over that span.
