MIKE BURKE
Allegany Communications Sports
So, you’re telling me there’s a chance.
Oh, there’s a chance – a good to fair chance …
That they were even in the position, though, of having to root for the Cleveland Browns to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers to even have a chance is the most telling indictment of the Baltimore Ravens’ season and the job head coach John Harbaugh has done in leading them to this point.
(And as much as they hate Pittsburgh, I’m sure Cleveland was just delighted to do Baltimore and the Ravens a favor, right? Just like Baltimore renders the helping hand to the Indianapolis Colts.)
But a funny thing happened to the Steelers on the way to the AFC North Division title. They haven’t won it yet. The Browns beat them, 13-6, and the Ravens, in spite of themselves, still have a chance. In fact, they have already been made a 3 to 3.5-point favorite when they play the Steelers Sunday night in Pittsburgh for the AFC North Division title.
Now is that one nutty hospital, or what?
Saturday night’s 41-24 win over the Green Bay Packers was the Ravens’ “Well, duh” game of the past two seasons – as in giving the ball to Derrick Henry has historically made good things happen for the team that gives him the ball. Well, duh …
Watching Derrick Henry carry the football 36 times for 216 yards and four (FOUR) touchdowns was exhilarating for Ravens fans, yet heartbreaking at the same time because it hasn’t been this way from the time the ink dried last year on Henry’s first contract with Baltimore.
It was just the fifth game this season that the Ravens braintrust trusted Henry to carry the ball more than 20 times – seriously. Derrick Flippin’ Henry!
“I’m built for it,” Henry said after the game, less than one week after saying all of the professional and right things after he had not been allowed on the field for the entire fourth quarter in a tight loss to the Patriots. “This is what I’m trained for.”
Clearly, Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Todd Monken were the Omega Men in that thinking. Until Saturday night, that is, when, with their jobs on the line, they finally convinced themselves to give it a try.
Duh!
The Ravens are a mess, but have a second life. The Steelers are a mess, and seem to be on their heels, particularly without DK Metcalf and T.J. Watt. All of which explains why they are playing each other this weekend for the AFC North title.
Ravens fans want Harbaugh gone. Steelers fans wanted head coach Mike Tomlin gone five minutes into the first day. Now one of them will host a playoff game in two weeks.
This is the established WWE world of the NFL. It is no accident.
The Ravens’ legitimate Super Bowl hopes went down the tubes early with injuries to Nnamdi Madubuike, Lamar Jackson and a cast of others, the opening-night gag-job in Buffalo, not to mention having been absolutely hosed by the NFL against the Steelers a couple of weeks ago.
The defensive line is terrible, unable to create any kind of pass rush or pressure. The offensive line is actually worse. But it can run-block – when given the chance, and when blocking for Derrick Henry, a man who will enter the Hall of Fame on his first try.
It defies logic that a team with this much talent that regularly blows double-digit fourth-quarter leads and routinely loses games it should win was lucky enough for the Browns to beat the Steelers when the Ravens, beginning with their coaching staff, have done nothing to deserve this luck.
Fire Harbaugh. Fire Tomlin. Unthinkable as it seemed not long ago, one or the other could happen either way, depending on what happens this weekend. Harbaugh rubs Baltimore wrong these days for a number of legitimate reasons. Tomlin, it seems, has never been embraced by the Steelers fanbase.
The Steelers organization, though, has long been smarter and more open-minded than to ever act impulsively as most teams do; and to their credit, the Ravens have wisely followed the Steelers’ model for stability.
Truth is, most Steelers fans refuse to acknowledge that four Super Bowl titles in six years is not happening again. For anybody. The NFL just won’t allow it to happen again – even for the Steelers, though Baltimore fans who sat through the game a couple of weeks ago would be hard-pressed to believe that.
For two such meh teams, but still the best rivals in the NFL, there is much to talk about this week about this game.
– Will T.J. Watt, who had surgery on December 12 to repair a partially collapsed lung, play (Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says “long shot”) and if he does, can the Ravens somehow keep their quarterback in one piece?
– We know Alex Highsmith will play, so can the Ravens somehow keep their quarterback in one piece?
– Speaking of which, will Lamar Jackson play, and will Derrick Henry touch the football more than 10 times this week?
– If the Steelers lose, will the organization’s patience and belief in Tomlin remain rock solid, even after two straight late-season collapses gift division titles to the Ravens?
– Regardless of the outcome, will Harbaugh stay in Baltimore? Does Harbaugh even want to stay in Baltimore?
And what about Naomi?
All legitimate questions (except, of course, for Naomi).
It all really is Dumb and Dumber. Which is why, I suppose, we wouldn’t miss any of it for the world.
Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @MikeBurkeMDT