Who knows what the Baltimore Ravens were thinking with the Lamar Jackson injury-report snafu? But here is how the Ravens could shockingly lead the AFC North before the first Steelers clash in Week 14.
The Steelers' loss to the Packers, combined with the Ravens' non-Lamar Jackson win over the Bears, gives the Ravens a clear path to catch the Steelers. They are just two games back with five games left before their first 2025 meeting with Pittsburgh.
But several things need to happen for this shocking change to occur.
Ravens QB Lamar Jackson must return Thursday
It’s hard to imagine Baltimore making any kind of run at the Steelers without Jackson. He must be back and be the Lamar Jackson the Ravens are accustomed to seeing.
The type of injury, a hamstring, can recur. If Jackson goes out again, all bets are off.
As of now, the Ravens are only “hopeful” he will be back to face the Dolphins, according to baltimoreravens.com.
“I'm hopeful. I'm just going to say that I'm hopeful,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said. “As a coach, you ask, you know, ‘How is he doing?' That's about as much as you do. ‘How are we doing it? What do you think?' The coaches aren't involved in statuses and whether guys play or not. That's not a coaching decision.”
But for a positive Ravens spin, let’s consider that Jackson can get back in the lineup. That leads us to …
The schedule greatly favors Ravens
Standing at 2-5 on the season, the Ravens don’t seem to be playoff material, let alone division champs.
But consider who they play over the next five weeks. They play at the Dolphins, at the Vikings, and at the Browns. Then they return home to meet the Jets and the Bengals.
With Jackson in the lineup and the Ravens’ defense showing signs of life against the Bears, it’s not a stretch to see them win all five of those games.
That would put them at 7-5 heading into the game against the Steelers. But where will the Steelers be?
Steelers are headed in wrong direction
It was fairly evident in Sunday night’s game that the Steelers are a team that is struggling. They don’t have great offensive weapons, and Aaron Rodgers is so far past his prime it’s not even smugly amusing.
Therefore, the Steelers won’t be able to outscore anybody.
So that puts the focus on their defense. And that unit spent the last two weeks getting annihilated by the Bengals and Packers.
With the Colts up next, it seems like that’s a loss waiting to happen. The Colts have one of the best mixes of overall talent in the NFL. Even if you don’t believe in quarterback Daniel Jones long term, until teams figure out how to take Jonathan Taylor, the Colts are going to win games.
The Steelers are likely staring at a 4-4 record after this coming week.
Now, consider their mindset after three straight losses. Then they have to travel across the country to face the Chargers. That screams 4-5 loud and clear.
Let’s give the Steelers the benefit of the doubt and say they can avenge the loss to the Bengals. Who knows, maybe they will actually assign someone to cover Ja’Marr Chase in this one?
Then they get the Bears. That’s a team that couldn’t beat the Ravens without Jackson on the field. That’s usually pretty easy to do. The Ravens hadn’t won without him since 2022. So, we’ll give the Steelers the benefit of the doubt, and they get to 6-5.
But … uh-oh … the Bills are up on Nov. 30. That’s like the Colts game, a loss waiting to happen. This brings the Steelers to 6-6, a game back of the Ravens.
A key injury haunts the Steelers
Against the Packers, safety DeShon Elliott went down with what appeared to be a bad injury.
How big was this? Pretty important, according to Sports Illustrated.
“Elliott has been the go-to guy on defense since the team traded away Minkah Fitzpatrick,” Jacob Punturi wrote. “As the main communicator and impact player, his loss will be massive for the Steelers to make up.
“Without him in the lineup, the safety position takes a huge hit. Juan Thornhill has played well over the past few weeks, but he’s not an anchor for the position. Veterans Chuck Clark and Jabrill Peppers will be the next two players to receive more snaps and time on defense.”
The Steelers have lost Elliott’s leadership and tackling toughness, and that’s bad news.
“Elliott is the heartbeat of the Steelers defense,” Punturi wrote. “His physicality and technical skill set are tone-setters for his teammates, but how he fuels the group goes beyond just being an uber-talented safety.”
Perhaps the Steelers can plug some gaps and get by. But this isn’t the time of the season when that will likely work.
It’s not all doom and gloom for the Steelers. But at the very least, it’s doom or gloom.
And either one of those is music to the Ravens’ ears.
