PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Baltimore has nothing to gain with the game against the Steelers on Saturday. They are locked into the top seed in the AFC and have the only bye in the playoffs. What will Ravens head coach John Harbaugh do with his starters?
“We have a two-fold thought process,” Harbaugh said Monday. “We have our priority which is the Steelers game. Putting our best foot forward, playing our best game against our biggest rival. (They are) playing great football. We expect it to be a hard-fought game. We got to get our minds right now.”
“Then planning for the next step in the playoffs.”
Asked specifically about playing quarterback, and NFL MVP candidate, Lamar Jackson, Harbaugh said only he hasn’t made any decisions on personnel for Saturday afternoon. He said they have to work through the injuries to see who is able to go.
He promises, though, not to keep it a secret.
Harbaugh notes it’s not a like the preseason game where you have a roster of 90 players and you can put whole need teams out there. The Ravens coach said he doesn’t really have a philosophy about it, but says you can’t rest everyone. He said there is a chance he will rotate players. One thing he made clear, they are focused on beating the Steelers without whomever he puts in purple jerseys.
“The team we put out there, which is going to be the team we have, it’s our team,” Harbaugh explained. “Is going to go out there and do everything they can to win the game, play our best football game of the season and win the game against a really tough opponent.”
Preparing for those uncertainties can be challenging. Does Mike Tomlin prepare for Jackson knowing it’s nearly impossible he will play. Does he prepare only for back-up QB Tyler Huntley? Does third-stringer Josh Johnson get some run, also Malik Cunningham is now on their practice squad, he could be elevated.
Same with back-up running backs like veteran Melvin Gordon, receivers Tylan Wallace or Nelson Agholor and back-up defensive players-can’t imagine Jadeveon Clowney, Roquan Smith or Patrick Queen playing. Add to that, it’s a short week.
“You know, we prepare for what they're capable of,” is how Tomlin put it before knowing what Harbaugh said on Monday. “We prepare for their best. And so, that makes that conversation less significant.”
“We better be prepared to defend the best of them or stop the best of them. And a component of what they do is schematics and is not necessarily people. And so, we better be ready for the schematic component of what they do. And so, that's not a big deal for us to be quite honest with you.”
Steelers have lost to back-up Ravens quarterbacks recently including Huntley, who also forced a game into overtime that the Steelers eventually won. It’s Steelers-Ravens, and this one is more critical for Pittsburgh, but it doesn’t mean Baltimore doesn’t care about it.