PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said during a news conference on Monday afternoon that he had some players and coaches over at his house Sunday. He admitted he watched the Steelers-Browns game as a fan and then they celebrated after the last pass from Aaron Rodgers to Marquez Valdes-Scantling went incomplete.
“It was woke,” Harbaugh said with a smile. “It was uncorked, man. It was raucous. It was great, everybody was jumping around and fired up and happy. A lot of hugging, a lot of hugging.”
Going into Week 17, the Ravens chances of being in the playoffs were bleak, but here they are. The Vikings beat the Lions knocking Detroit out of the playoffs, which meant Green Bay was in and had nothing to play for Saturday when the Packers hosted Baltimore. The Ravens then took care of business rushing for 307 yards (216 by Derrick Henry with four touchdowns) to beat Green Bay and then the Browns beating the Steelers finished the chain of events that needed to happen for Baltimore to still have a chance at 8-8.
“Great job by the Browns,” Harbaugh said and then lauded the entire AFC North for being one of the best divisions in the sport.
“It’s a great opportunity,” Harbaugh said. “We will be playing a division championship game on the last day of the season. We are excited about that. We have worked hard to get to this position. There are a lot of different paths in football. This is the path of the 2025 season, our goal is to make the most of it.”
A favorite to be in the Super Bowl, Baltimore sat at 1-5 after an October 12 loss to the Rams. Five wins later the Ravens were 6-5 and hosted the Bengals on Thanksgiving and were throttled by the return of Joe Burrow. The Steelers then won at M&T Bank Stadium and following a loss to the Patriots it appeared the Ravens season was over.
But here they are in the first ever win-or-go-home situation in the AFC North.
“I really didn’t realize it,” Harbaugh said. “You would have thought it would have happened before. That’s about as much head space as I can give it. It’s a division championship game for sure, but it’s a game. It’s in Pittsburgh against the Steelers, we understand that part of it too. We got to get ready for that.”
“You got to go play the type of game that can beat a really good football team in their stadium when the stakes are really high. I know they feel the same way.”
Harbaugh said he will know more on Wednesday if starting quarterback, former NFL MVP, Lamar Jackson will play. If not, they are coming off a game where they executed the run game to perfection and in the last two games against the Steelers, have rushed for 516 yards.
And while the Ravens may not have Jackson, the Steelers won’t have top receiver DK Metcalf and potentially tight end Darnell Washington, wide receiver Calvin Austin, guard Isaac Seumalo, outside linebacker TJ Watt and a starting corner and nickel.
“DK Metcalf, look at the trouble he gave us in the first game,” Harbaugh said. “You factor Washington, whether he can play for sure. Austin, whether he can play or not for sure. Those are big play-makers for those guys.”
“But then you look at (Kenneth) Gainwell, he’s incredible. The running backs are top of the line running backs, both of those guys. Jaylen (Warren) is amazing downhill. They get them the ball in so many different ways. They do a great job.”
“They’ve got guys. You game plan for the guys that they have.”
Harbaugh expects an intense game. He says he doesn’t worry about what is said about the impact for he and Mike Tomlin. The focus is to become the fifth team since the 1970 merger to start a year 1-5 and play in the postseason.
“Keep it simple, go play hard, go play well,” Harbaugh said. “Our goal is to play our best game of the season.”