The Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens are the best of all the rivalries in the NFL. The two AFC North rivals both play a punishing style of football that is multiplied by a factor of 10 when they play each other. The games are close and usually are decided by one score. The Ravens are the original Cleveland Browns franchise, but the intensity of that rivalry initially did not carry over when the team first moved to Baltimore.
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Steelers nemesis, Shannon Sharpe.
The birth of the Ravens vs Steelers rivalry was during the 2000 season when the Ravens won the Super Bowl convincingly 34-7 against the New York Giants. After defeating the Steelers 16-0 in their last Three Rivers Stadium meeting, Shannon Sharpe had some choice words for Pittsburgh and its fans.
“16 points is not going to beat many teams in this league,” Sharpe opined. “We just ran into a team that’s having problems and they weren’t very good.”
The Steelers were coming off back-to-back losing seasons and the new century did not get off to a good start with the Week 1 loss to the Ravens. The Steelers would fall to 0-3 to start the season and Bill Cowher’s coaching seat was on fire. The Steelers rallied to hand the eventual Super Bowl champions a 9-6 loss in Week 9 and post a winning season at 9-7, but they missed the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
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Steelers' Kordell Stewart evades Jaguars defender during 13-3 2001 season.
The 2001 Steelers returned to the top of the AFC Central with a 13-3 season. The Ravens had the Steelers’ attention and the two teams split the regular season matchups in 2001. Each team won in the other’s home stadium and the 13-3 Steelers were scheduled to play the 11-6 Ravens in the Divisional Round of the AFC Playoffs.
The Ravens and Sharpe had talked a lot of trash over the previous two seasons, and it all came to a head in the AFC Divisional Round with the third matchup between the two teams. Before the game, it looked like the Steelers were going to be at a serious disadvantage. The Steelers star running back Jerome Bettis was dealing with a groin injury and just before the game was scratched from the lineup.
“When we found out Jerome couldn’t play, you could see a sparkle in the eyes of the defensive guys because then we knew we had to dominate the game,” said Lee Flowers.
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Steelers' Amos Zereoue runs away from Rod Woodson.
Pittsburgh was forced to turn to Amos Zereoue who had never started an NFL game. The Ravens’ legendary defense was coming off a 20-3 domination of the Miami Dolphins. They were on a five-game playoff winning streak in which they only allowed 26 total points. Only the Tennessee Titans had managed two scores against the Ravens during the streak with 10 points in the previous year’s Divisional Round.
The Steelers' defense played the first half like they were shot out of a cannon. It started with an interception of Elvis Grbac on the first drive of the game in Baltimore territory. Kordell Stewart moved the Steelers into the red zone, but after the Ravens defense stiffened, they settled for a Kris Brown field goal and a 3-0 lead.
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Steelers defense pulls down Elvis Grbac.
The Ravens’ second drive was not much better. After getting the ball back, Mike Jones sacked Grbac for a 10-yard loss on third down and the Ravens were forced to punt. Troy Edwards promptly fumbled the ball. He managed to recover his fumble, but a Ravens penalty forced a rekick. The ensuing punt was not as good, and the Steelers got the ball at midfield. Seven plays later, Zereoue scored his first touchdown of the game and Pittsburgh led 10-0. It was off to the races from there.
The defense forced three turnovers and three punts during the Ravens’ first six possessions. They built a 20-0 lead for the home fans. The defending Ravens fought back and narrowed the lead to 20-10 halfway through the third quarter after a spectacular 88-yard punt return by Jermaine Lewis. Apprehension was creeping in during the first Heinz Field playoff game.
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Steelers' Amos Zeroue zeroes in on the end zone in a Divisional Round playoff game in January 2002.
After trading punts, the Steelers embarked on a 13-play drive that closed out the third quarter. After another key 1-yard run by Zereoue to start the fourth quarter, the Steelers had a first down at the Baltimore 32-yard line. Stewart found Plaxico Burress (who had been nicknamed’ 'Plexiglass' by Sharpe and the Ravens) for a touchdown pass which built the Steelers’ eventual margin of victory back to 17 points at 27-10.
The Baltimore offense was completely dominated by the Pittsburgh defense. You can watch the replay of the game on YouTube here.
The Ravens only managed one scoring drive for a field goal. Only 3/13 drives resulted in five plays or more. They turned the ball over four times and only gained 150 total yards of offense. The Steelers held them to only one conversion on 12 third-down tries. After the game, Sharpe was forced to eat a big slice of humble pie.
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Steelers long-time nemesis Shannon Sharpe in tears.
“They are the better football team, and that’s really frustrating,” admitted Sharpe. “I looked up midway through the third quarter, and we had 78 yards of total offense. That won’t win football games. It’s painful to say this, but they have a better football team than what we’ve got.”
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The Baltimore and Pittsburgh rivalry has rarely been decided by a wide margin over the years. One-score games that go down to the last possession are much more common between the two teams during the regular season. The playoffs are a different story. The teams have met four times in the playoffs and only one meeting was decided by one score. The Steelers hold a 3-1 record in the four games and the lone one-score victory in the 2011 AFC Divisional Round.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Do you remember Sharpe’s antics to kick off the nasty rivalry? Please comment below, or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.
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