The Baltimore Ravens end their season at home, taking on their division rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers. While the game doesn’t mean much to Baltimore, who have already secured their playoff seed, it’s vitally important to Pittsburgh, who is still searching for a way in.
It’s questionable just how many Ravens starters we’ll see in this game with several already have been ruled out in order to rest for the postseason. The Steelers aren’t in much better shape thanks to injuries piling up.
The writers here at Ravens Wire mostly believe Baltimore’s backups will get the job done, though in far closer fashion than many fans have become accustomed to seeing.
Check out the final score predictions below.
Matthew Stevens:
Ravens 17 – Steelers 16
This is a tough game to gauge simply because we don’t know how many Ravens will be sitting out and which ones will get very little playing time, even if they do start. But with several key players already resting this game, it shows a bit of Baltimore’s hand and I’d expect this to look more like a preseason game than a typical Week 17 contest.
Because of that, this isn’t the blowout win I think the Ravens would hand the Steelers normally. They’ll struggle to move the ball as effectively with Lamar Jackson and Mark Ingram out and the defense will have some more headaches with a bunch of members of the secondary likely resting this week. But they still get the job done to sweep Pittsburgh and land the best record in franchise history.
Alex Bente:
Ravens 23 – Steelers 12
To go along with my bold prediction, the Ravens defense will hold the Steelers to only field goals in this one. Baltimore’s offense, on the other hand, may find trouble dealing with Pittsburgh’s solid defense, especially without Lamar Jackson. That said, RGIII should lead the offense admirably with the added benefit of working in the now-trusted system. Even with backups leading the lineup, the Ravens have enough versatility on offense to take care of business and close out the season with an easy victory over their biggest division rivals.
Neil Dutton:
Ravens 14 – Steelers 17
The Ravens never like to lose to the Steelers, but on this occasion the prudence of resting the stars takes precedence. The second stringers will acquit themselves well, but ultimately they’ll fall just short against a Steelers team that needs the win.
Kevin Oestreicher:
Ravens 17 – Steelers 14
I think this is a tough, low scoring game. The Ravens are going to be missing many key pieces due to rest, and the Steelers will be missing some as well due to injuries. I’m not expecting a high scoring output from either offense, but I think Gus Edwards will have a monster day en route to carrying (literally) the Ravens to their 12th straight victory
Joe Serpico:
Ravens 21 – Steelers 17
As noted in our betting preview; Robert Griffin, Gus Edwards and the Ravens’ second team has played a lot for backups. The ground game doesn’t slow down with Edwards and Justice Hill getting the bulk of the touches, and Griffin makes just enough plays to end the Steelers season.