Anything can happen on any given game day in the NFL. That includes the tone and flow of Week 18.
Three playoff seeds are still up for grabs in the AFC, with the Steelers entering this weekend in contention for one of the two wild cards. A win over the Ravens, Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in Baltimore, would tremendously help the 9-7 postseason hopes with assistance needed from others in the conference.
Here are the scenarios to make it:
• Steelers win AND a Jaguars loss to the Titans OR
• Steelers win AND a Bills loss to the Dolphins OR
• Steelers win AND Texans-Colts tie OR
• Steelers loss AND a Jaguars loss AND a Broncos win over the Raiders AND if Texans-Colts doesn't end in a tie.
In a sense of the postseason and AFC North pictures, the 13-3 Ravens have nothing a stake Saturday. They have locked up the No. 1 seed, the first-round bye, and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. Because of this, John Harbaugh is electing to rest MVP favorite Lamar Jackson in favor of Tyler Huntley, with journeyman Josh Johnson set to back him up. Other Ravens could rest this weekend, as well, as eight players did not practice Wednesday while eight others were limited.
In all, the Ravens have ruled six players out for Saturday: Jackson (rest), WR Odell Beckham Jr. (rest), LB Malik Harrison (groin), CB Marlon Humphrey (calf), CB Daryl Worley (shoulder/ankle), OG Kevin Zeitler (knee/quad/rest).
The Ravens can't rest everybody, which is the exact reason why the Steelers are preparing to see everybody sans Jackson on Saturday.
"Obviously Lamar Jackson's a special talent," Mykal Walker told me after Thursday's practice at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "I think he's a generational talent. He's doing things in this game that we ain't seen before. Obviously you take that out and we're not playing against him. We've got the same respect for Huntley. He can move, he can extend plays with his feet, he can throw the ball. We're coming into this game with the same game plan we've had. Nothing changes."
Additionally, seven are ruled as questionable: DB Ronald Darby (rest), S Kyle Hamilton (knee), CB Arthur Maulet (hip), CB Brandon Stephens (ankle), WR Tylan Wallace (knee), S Ar’Darius Washington (pec). Receiver Zay Flowers (calf) is considered doubtful.
Some prognosticators are pointing to the Ravens' logic from 2019 as a potential omen to what the Ravens could go through in this postseason, which leads to some speculation of how many players the Ravens would rest Saturday.
In Week 18 of that season, the top-seeded Ravens rested seven key starters, including Jackson, Mark Andrews, Ronnie Stanley, and Marshal Yanda. The Ravens beat the Steelers, 28-10, but a massive swoon came by in their playoff opener.
The Titans defeated the Ravens, 28-12, in a wonky Divisional round game on Jan. 11, 2020. Jackson completed 31 of 59 passes for 365 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions while adding 143 rushing yards on 23 carries. The Ravens' defense allowed Derrick Henry to rush for 195 yards on 30 carries while Ryan Tannehill completed just 7 of 14 passes. The Ravens out-gained the Titans in that game, 530-300.
The Ravens aren't thinking about 2019 in making this similar move in 2023. The Steelers' approach won't change, either.
"At the end of the day, they have locked up the 1-seed but I think they're still going to come to play like it's a normal Steelers-Ravens game," Alex Highsmith told me. "This is a rivalry game and every time we meet it's a hard-nosed, physical game. We know that every time that we play them they're going to give their all, so we've got to bring our all as well. I think that's what matters. It's still going to be a hard-nosed fight, and so we've just got to bring it from the jump."
The Steelers have a fine history against the 25-year-old Huntley, who was elected to the Pro Bowl after last season. In three games against the Steelers in his career, Huntley has completed 38 of 64 passing attempts (59.4%) for 359 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions. He has rushed for 127 yards on 28 carries.
Huntley is 1-2 in his career against the Steelers. His lone victory was in Week 14 of last season in which he completed 8 of 12 passes for 88 yards and rushed nine times for 31 yards. The Ravens squeezed by for a 16-14 victory on that day at Acrisure Stadium behind three Justin Tucker field goals and a touchdown run from J.K. Dobbins.
Teryl Austin said Wednesday that there isn't much of a differentiation in what Baltimore does schematically between having Jackson or Huntley under center. While Huntley isn't as gifted as Jackson, the Steelers are treating the Ravens' offense as one that can benefit Huntley just as it does Jackson.
"I think they're going to operate how they're going to operate," Elandon Roberts said. "We've got to be ready to go."
In the 2019 regular-season finale against the Steelers, the Ravens sat Earl Thomas and Brandon Williams from their defense. Eight defenders are listed as out or questionable for Saturday.
"I'm not sure how they'll handle it," Mason Cole told me. "I'm sure they'll rest some guys to a certain extent, but there's also 47 guys active on a game day. How many guys can you rest completely? We're preparing like everyone's going to play and their whole menu's going to be up, and that's what we expect."
The Steelers' offense, meanwhile, have been piping hot since turning to Mason Rudolph at quarterback on the eve of Christmas Eve against the Bengals.
But, Rudolph lost his lone start against the Ravens on Oct. 10, 2019. In that 26-23 overtime loss for the Steelers at home, Rudolph completed 13 of 20 passes for 131 yards and a 35-yard touchdown to JuJu Smith-Schuster. The scoring mainly came from Chris Boswell and Tucker, who respectively made three and four field goals. Tucker made a 46-yarder in overtime to secure the win for Baltimore.
This version of Rudolph is different from the 2019 version. This version has played with a renewed confidence and aggressiveness amid Kenny Pickett's ankle injury, and the Steelers' locker room has rallied behind him.
"It's so cool to see his success," Cole said of Rudolph. "I've said this for a couple weeks now. Really good professionals that treat this game well, it's good to see the game treat them well. Just super-happy for Mason's success. Again, obviously, we're going to need some of that this week, too."
