This didn’t feel like a usual Steelers-Ravens matchup.
There was no pre-game trash talk. There were no threats from players. There were no fights on the field aside from a few scuffles.
Despite its 5-10 record, Baltimore is not devout of talent. Linebackers Daryl Smith and C.J. Mosley are quality starters. Marshal Yanda is one of the best offensive lineman in the NFL. Even former undrafted receiver Kamar Aiken is having a good season.
But who are the true villains for Pittsburgh fans to actually hate, and not just dislike because they wear purple and white on Sundays?
Courtney Upshaw is certainly not a popular player amongst Steelers fans, but he’s not filming himself threatening any Steelers player the way Bart Scott did to Hines Ward in 2007. No Steelers receivers are leveling defenders the way Ward did to Ed Reed that same year. Terrell Suggs is still on the Ravens, but he hasn’t played all season; he also isn’t placing bounties on anyone the way he was accused of doing in 2008 to Rashard Mendenhall. Ray Lewis, perhaps Steelers fans’ least favorite player of all-time, has been gone for three years.
Even the Ravens players that Steelers fans root extra hard against, Joe Flacco, Steve Smith and Suggs, were out.
No one replaced the characters, or the attitudes, that those Ravens players had that made them so easy for Steelers fans to hate.
Sure, it is always a bad day for Steelers fans when they lose to the Ravens; it is even worse when they get swept by them. And a loss to the Ravens possibly causing the Steelers to miss the playoffs could be a nightmare for some fans.
But the intensity on the field didn’t look the same as it did in 2010.
Maybe that is why the Steelers lost: The fire wasn’t there the way it used to be against the Ravens.
The offense, sans running back DeAngelo Williams, looked out of sync. The defense looked like they just forgot how to tackle or play third down defense. The team was careless when they burned two timeouts in the third quarter. Maybe the Steelers thought just showing up would have been enough to win. After all, they had put up 30 points or more in six straight games and went up against a team with the most players on injured reserve in the league.
Quite simply, the Ravens wanted it more. It didn’t matter that their season is over, they wanted to spoil one of their most hated rival’s shot at the playoffs. They played with the same intensity that they did when they had to beat Steelers villains Ward, Troy Polamalu, Ike Taylor, Joey Porter and James Harrison when he started to win the AFC North, or to advance in the playoffs.
The Steelers-Ravens matchups used to be the teams’ biggest games every year. Every game was on primetime because of their magnitude. Now, they get flexed out of a primetime slot.
Maybe the rivalry with the Ravens doesn’t feel as intense because the Ravens are having a down year, or because they have very few recognizable players.
Whatever the reason, the lack of the desire they once had to beat the Ravens was absent. And that could cause the Steelers to watch the playoffs from home.
