Ebony Bird roundtable: Our favorite Ravens-Steelers memories

Dustin Cox

Picking a favorite memory of the Ravens and Steelers matchups is a little difficult. There have been so many great nailbiters over the years between these two franchises. Just look at the last time these teams met. As much as I absolutely hate to say it, that last minute Antonio Brown touchdown was truly amazing. It broke my heart on Christmas Day, and I still haven’t fully recovered.

It was tempting for me to pick the touchdown run from Kyle Juszczyk from that same Christmas Day game last year as my favorite memory, and it would be my favorite if the Ravens had actually won the game. Baltimore trailed Pittsburgh 24-20 with one minute and 26 seconds left in the game. They were around the 10-yard line, faced with 3rd and 1. The ball was handed off to Juszczyk, who got the first down and was seemingly going down when he regained his balance and extended out to the end zone for the potential game-winning touchdown.

I was watching with my friends at the time, who are all fans of other teams, and even they screamed with excitement when this play happened. I was sure the Ravens had won the game and had swept the Steelers for a second straight year. Little did I know that Juszczyk’s late-game heroics would be upped by Antonio Brown just minutes later. It was a game that decided the winner of the AFC North and ultimately eliminated the Ravens from playoff contention.

After thinking about it for a little while I would have to say my favorite memory is when Terrell Suggs caught an interception between his knees in the 2014 playoffs against the Steelers. It was an incredible pick, especially for an outside linebacker. Suggs seems to enjoy this rivalry more than any current player on the Ravens or Steelers. He embraces the hate from Steelers fans everywhere. Seeing him make this play in the playoffs at Heinz Field was truly something awesome. I hope more great moments like these ensue from this matchup this year. It is the best rivalry in the NFL for a reason.