The Baltimore Ravens find themselves in a do-or-die situation entering Week 18. They have been playing with their backs against the wall for the past month, but next week, everything is on the line. After a dominant win on Saturday, and some help from the Cleveland Browns, the Ravens are right back in the middle of a heated battle with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the AFC North crown.
The scriptwriters could not have penned a better ending to the 2025 season. On Sunday, Baltimore will take on Pittsburgh in a winner-takes-all showdown at Acrisure Stadium. While both teams have been disappointing this year, everything can be wiped away with one win, which would lock one lucky team into fourth seed, the final seed available in the AFC playoff picture.
This battle will hit a little differently for both sides, though. In such a storied rivalry, they continue to turn over new stones and have reached a crossroads heading into Week 18.
Ravens reach a crossroads in Steelers rivalry
Sunday night’s clash will not only be one of the biggest games of the Ravens’ and Steelers’ season, but the NFL season as a whole. This rivalry has seen countless instant classics, and Week 18 has a chance to be something in that stratosphere. Notably, there is more at stake than there ever has been before in regular-season contests between the two foes.
This will be the first winner-takes-all game between Baltimore and Pittsburgh to take place in the final game of the regular season. Of course, with that factored in and so much bitterness between the franchises and their fan bases, the NFL had to put it on primetime. It will take the Sunday Night Football slot in Week 18. It will be the Ravens’ third straight primetime game.
In this storied rivalry, this will mark the first winner-take-all game in the final week of the regular season between the Ravens and Steelers.
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) December 28, 2025
The only time the AFC North was won in a head-to-head matchup in the season finale was 2014 (Steelers beat the Bengals).
This game goes deeper than just the playoffs, too. Each team’s head coach has reason to fear for their jobs come the 2026 offseason, and the outcome of the regular season finale could determine who still holds a job next year.
Obviously, it is all speculative, but Baltimore Head Coach John Harbaugh and Pittsburgh Head Coach Mike Tomlin are clearly enduring disappointing stretches. Whether it has been coming up short in the regular season or failing to impress in the playoffs, Harbaugh and Tomlin have been heavily critiqued as of late.
Harbaugh and Tomlin are the two-longest tenured coaches in the league; Tomlin has been with the Steelers since 2007, and Harbaugh with the Ravens since 2008. With each building Hall of Fame resume, it is obvious why both teams have stuck with the same leader at the helm for so long. However, you can make the case that both have peaked and are stalling out. Whichever head coach comes out on the losing end next weekend could find themselves reaching the end of their lengthy tenure.