The Baltimore Ravens’ Week 14 loss at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers was just another classic collapse against a heated division rival. They never held a significant lead on Sunday, but miscue after miscue ended any chance they had at winning. While they made it close in the end, they ultimately beat themselves.
For the Ravens, they were looking to strike gold on a critical opportunity to take full possession of first place in the AFC North. Instead, they dropped their second straight game against an AFC North rival and fell a game behind the Steelers.
Despite winning two straight against Pittsburgh coming into this matchup, it is clear that Head Coach John Harbaugh has a nagging problem with the Steelers and Head Coach Mike Tomlin. Since 2015, the Ravens are 9-13 against them. Since 2020, they are 3-9.
The stats become much more concerning when you dig deeper, though.
John Harbaugh can’t escape Steelers’ shadow
The more alarming stat is the fashion in which Baltimore has lost some of those games. On Sunday, they outrushed the Steelers by 183 yards. It was the third time that they had outrushed them by 170 or more yards and lost. In fact, they are the only team to lose to Pittsburgh when they outgain them by 170 or more yards on the ground.
The Steelers have won 3 games since WW2 where they were outrushed by 170+ yards:
— Scott Kacsmar (@ScottKacsmar) December 7, 2025
• 2020 at Ravens (-217)
• 2025 at Ravens (-183)
• 2021 at Ravens (-170)
Even worse, while the Ravens are just 3-9 in their last 12 games against the Steelers, they have actually outgained them in eight of those contests.
Said this shortly ago on @Exit52Podcast:
— Banks (@BarstoolBanks) December 8, 2025
The Ravens are 3-9 in their last 12 against Pittsburgh.
They’ve outgained Pittsburgh in 8 of those 12 games.
Coaching and situational football failures.
This issue has followed Harbaugh throughout his career. It seems that throughout games where they are fighting for wins, they pull all the right strings to put themselves in a favorable position. However, in the biggest situations down the stretch, they fall short. Sometimes, the moment seems to get too big for the Harbaugh-coached team, and they trip over themselves.
Baltimore will get a shot at revenge late in the season. They have a grueling schedule ahead, and if they are still in contention by the time Week 18 rolls around, Harbaugh and his group would have a pivotal showdown awaiting with the Steelers once more. They have to take it one game at a time, and if they check off their goals in the coming weeks, they may have a shot to correct their mistakes in their final regular season contest of 2025.