BALTIMORE (AP) — Lamar Jackson and Aaron Rodgers — six MVPs between them — have remarkably never faced each other. It's finally happening this weekend.
Probably.
With these two, you can't be certain of anything at the moment.
Jackson's Baltimore Ravens host Rodgers' Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday with first place in the AFC North on the line, but although they share the division lead, these two rivals are looking pretty shaky. That's in part because of the health and performance of their star quarterbacks.
Rodgers is the NFL's career leader with a 102.4 passer rating. Jackson is second at 102.2. Neither has played like it of late. Jackson was erratic in Baltimore's loss to Cincinnati on Thanksgiving, and although the Ravens (6-6) won five in a row before that, he didn't look nearly as explosive as usual as a scrambler. Jackson missed three games with hamstring problems earlier this season, and since then, he's dealt with ankle, knee and toe issues.
It appeared all might finally be well when he took the field for practice Wednesday. The Ravens had extra rest after facing the Bengals the previous Thursday. But afterward, Jackson's normal media session was put off — a team spokesman said he was getting treatment — and he showed up as limited on the injury report because of his ankle. Then he didn't practice at all Thursday.
On Friday, Jackson was a full participant at practice and told reporters he was ready to go.
Rodgers, meanwhile, played last weekend against Buffalo with a brace on his broken left wrist. He went 10 of 21 for 117 yards — the fewest completions of Rodgers' career in a game he started and finished. The Steelers (6-6) lost, missing a chance to move a game up on Baltimore.
Rodgers didn't practice Wednesday but was a full participant Thursday.
“It’s definitely healing. I appreciate the extra day off,” he said. “You know, I love the practice, so I hate missing practice, but dealing with what I’m dealing with, it helps to get another day without any pounding on the bones in there. So, we’ll see what happens.”
Rodgers faced the Ravens in 2021 while with Green Bay, but Jackson missed that game with an injury.
This is the 38th meeting between Ravens coach John Harbaugh and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin. Only George Halas and Curly Lambeau (49) have faced off more times.
This is also the latest in the season the two have met with neither team boasting a winning record. They were both 5-6 when they played in Week 13 in 2013.
Of course, as frustrating as this year has been, the winner of this game will probably feel pretty good about its playoff chances by Sunday night.
“I think you never would have envisioned 6-6 at this point with the expectations," Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith said. “But at the end of the day, if you told me, Week 14, at the beginning of the season, you’ll be tied for first place, you control your own destiny, I’m signing myself up for that every day of the week and twice on Sunday.”
The last time Pittsburgh was in Baltimore, the Ravens gashed the Steelers for 299 yards rushing while breezing to victory in the first round of the 2024 playoffs.
The Steelers used a significant amount of resources in the offseason in an attempt to become better equipped to stop the run, drafting defensive linemen Derrick Harmon and Yahya Black and outside linebacker Jack Sawyer and signing Daniel Ekuale in free agency, among other moves.
The results have been mixed at best and may have hit a low point last week against Buffalo, when the Bills piled up 249 yards rushing, the most the Steelers have given up to an opponent at home in more than 50 years.
Now Jackson and Derrick Henry are looming. Pittsburgh reviewed video from the playoff loss this week. Nearly 11 months later, the sting hasn't gone away.
“I mean it still sucks,” outside linebacker Alex Highsmith said. “To finish the way we did last year ... to allow 300 rushing yards is truly unacceptable. So that’s something I think that’s fueling us for this week.”
Pittsburgh's midseason swoon may have hit its nadir in the fourth quarter against Buffalo last week, when the fans booed the playing of “Renegade," long a late-game staple designed to pump up the defense.
There were also chants for Tomlin's firing and multiple former Steelers — quarterback Ben Roethlisberger chief among them — saying it might be time for the team to move on from Tomlin after 19 seasons.
Tomlin shares the frustration of the fan base, though his players have done their best to put on ear muffs.
“I don't worry about anybody who's not in the locker room,” said longtime defensive captain Cam Heyward, the second-longest tenured player in franchise history. “It's not a diss at them. I think we've just got to worry about the guys in here and focus on the job at hand.”
If Jackson is sidelined at any point, backup Tyler Huntley already led the Ravens to a big win over Chicago earlier this season when Baltimore was 1-5. Huntley has faced Rodgers before. He played in that 2021 game for Baltimore — a 31-30 loss to the Packers. And when he was with Miami last season, Huntley started the finale for the Dolphins. They lost 32-20 to Rodgers and the New York Jets.
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