OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Lamar Jackson’s struggles against Pittsburgh have been well documented.
Now he’ll finally have help he’s never enjoyed before in this rivalry — from a packed stadium that’s actually cheering for him.
This weekend’s showdown between the Steelers and Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens is only the second time the star quarterback has faced Pittsburgh at home. And the other was in 2020, with the coronavirus pandemic limiting the announced crowd to 4,345.
Expect a lot more than that Saturday, when the Steelers can clinch the AFC North with a win and the Ravens will do their best to prevent that.
“Just being in front of our crowd, Flock Nation, just being in the building, knowing it’s a rival game, knowing what’s at stake for us,” Jackson said. “I feel like the momentum, the momentum from our crowd, will just give us what we need — that extra boost.”
Jackson is 1-4 as a starter against Pittsburgh, a remarkably small number of games against a divisional opponent for a quarterback in his seventh season in the league. He beat the Steelers in his first start against them in 2019, although even in that game he was sacked five times and threw three interceptions.
Jackson has never had a passer rating higher than 80.1 in a full game against Pittsburgh. He’s thrown five touchdown passes and eight interceptions against the Steelers.
But almost all of that has come on the road in a pretty difficult environment. In his first MVP season of 2019, Jackson sat out the home game against the Steelers after Baltimore had already wrapped up the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. The same thing happened last season. In 2021 and 2022, Jackson was injured when Pittsburgh came to Baltimore.
Now the Ravens (9-5) have few excuses left if they can’t take care of business at home. BetMGM had them favored by six points around midday Wednesday. Jackson is having a sensational season, with a passer rating of 120.7 that ranks among some of the best all time. He’s thrown 34 touchdowns and three interceptions.
“I think anytime he can make a play, he’s going to try to make that play. I don’t think he tries to hold anything back, especially at the end of the season,” said Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen, who played for the Ravens before this season. “Everything’s on the line at that point. There’s no holding back on him. You definitely see that now, him lowering his shoulder, him stiff-arming a guy out of bounds — which is crazy — just him pushing the ball downfield is just a whole lot more plays he’s trying to make.”
Pittsburgh (10-4) arrives with a one-game lead in the division, a result of an 18-16 victory over the Ravens in Week 11. That game unfolded like so many others when Jackson has faced the Steelers: In front of a raucous crowd in Pittsburgh, everything seemed to go wrong.
Baltimore missed two field goals and lost two fumbles. Jackson threw an interception when Payton Wilson basically snatched the ball away after running back Justice Hill appeared to have the pass secured in his arms.
The Ravens had a chance to tie the game late, but missed a 2-point conversion. That’s happened multiple times in the recent history of this rivalry. In 2021 in Pittsburgh, Baltimore went for 2 and the win with 12 seconds left. The Ravens didn’t convert and lost 20-19.
Baltimore has lost eight of its past nine to Pittsburgh. It doesn’t feel quite that lopsided to the Ravens. They did rest starters for a couple of those games and didn’t have Jackson for some others. But this season the head-to-head matchups could well decide the division.
“It’ll get talked about. I think some people got a taste of it. There were a couple of skirmishes in the last game, but this is big,” Baltimore cornerback Marlon Humphrey said. “This means a lot to a lot of people. It means a lot to me being here for a long time, and if you don’t understand, the message will be very clear as the week goes on.”
AP Sports Writer Will Graves contributed to this report.