Lamar Jackson and the high-powered Ravens visit Russell Wilson and the rejuvenated Steelers

Baltimore (7-3) at Pittsburgh (7-2)

Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, CBS

BetMGM NFL Odds: Ravens by 3.

Series record: Steelers lead 35-25.

Against the spread: Ravens 5-4-1; Steelers 7-2.

Last meeting: Steelers beat Ravens 17-10 on Jan. 6, 2024, in Baltimore.

Last week: Ravens beat Bengals 35-34; Steelers beat Commanders 28-27.

Ravens offense: overall (1), rush (1), pass (3), scoring (1).

Ravens defense: overall (27), rush (1) pass (32), scoring (25).

Steelers offense: overall (18), rush (8), pass (26), scoring (12).

Steelers defense: overall (8), rush (4) pass (19), scoring (2).

Turnover differential: Ravens plus-4; Steelers plus-9.

Ravens player to watch

DL Nnamdi Madubuike. After only two sacks through the first nine games of the season, Madubuike had three last week. The Ravens can’t afford to struggle with both their pass rush and pass coverage at the same time, and that’s been the case for quite a bit of this season. Madubuike is someone with the ability to change that.

Steelers player to watch

LB T.J. Watt. The perennial All-Pro had perhaps the quietest game of his career last week against Washington when he failed to have a tackle for the first time while being held without a sack. Pittsburgh’s best chance to beat the Ravens relies heavily on Watt making Ravens QB Lamar Jackson as uncomfortable as possible. It seems unlikely Watt — who has 16 career sacks against Baltimore — will be kept in check in consecutive weeks.

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Key injuries

Ravens: All-Pro S Kyle Hamilton injured his ankle against Cincinnati and missed practice time this week. ... TE Isaiah Likely (hamstring) was back at practice after missing last week’s game.

Steelers: OLB Alex Highsmith (ankle) is out. OLB Nick Herbig (hamstring) could return after missing the past four games.

Series notes

The Steelers have won six of the past seven meetings with Baltimore in one of the NFL’s most-heated rivalries. Each of the past eight games between the two AFC North powers has been decided by seven points or fewer. Pittsburgh swept the season series against the Ravens last season, though it should be noted Baltimore sat several starters — including QB Lamar Jackson — in the regular-season finale because it had the division title already wrapped up.

Stats and stuff

This is the 35th meeting between Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and Ravens coach John Harbaugh, the second most between two coaches in NFL history, trailing only the 49 clashes between Hall of Famers George Halas and Curly Lambeau. ... Jackson has had eight straight games with a passer rating of at least 100. He’s the fourth player to accomplish that within a season. Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers did it twice each. ... The Ravens are 47-19 in November under Harbaugh. ... Baltimore is the top team in the NFL in yards per rush for (5.72) and against (3.38). ... The Ravens have scored 33 touchdowns in 43 red zone opportunities for a league-leading rate of 76.7 percent. ... Derrick Henry needs two rushing touchdowns to tie Baltimore’s single-season record of 14, held by Jamal Lewis. ... Jackson is the second quarterback since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to reach at least 2,500 yards passing and 500 yards rushing through his team’s first 10 games. Kyler Murray (2020) is the other. ... Henry became the fifth player since 1970 to score a touchdown in each of the first 10 games of a season. O.J. Simpson, Jerry Rice, John Riggins and Todd Gurley are the others. Henry is also the first player to score a TD in each of his first 10 games with a team, having joined the Ravens last offseason. ... Both Baltimore and its opponents have a 47% conversion rate on third down. ... The Ravens have outscored opponents by 86 points in the first three quarters, but they’ve have been outscored by 24 in the fourth. ... Pittsburgh has won four straight games, three of them after QB Russell Wilson returned from a calf injury that forced him to miss six games. ... Wilson threw for three touchdowns against Washington last week, the 47th time in his career he’s connected for at least three scores in a game, tied with Matt Ryan for the 11th-most three-touchdown games in league history. ... Wilson has faced the Ravens just three times in his career, with a record of 1-2. ... Steelers WR George Pickens leads the league in yards per reception among players with at least 40 catches (16.0 yards), a number that has ticked up since Wilson took over. Pickens is averaging 19.7 yards per reception in three games with Wilson. ... This is the first of six divisional games over the final eight weeks for Pittsburgh, which went 5-1 against the AFC North last season. ... The Steelers are one of the few teams that seem to regularly have an answer when facing Jackson. Pittsburgh is 3-1 against the Ravens when Jackson starts. Only the Kansas City Chiefs (4-1) have a better winning percentage against Jackson, whose quarterback rating against the Steelers (66.3) is his lowest against any team he’s faced at least four times. ... Pittsburgh’s offense has taken a significant step forward this season and now face one of the league’s worst defenses statistically. The Steelers are averaging 30.75 points over their past four games and have topped 30 twice, something they did just seven times from the start of the 2019 season through Week 5 of the 2024 season. ... Pittsburgh’s plus-80 scoring margin in the second half is tops in the NFL. It helps that the Steelers have allowed an NFL-low 10 points in the third quarter. ... Both Pittsburgh and Baltimore do a good job taking care of the ball. The Ravens are tied for third in fewest giveaways in the league (six) while the Steelers are tied for fifth with seven. ... Pittsburgh S Minkah Fitzpatrick does not have a takeaway since Week 16 of the 2022 season, a span of 20 games in which he’s been active.

Fantasy tip

Baltimore’s offense has looked unstoppable, but finds itself facing a team that has been Lamar Jackson’s Kryptonite. It might be safer to let Russell Wilson cook against the NFL’s lowest-ranked pass defense. The nine-time Pro Bowler hasn’t been shy about letting it loose since entering the starting lineup. Wilson is averaging 14.7 yards per completion and faces a secondary that’s 29th in yards per completion allowed (11.3).

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