The Steelers make the postseason yet again but go into their wild-card matchup against the Ravens on the back of 4 consecutive losses. Playing in Baltimore, Lamar Jackson and co. are favorites to advance to the divisional round. So it would be foolish to bet against them.
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But Rob Gronkowski doesn’t think so, urging everyone to put their money on Pittsburgh. His reason- the Steelers are Lamar’s weakness, based on the past records.
“Anyone that loves a bet, put your money on the Steelers. I’m not saying who is going to win but these games are usually decided within seven points. The Steelers are healthy and it’s the best matchup for struggling Steelers. They match very well against Baltimore. They know them like the back of the hand and it’s Lamar’s Kryptonite is the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
During the latest episode of the Up & Adams Show, Rob Gronkowski highlighted how the margin between two divisional rivals is often razor-thin, making experience a critical factor. These teams are intimately familiar with each other’s strengths and weaknesses, which sets the stage for a compelling matchup. The Steelers, currently in a rut, will do everything they can to avoid an early playoff exit this weekend.
Lamar Jackson enters the game with a 3-5 career record against Pittsburgh, including a split this season—one win and one loss. Across those two games, Jackson threw for 414 yards with four touchdown passes but also turned the ball over four times. While he performed better at home, much of the heavy lifting in that victory was done by Derrick Henry and the Ravens’ defense.
The two-time MVP’s 2-4 record in the playoffs may seem like a silver lining for the Steelers, but it’s hard to ignore Pittsburgh’s own struggles—they haven’t won a playoff game since 2016. So what must the Steelers do to pull off an upset?
They’ll need to make it a physical, grind-it-out slugfest. To do so, they must up their efforts against Baltimore’s run game and blitz Lamar Jackson as aggressively as possible. On offense, their recent struggles are glaring. Pittsburgh has to find ways to exploit Baltimore’s secondary while jump-starting their own run game. Most importantly, Russell Wilson must come out firing early to set the tone.
Even with that game plan, Pittsburgh has the odds stacked against them. The Ravens are heavy favorites at home, with a 9.5-point advantage and -485 odds for the wild-card matchup.
Even without Zay Flowers, Baltimore’s offense is expected to put up points. While the Steelers defense looks solid on paper, many metrics rank them as middle-of-the-pack, which could spell trouble. Gronk’s optimism for Pittsburgh may not hold up in this one.
