Top 5 Steelers/Ravens Games

"Us and the Ravens. It'd be a big game if it was a scrimmage." Mike Tomlin was responsible for this quote right before the two teams faced off in the 2009 AFC championship and he couldn't be more right.  These two teams play this game like the Yankees play the Red Sox, like Duke plays North Carolina; they play this game with pure hatred.  With words like kill, brawl, gang fight , and evil being a mainstay throughout the week leading up to this game, you would think the media were talking about the crime rate throughout the city, not a football game.  This game and this rivalry has the reputation of being the best in the NFL with no close second.  And to honor this rivalry, here are our 5 best Steelers/Ravens games....

5) 2004 Week 2 (in Baltimore)

Roethlisberger celebrates after throwing the
first of many touchdowns to Hines Ward

I know what you all are thinking. Your asking yourself what the hell happened in week two of 2004 that deserves be on this list?  Well if you remember correctly, the Baltimore Ravens knocked Tommy Maddox out of that game during the first half and in came a young rookie named Ben Roethlisberger. You may have heard of him. The Steelers lost that game 30-13 but all 13 of the Steelers points were scored in the 4th quarter by Roethlisberger.   I guess that game and quarter were a sign of things to come.  Ben started the next 13 games and set an NFL record by going 13-0 as a rookie starting quarterback.  And the rest is history......

Final Score- Baltimore 30- Pittsburgh 13




4) 2010 Week 13 (in Baltimore)

With both teams coming in with identical 8-3 records and the Ravens already beating the Steelers once that year, the Ravens looked poised to use the home crowd as an advantage and finally take control of the division.  I guess the Steelers didn't get the memo.  The game started out as a defensive struggle with points coming at a premium. Roethlisberger struggled to lead the Steelers to points so it was the defense's turn to make a play.  With the Steelers down 10 -6 late in the 4th quarter, their strong safety, Troy Polamalu, came up with the big play he has become known for.  Coming off the right side unblocked, Troy strip sacked Joe Flacco and what felt like slow motion, Lamarr Woodley picked the ball up and went to the house.  The Steelers won the game and home field advantage on virtually that play setting them up for another playoff run.  The Steelers would meet the Ravens again that year in the AFC Divisional Round and a game you may see later on this list.

Final- Pittsburgh 13- Baltimore 10


3) 2008 Week 15 (in Baltimore)

Entering their second game of the season against the vaunted Ravens, the Steelers defense ranked first in the league, with the Ravens defense not far behind in second.  With a win, each team had a chance to take a stranglehold on the division with only 2 weeks left.  Coming in everyone expected a hard fought, defensive struggle and that's exactly what they got.  Ravens fan will have hard time forgetting what ensued in this battle.  The game was intense from the start and with the Ravens grasping a 9-6 lead late in the 4th quarter, Ben Roethlisberger and the Steeler's offense were trapped deep in their own territory. Roethlisberger proved why he is currently the best money quarterback in football, not named Brady, and led the Steelers on a 92 yard touchdown drive in a little under 3 minutes.  In classic Big Ben fashion, he started to his left, then turned back to his right, and threw a bullet to Santonio Holmes in the end zone.  The debate was about the ball's location and if it really did cross the goal line.  The play was reviewed and the refs ruled that the ball did end up breaking the plane.  With that touchdown, the Steelers ended up winning the game 13-9, taking the division, and setting themselves up for a home rematch against the Ravens in the AFC championship game later that year (seen later on this list).

Final Score- Pittsburgh 13- Baltimore 9

2) 2011 AFC Divisional

Antonio Brown's memorable 3rd down catch

This was one of the strangest games I can ever remember watching.  To begin the game, the Steelers drove right down the field on the opening drive and Mendenhall plowed into the end zone for a quick 7-0 lead.  Those are the only points the Steelers would score in the first half, after that it was all Baltimore.  The Ravens quickly answered with Ray Rice rushing for a touchdown, but then all hell broke loose.  On the next drive, Ben Roethlisberger was sacked by Terrell Suggs and fumbled, but no-one realized it was  fumble, every player on the field thought it was just an incomplete pass except Corey Redding who managed to scoop the ball up and run it in for an uncontested touchdown.  The Steelers and the Heinz
Field faithful were stunned and could not believe the turn of events that took place.  The Ravens ended the first half up 21-7 and looked poised to exorcise their demons of not being able to beat the Steelers in the playoffs.  However, the second half started with a change of misfortune for the Steelers.  It all began when Ray Rice fumbled a routine catch across the middle, which led to a Heath Miller touchdown not even two minutes later.  Then Joe Flacco threw a careless pass down the right sideline that was intercepted by Ryan Clark.  Roethlisberger found the ageless wonder Hines Ward for a touchdown on the ensuing drive and all of a sudden the score was knotted at 21.  To make things even worse for Flacco, he fumbled the snap on the very next drive.  Everything that could have possibly went wrong for the Ravens in the second half did, and yet the game was far from over.  With the score tied at 24 with only 2:07 left in the 4th quarter, the Steelers were looking at a gruesome 3rd and 19.  In one of the most exciting Steeler plays in recent history, Ben Roethlisberger unleashed a rocket throw to a streaking Antonio Brown that set the Steelers up at the 5 yard line.  This marked Antonio Browns coming out party and showed his ability to make big plays for the first time.  The Steelers sealed the game with another tough Mendenhall run and once again sent the Ravens home for another long offseason.

Final Score- Pittsburgh 31- Baltimore 24


1) 2009 AFC Championship

First of all, to put this game into words would be an injustice.  Each team played with such physicality and reckless abandon that it cannot be fully appreciated unless watching live.  The Steelers and Ravens met for the 3rd time of of the 2008-2009 season for a chance to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.  What resulted on that cold January night wasn't a football game, it was an all out war.  This game cemented the rivalry as the best the NFL currently has to offer.  The Steelers jumped out to a quick 13-0 lead sparked by Santonio Holmes' ridiculous catch and run through the entire Ravens secondary.  The key to the touchdown was Ben Roethlisberger's ability to improvise and extend the play.  The Steelers looked like they were going to cruise easily to victory, but the Ravens had other aspirations in mind.  The game turned into a defensive struggle with the Ravens continually chipping away at the Steeler's lead.  Midway through the 4th quarter Joe Flacco was trying to continue his cinderella run through the playoffs by threatening to finally take the lead.  Flacco dropped back and launched a pass to running back Willis McGahee who was 20 yards downfield.  Ryan Clark read the play perfectly and hit McGahee head on, with both players colliding at full speed.  Neither could get up after the ferocious hit that I'm sure could be heard all the way back in Baltimore.  With that collision the drive stalled, but the Ravens managed

Polamalu seals the game with his late touchdown.

to get one last shot to take the lead when they managed to get the ball back with a little more than 4 minutes left on the clock.  On a 3rd and 13, rookie Joe Flacco made his first rookie mistake of the postseason and tried to squeeze a pass into a cutting Derrick Mason, but Troy Polamalu was ready for it and jumped the route for an interception.  He took the interception to paydirt and sent the Steelers to their 7th Super Bowl appearance.  It was a fitting ending for a game, that boasts the 2 best defenses of the decade, to end on such an amazing defensive play.  This marked the 3rd time the Steelers beat the Ravens that season and set the stage for the greatest Super Bowl in NFL history.

Final Score- Pittsburgh 23- Baltimore 14