Ravens' John Harbaugh addresses if starters will play vs. Steelers

The Baltimore Ravens clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC via a dominant 56-19 blowout win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday and, thus, have nothing to gain during Saturday's regular-season finale versus the 9-7 Pittsburgh Steelers. 

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh hasn't yet decided how he'll handle his first-choice players for the opening weekend of 2024. 

"I have not made any decisions on personnel yet," Harbaugh explained on Monday, as shared by Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk. "We’ve got to kind of work through the injury part of it first. That’ll take us probably 24 to 48 hours to get a real handle on that, and then we’ll make those decisions. We’re not going to keep it a secret. We’ll let you know what we’re going to do once we start practicing."

Williams mentioned that Harbaugh sat presumed 2023 NFL Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson and other key starters for the 2019 regular-season finale when Baltimore had nothing to "win" regarding that game. The Ravens ultimately became a one-and-done playoff side in January 2020. 

To compare, Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk noted that Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell revealed Monday he won't rest starters for his club's upcoming regular-season finale even though Detroit can only move up to the No. 2 seed in the NFC. Campbell explained he wants his players focused and "ready to roll" heading into the playoffs. 

Interestingly, Saturday afternoon's game at M&T Bank Stadium is massive for Pittsburgh. Per the Steelers' website, Pittsburgh can back into the playoffs with a win at Baltimore coupled with the Miami Dolphins (11-5) beating the Buffalo Bills (10-6) or the Tennessee Titans (5-11) defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars (9-7) in Week 18 (among other scenarios). 

In short, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin may want to send Harbaugh a late Christmas present sooner rather than later.