Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Adam Thielen makes a catch against Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey Peter Casey-Imagn Images

Ravens Should Copy Browns' Blueprint vs. Steelers

Originally posted on Baltimore Ravens on SI
By Jeremy Brener | Last updated Dec 31, 2025 7:00 AM ET

The Baltimore Ravens are going into Week 18 against the Pittsburgh Steelers with a chance to clinch the AFC North and reach the playoffs for the fourth year in a row.

The Steelers could have won the division themselves, but they could not beat the Cleveland Browns in Week 17 to clinch the division. Now, the Ravens have a chance to dethrone the Steelers and they might want to watch some of the film from the previous game to figure out how to contain Pittsburgh.

"[The Browns'] gameplan was probably play to their defense, and that's smart. They did a great job with that. Their defense was up to it [and] played a great game. Offensively, they didn't have too many mistakes. They had one close call that didn't hurt them," Ravens head coach John Harbaugh told reporters.

"They had another pick down there on their end [of the field], but I'm sure they tried to minimize the turnovers. That was probably a big part of their plan; they did that for the most part. They ran the ball pretty well, at times, effectively, but they played a field-position game, and special teams was solid for them, so that was probably the basis of their plan, I would think."

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Ravens Can Learn From Browns

The Browns held the Steelers to just six points in their recent meeting, so that would be an ideal performance for the Ravens if they were to match the production.

Baltimore will almost certainly watch some of the film from that game, but they need to play their game, not Cleveland's.

"All those things are going to be really, really important. We're not the same team as [the Browns], so we'll lean on different things schematically," Harbaugh said.

"We'll lean on different things probably strategically, but generally a winning football game, I think that was kind of the basis. I think [the Browns] tried to shorten the game. That's always part of it, but you also have to play to your strengths, and we have certain strengths that other teams don't have. So, we want to play to those strengths, too."

The Ravens will also have to learn from their previous meeting against the Steelers earlier this month, where the team struggled at home against Pittsburgh. If the Ravens can attack things from a different angle, they will have a better chance of leaving Acrisure Stadium as division champs.

This article first appeared on Baltimore Ravens on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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