When I was an athlete, even dating back to little league baseball, I loved the big games. This extended into high school playing baseball, and even in big golf tournaments. It eventually bled into my coaching career for over a decade as a head coach of a men’s varsity lacrosse team.

I loved the big game.

I loved the pressure which came with the moment, knowing every single play could be the one which decided the game. My coach in high school always said the best way to ensure success in pressure packed moments is to be prepared, and I truly believed that has helped me succeed in so much more than athletics throughout my life.

But with my playing and coaching days now behind me, I still feel a little bit of that thrill when I know the Pittsburgh Steelers have a big game coming up. No, I have no control over the outcome of the game, but I still feel that feeling when kickoff is coming up and you know the significance of the moment.

That’s exactly what is awaiting the Steelers and Ravens this Sunday at 1pm EST at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, MD, and it essentially is for the division. If the Steelers win the football game, their chances of making the postseason move north of 70%. If the Ravens win, their chances do the same. If the Steelers lose, those chances plummet to 20%. The same with the Ravens.

These two teams who are so much alike in their history and play style find themselves in a very similar situation this Sunday in a game which could decide the AFC North. If we’re being honest with one another, and if you have read any of my AFC Playoff Picture articles, you know there is only one path for these two teams to make the playoffs…win the division.

These make-or-break games haven’t always gone the Steelers way, we saw that plenty in 2024, and have seen our share of scars since the team’s last playoff victory in 2016, but these games still get the blood pumping for me as a fan.

When you look at the upcoming game vs. the Ravens, it isn’t your classic matchup most expect when they think Pittsburgh vs. Baltimore. You think about those hard-hitting, low scoring games which come down to a singular play to turn the tide. The history of this matchup does tell you it will be a close game, but I’m not so sure with these two defenses it will be low-scoring.

So it will likely come down to who can make the big play. Who will make the exceptional play to turn the tide? Think about some of the big wins the Steelers have had in their past against the Ravens, and the plays which were made to give them the victory:

Troy Polamalu’s strip-sack of Joe Flacco
Heath Miller’s amazing dive to the pylon for the TD
Antonio Brown’s helmet catch along the sideline to seal the win
T.J. Watt disrupting Lamar Jackson’s two point try, giving the Steelers the win

I could go on, but you get what I’m saying. This is a game where you typically throw out all the factors we typically use in deciphering the potential winner and focus on who can make the big play? Last season in Baltimore it was the Ravens who made that play. Remember Russell Wilson moving the offense only to fumble inside the 10-yard line, only to see the game spin out of control in the wake of that singular play?

Who will make the play? Which team will claim victory?

It all comes down to this, and it is poetic it is between the Steelers and Ravens. The way it should be. This still gets my blood pumping…