Steelers won the battle in 2025, but Ravens might win the war

4 days ago 2

When the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Baltimore Ravens 26-24 on Sunday night, it was a result that worked on numerous levels. Yes, it was the AFC North title game, a prime time season finale and a renewal of the NFL's greatest rivalry. But it was even more than that, as it was a meeting of two franchises at a critical crossroads.

Before he was let go on Tuesday night, then Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was the second longest tenured NFL head coach, with 18 seasons of service. His counterpart on the other sideline, the Steelers' Mike Tomlin, is first with 19 seasons and counting. Both sides brought solid stability to the table that night, but also a sense of stale stagnation.

There were fans of both teams clamoring for a new coach, and many thought the losing side would get their wish.

It didn't happen on Black Monday, but nevertheless, the Ravens have hit the reset button now. For Baltimore and Pittsburgh, there has been a consistent floor: Harbaugh has gone .500 or better in every season, but two, and Tomlin has never suffered a losing season.

However, there has also been a hard ceiling for both sides. Since winning the Super Bowl in 2012, the Ravens haven't been back, and they've only reached the AFC Championship game once. As for Tomlin, he won a Super Bowl in 2008, just his second season in charge.

They wanted back in 2010, but lost to the Green Bay Packers. They have only made one conference championship appearance since 2016, and that was also the last time they won a postseason game. It's easy to argue that a fresh start was/is needed in Pittsburgh, too.

Now that the Ravens are on their way to a fresh start, in the long run, or big picture, maybe they actually "won" this past weekend. Of course, we can't answer that, either way, until much further down the road.

Perhaps one day, we'll look back at this game and say the Ravens lost the battle, but won the war.

Then again, there is already speculation that Tomlin could get sacked, too, if the Steelers get knocked out of the playoffs by the Houston Texans this weekend.

And with that, Pittsburgh might be starting its retooling too, albeit a week later than Baltimore.

This article originally appeared on Ravens Wire: Ravens have a possible silver lining in SNF loss at the Steelers

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