John Harbaugh still considering whether to rest Ravens starters for Week 18 vs. Steelers

The Steelers absolutely need to beat the Ravens this Saturday to have hope for the playoffs. And there’s a possibility top-seeded Baltimore will do rival Pittsburgh a favor.

Wait, what? The Ravens could do the Steelers a solid? Well, it’s in Baltimore’s best interest to have a healthy Lamar Jackson for the NFL playoffs. This is a team that already locked up the top seed in the AFC and most believe the Ravens should be the favorite to win the Super Bowl given their recent guttings of the 49ers and the Dolphins.

Baltimore coach John Harbaugh told reporters he wasn’t sure if he’d rest some starters for the final game of the season.

“I have not made a decision on any personnel yet,” Harbaugh said. “We’ve got to kind of work through the injury part of it first, and that will take us probably 24 or 48 hours to get a real handle on that. 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.”

He added: “It’s not like the preseason when you have a bunch of guys. The team we put out there is going to do everything we can to win the game, play our best football game of the season and win the game against a very tough opponent.”

Four AFC teams have secured spots in the post-season. The Ravens are a guaranteed top seed. The others who know they’re in are the Dolphins, Chiefs and Browns. Kansas City also clinched a divisional title.

Check out formula for Steelers to secure playoff spot

For the Steelers, several scenarios need to happen for the team to continue playing past the weekend. Although Pittsburgh is 9-7. there are several teams ahead of them in the wildcard pecking order.

According to the NFL, here’s how the Steelers can clinch (yes, four and five are confusing).

1. PIT win + BUF loss OR
2. PIT win + JAX loss or tie OR
3. PIT win + HOU-IND tie OR
4. PIT tie + JAX loss + HOU-IND doesn’t end in tie OR
5. JAX loss + DEN win + HOU-IND doesn’t end in tie

Now, it needs to be said that the Ravens probably want some payback against the Steelers. After all, Pittsburgh beat them 17-10 on Oct. 6. The Steelers still were offensively challenged two months ago. Kenny Pickett and George Pickens combined for a 41-yard touchdown with 1 minute, 17 seconds to go to take a 14-10 lead. Then Alex Highsmith sacked Jackson and forced a fumble. The Steelers recovered. Three kneel-downs later, Pittsburgh kicker Chris Boswell added a 42-yard field goal.

The Ravens already know they’ll have a bye week as the NFL playoffs crank up. So maybe that’ll impact who they play against the Steelers.