Ravens looking to continue hot streak after bye weeks originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The Ravens have their most pivotal game of the season Sunday and, if history is any indication, they’ll be more than prepared.
Since coach John Harbaugh took over the Ravens in 2008, the Ravens are 10-2 after their regular season bye — including last year’s 37-20 statement win over the then-unbeaten Patriots.
Sometimes, history repeats itself.
The Ravens will face the 6-0 Steelers on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium in a game that not only means a lot for the AFC North playoff picture, but the AFC playoffs as a whole. The coaching staff might not care about the post-bye week success, but it’s certainly an advantage for the Ravens.
“I don’t really think about it like that,” Harbaugh said Wednesday. “You have byes, you don’t have byes, you play on Monday night, you play on Thursday night. The schedule is what it is. That’s how we look at it.”
Not only that, the Ravens have played well against the spread under Harbaugh.
According to Points Bet, Harbaugh is 9-5 against the spread coming off a bye (including the playoffs). In the regular season, he’s 6-3 as a favorite and 3-0 when coaching the favored Ravens.
Baltimore is favored by 4.5 points against Pittsburgh. The Ravens have yet to be an underdog in any game they’ve played this season.
In order for them to knock off the Steelers, let alone cover the spread, they’ve got to slow down the Steelers’ passing game led by Ben Roethlisberger and a talented host of wideouts. And once Lamar Jackson gets the ball, he’ll have to deal with a massively talented defense on the other side of the ball.
Either way, history has shown the Ravens will, at the very least, be ready to go for Sunday.
