The Baltimore Ravens might not have much to play for in Week 17 but the Pittsburgh Steelers sure do. Team that up with a classic AFC North rivalry and you have the makings of some good television. It seems the networks agree with that notion, flexing the Ravens vs. Steelers game from 1:00 p.m. to 4:25 p.m. ET, according to the team’s Twitter account.
Baltimore has already decided their seeding in the AFC playoff picture, locking up the top spot with their win over the Cleveland Browns in Week 16. But Pittsburgh losing to the New York Jets puts their playoff hopes in jeopardy. While the Ravens might want to rest many of their starters, they likely aren’t interested in seeing the Steelers make the cut for the postseason and a loss is a sure-fire way of making that a reality.
With the wild card spots far from finalized, any games with real postseason stakes tend to get bumped up to the later spots in order to maximize ratings. Regardless of if Baltimore ends up resting players or not, their Week 17 game will have playoff implications for the AFC and the final wild-card spot. And considering it took overtime to decide the winner of the first matchup this season back in Week 5, this should be a fun game to watch.
