The Ravens are three-point underdogs at Pittsburgh on Saturday night, and there are Baltimore fans seeing this and smiling.
In fact, there are some who might suggest the Ravens have the Steelers right where they want them.
Time and again, and under two different coaches, the Ravens have proven strong playoff underdogs.
Since 2000, the Ravens have been underdogs in 14 postseason games, per the Spreadapedia database.
They have won eight of those games outright — eight.
Moreover, all eight of the victories were away from Baltimore.
In 2000, the Ravens — en route to winning Super Bowl XXXV — won at Tennessee in the divisional round and at Oakland in the AFC title game. They were six-point underdogs in both contests. (Bettors, to their credit, figured it out in the Super Bowl; the Ravens were three-point favorites over the Giants.)
The next year, the Ravens (+2.5) won at Miami in the wild-card round, giving Baltimore its third and final playoff upset of Brian Billick’s tenure as head coach.
But that wasn’t it for Ravens postseason surprises. Baltimore has pulled off five upsets in John Harbaugh’s tenure. First, the Ravens (+3) knocked off Tennessee in the 2008 divisional round. The following year, the Patriots (-4) were on the wrong end of a 33-14 Baltimore rout.
Finally, the Ravens won three straight as underdogs in the 2012 postseason, stunning host Denver (-9) in the divisional round and routing New England (-8) in the AFC title game.
The Ravens would cap their title run by defeating the 49ers — 4.5-point favorites — in Super Bowl XLVII.
However, we pause here to note something Steelers fans surely know well.
On three occasions, the Steelers have hosted the Ravens in the postseason.
All three times, the Steelers were favored.
All three times, the Steelers won.
The 2001 Steelers (-5.5) knocked off Baltimore 27-10 in the divisional round. The 2008 Steelers (-6) grinded to a 23-14 win in the AFC title game vs. the Ravens. And the 2010 Steelers (-3.5) won a wild divisional playoff vs. Baltimore, with a big catch by Antonio Brown helping Pittsburgh secure a 31-24 triumph.
On Saturday night, these teams meet again with the chips in the middle of the table. Once again, the Steelers will be favorites before the flop.
No matter what happens, it will be a fun match to watch.
