After going head to head against their arch-rivals in a game they have historically lost almost 80 percent of the time as of late, the Baltimore Ravens finally accomplished their most pressing goal: defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers.
I know, crazy, right? Despite being one of the most successful teams in the NFL, the Ravens had lost eight of their last nine games to the Steelers up to this point, making the challenge of securing a playoff spot all the more perilous. And yet, despite losing Justice Hill to an injury and Lamar Jackson throwing a pick near the endzone that could have spelled disaster, the Ravens secured the win, guaranteeing that they will be playoff-bound come January in one spot or another.
Asked how it felt to secure his 12th win in 17 seasons after the game, Harbaugh let out a two-word declaration before digging into it a bit deeper.
“It’s huge,” Harbaugh said via NFL.com. “I rejoice in the fact that we made the playoffs, because it’s tough to do, it’s really hard to do. Look around the league at how hard it is to do. I’m so proud of these guys. And we have goals, the first goal is to win the next game, we say. So everything we do all year is to win the next game. The second goal is to make the playoffs. The third goal is to win the division, the AFC North. And then the final goal is to win the championship, the Super Bowl. We got two of them tonight, we won the next game, and we made the playoffs.”