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It feels a bit dirty for Ravens fans to pull for either the Steelers or the Patriots.

The AFC rivals will face off Thursday night in New England to open the NFL season, and the Ravens locker room is having a tough time figuring out where to put their rooting interests.

“Two of my favorite teams – who am I pulling for?” outside linebacker Terrell Suggs pondered. “I’ll be honest with you, I can’t really win tomorrow night. Whoever wins, I lose.”

“I don’t know, I want both of them to lose,” cornerback Jimmy Smith said.

Suggs and Smith clearly don’t have plans to break out a Terrible Towel or a Patriots jersey as they sit back to watch the game, but Suggs did make a notable admission when he said he’s glad to see Patriots quarterback Tom Brady back on the field after having his Deflategate suspension overturned.

“I think this league needs its players,” Suggs said. “Whatever happened, happened. I’m not an expert on the situation. I don’t know what the [heck] happened, so I don’t really care. What would the NBA be like without [Kevin] Durant and LeBron James? Definitely in the NFL we need all our players playing.”  

Suggs may also have an ulterior motive to support Brady’s Week 1 return.

Having Brady back in the lineup certainly bodes well for the Patriots, and they could help out the Ravens by dealing the Steelers a Week 1 loss. The Ravens and Patriots won’t play this year unless it’s in the playoffs, so natural logic suggests that a New England victory is in Baltimore’s best interest.

The Ravens have been clear that winning the division and getting a home playoff game is a priority this season, and having the Steelers start 0-1 would help in the effort.

“It’s hard to ever root for the Steelers, right?” running back Justin Forsett said. “I want to see a good game. It’s the start of football. We’ll just sit back and watch the game. Since we play the Steelers, I’ll be looking at more of scouting time for me.”