After feasting on Thanksgiving dinner, Ravens fans will have football on the menu.
The Ravens have a Thanksgiving game for the first time since 2013, traveling to face the archrival Pittsburgh Steelers in the holiday nightcap starting at 8:20 p.m. ET.
The Ravens and Steelers have met just once on Thanksgiving, in 2013 when Baltimore prevailed, 22-20, at M&T Bank Stadium. Justin Tucker was Baltimore's biggest weapon that night, kicking five field goals, including a 57-yarder. The most interesting part of the night was when Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin stepped on the field during a long Jacoby Jones kickoff return that appeared headed for a touchdown.
Ravens vs. Steelers is widely regarded as the NFL's best rivalry, and the Thanksgiving matchup is one of five primetime games on Baltimore's 2020 schedule. A Ravens-Steelers primetime game is usually part of the NFL schedule. Since 2006, Baltimore and Pittsburgh had met in primetime at least once every season until last year.
Ravens vs. Steelers in 2020 should make for compelling Thanksgiving football. Baltimore is one of the AFC favorites to reach the Super Bowl coming off a franchise best 14-2 season. Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is expected to be healthy again after missing almost the entire 2019 season following elbow surgery.
Even without Roethlisberger in the lineup last year, Baltimore's visit to Pittsburgh came down to the wire as Ravens-Steelers games often do. Baltimore prevailed, 26-23, in overtime, with Tucker kicking a 46-yarder that made a right turn just in time to sneak through the uprights.
The last time the Ravens and Steelers met on a holiday, however, was on Christmas in 2016 when Antonio Brown reached the football over the goal line in the final seconds to win the division and knock the Ravens out of the playoff chase.
Baltimore has played on Thanksgiving just twice in its history. The first time was in 2011, when the Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 16-6, in Baltimore. That game featured the first matchup between Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh and his brother, Jim, who was the 49ers' head coach. Baltimore sacked Alex Smith nine times. The brothers met again the following season in Super Bowl XLVII, as the Ravens captured their second Lombardi Trophy.
