Baltimore Ravens' tilt with Steelers could be bitter rivalry's highest stakes in years

In recent times, one can argue the divisional rivalry between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers has been the most heated in the NFL.

A big part of the reason for that is both teams frequently put a playoff-level product on the field. This year, though, could feature the highest stakes the rivalry has seen in some time.

With the Ravens sitting at 7-3 and the Steelers at 7-2 entering Sunday, the winner of this game will lead the AFC North at its conclusion. The last time that was the case was in Week Eight of the 2020 season, when the 6-0 Steelers visited the 5-1 Ravens.

A Ravens win in that contest would have evened up their records at 6-1 apiece, with Baltimore holding the head-to-head tiebreaker. Nevertheless, the Steelers won 28-24 on a go-ahead Chase Claypool TD late in the game.

Not only was that game the last time the two teams played with the division lead at stake, but only twice since then have both the Ravens and Steelers each been above .500 when playing each other. On both of those occasions -- Week 12 in 2020 and Week 18 of last season -- at least one of the teams' starting quarterbacks did not play.

Both Lamar Jackson and Russell Wilson are currently healthy and playing quality football, and both of their teams are rolling. The Ravens have won seven of eight following a 0-2 start, and the Steelers have been victorious in four straight.

Because of that, Sunday's game between the two bitter enemies figures to be a vintage duel that rekindles the passionate energy their matchups entertained NFL viewers with throughout the 2010s.