Much like college football, the NFL saw a large amount of Head Coach firings this year, and still likely more to come. Notably, two legendary coaches were out of a job, John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin. After the January 4th loss to Pittsburgh to miss the playoffs, the Ravens would announce they were parting ways with John Harbaugh, their head man for 18 years. Not shortly after, the Steelers would drop their 7th straight playoff game in blowout fashion at home, leading to Mike Tomlin stepping down as Head Coach in Pittsburgh.

This change marks the end of a remarkable stretch in this rivalry in the AFC north, always producing fierce and bitter battles between two respected legends on the sidelines. For this article, I am going to look back at some of my favorite, and as a Steelers fan, not so favorite moments of these bitter games between Tomlin and Harbaugh.

18 Years of Battle

Throughout this 18-year battle between Pittsburgh and Baltimore, both franchises have seen remarkable success. The coaches’ records are truly unbelievable, as Tomlin’s tenure ends at 193-114-2, with Harbaugh being similar at 180-113 respectively. Both coaches have won a super bowl, both early in their careers, and doing what they were brought in originally to accomplish: getting their teams over the hump. Individually, their careers are extremely similar within their organizations, but there is one thing about a rivalry that makes it so special, the head to head matchups.

Football rivalries are one of the very few instances in sports where you can truly take out your hatred on the opponent, and these matchups are known for it. The Ravens and Steelers over this 18 year stretch saw some clean and brutal hits, signifying the true hatred. In the tenure of Tomlin and Harbaugh, the Ravens and Steelers met 40 times, with 4 playoff battles. These games were tough, filled with everything that makes a football rivalry great, and produced an instant classic everytime. The coaches in the playoffs are 2-2 against one another all time, but John Harbaugh will end this fight knowing he won the 2 most recent playoff meetings, including this past year in Baltimore. Despite this, Mike Tomlin can hang his head on the regular season record, going 23-17 against his foe, and in his final season with the Steelers, sweeping their division rival. 

Best Moments

This rivalry has seen it all, from high scoring affairs, to tough, hard-nosed defensive battles. Obviously the series is tight, so let’s take a trip back to a few of the best moments in the Tomlin vs Harbaugh era of the Steelers-Ravens rivalry.

2008 AFC Championship Game- Steelers 23 Ravens 14

This game was seemingly what started it all, despite it not being the first meeting. The Steelers were at home, favored to get back to the super bowl, facing a bitter rival who was red hot, pulling upsets all the way to the AFC title game. This game was the classic style of AFC north football, with strong defense, and the faces of both franchises at quarterback battling for every yard. Not only did this set the tone for this rivalry between these two teams for the next decade, it would start to cement Mike Tomlin’s legacy as a strong defensive mind, as the legendary Troy Polomalu would intercept Joe Flacco, and take it to the house to seal the Steelers spot in the Super Bowl.

The game for Tomlin would be one of his best, but it would haunt Harbaugh for the next 4 years, until he would reach the pinnacle of football himself. Though they started slowly falling down two scores, the Ravens and Harbaugh would claw back into the game, keeping it close until the end, where the Steelers would inevitably prevail. The 2008 AFC championship seemed to be an instant classic in these two coaches’ careers, but little did many people know that this would be the standard for Tomlin vs Harbaugh for years to come. 

2014 Wild Card Round- Ravens 30 Steelers 17

For the third time in their career’s, Tomlin and Harbaugh would meet again in the postseason, as Harbaugh’s 6 seeded Ravens traveled to Pittsburgh. To this point, Harbaugh was 0-2 against Tomlin in the playoffs, and the Steelers had won the division off of a 4 game win streak to end their regular season. From the jump, it seemed the Steelers would continue their playoff dominance over their bitter rival, but the Raven’s defense stepped up to control the Steelers offense, and Baltimore would take a 13-9 lead into the half. The third saw the Raven’s score again, going up 20-9, leaving Steeler fans to wonder if this was going to be the same as their week 2 matchup, where Harbaugh’s Ravens dismantled them.

The Steelers would strike, but fail a 2-point try, and from there on, Harbaugh’s Ravens would run away with it, snatching the wild card game on the road against their division champion. This game would be Harbaugh’s first win over Mike Tomlin in the playoffs, exorcizing the Roethlisberger demons in the playoffs. Though the Ravens would go on to lose next round, they had knocked out their fierce rival in dominating fashion, proving their dominance.

2016 Week 16- Steelers 31 Ravens 27

It is hard to talk about the Tomlin vs Harbaugh rivalry without talking about week 16 of the 2016 season. The stakes were high, if Pittsburgh came out on top, they won the North, but if Baltimore won, the next week would decide the division champion. The prior meeting in Baltimore resulted in Harbaugh coming out on top, but on Christmas day, the Steelers came in hot, having won their past 5 games. The first half was a defensive battle, with the Steelers having a slim 7-6 lead at half. Baltimore struck early in the 3rd, taking a 20-10 lead into the 4th, where everyone asked “Where is Antonio Brown?”. The star receiver had just 4 catches, seemingly silent all game. Little did they know, Brown would make the biggest play of the game.

The Ravens struck late to take a 27-24 lead, with a fullback dive breaking for 6, scoring with just 1:18 left on the clock. The Steelers would have to make a long drive with 2 timeouts to at least force overtime, and the offense would capitalize. With 14 seconds left, Ben Roethlisberger hit a short route to Antonio Brown at the 2 yard line, where he got stood up by Ravens defenders. Brown fought hard, staying on his feet, and extended the ball out over the goal line, touchdown Pittsburgh. The Steelers would intercept Joe Flacco on the final play of the game, cementing a 31-27 victory over Baltimore, and most importantly, the division title. Eventually nicknamed “The Immaculate Extension”, the play is iconic in the Tomlin vs. Harbaugh rivalry, showing how much fight both of these coaches instilled in their teams for every time they played. 

2024 Week 16- Ravens 34 Steelers 17

Once again, a late season matchup between Tomlin and Harbaugh, with the division up for grabs. The Steelers had a small 1 game lead on Baltimore for the division race, coming in at 10-4 compared to Baltimore’s 9-5. Tomlin just barely escaped a loss from Harbaugh earlier in the season in Pittsburgh, winning 18-16, but Harbaugh’s Ravens were hungry, and feeding off their home crowd to try and tie up the division race, as a loss would clinch it for Tomlin’s Steelers. The early part of this game saw the Ravens slowly push ahead, appearing better, but mistakes stalled drives late, keeping Pittsburgh around. At half, Baltimore was up 17-10, but it felt like a miracle Tomlin’s Steelers were still in this game. The Ravens first drive stalled, and Pittsburgh answered, knotting up the game late in the 3rd, silencing the home crowd. Many Ravens fans felt scars of the past coming back, having lost 8 of the last 9 meetings with Pittsburgh to this point, luckily, their team woke up. 

A mix of offensive turnovers, and the dangerous ground combination of Derrick Henry with Lamar Jackson found a way to knock off  Pittsburgh at home, tying the division race, and inevitably, winning the North 2 weeks later. For Harbaugh, this was a signature win at home, propelling the Ravens to 3 straight wins afterwards, including a playoff win over Pittsburgh at home. Despite this era ending the next season, Tomlin and Harbaugh had one more instant classic matchup left in them before the end.

2025 Week 18- Steelers 26 Ravens 24

At the time, nobody knew this would be the last meeting between these two respected rival coaches, but this game perfectly sums up their entire 18 year tenure of matchups. This one meant everything to these teams, with a win or go home game against their bitter foe to end the regular season. Luckily for Tomlin, this game was on friendly soil, but Harbaugh’s Ravens came out ready for battle. Baltimore broke it open early, hitting a huge 4th down completion over the top for a touchdown. Pittsburgh’s defense stepped up the rest of the half, containing the Raven’s offense to 10 points, but their Tomlin and his offense couldn’t pick up the slack, getting stopped on the goal line to end the half down 10-3. The Steelers would score early, with a defensive battle ensuing for the next few possessions, until Baltimore once again hit one over the top, taking a 17-13 lead with 8 minutes remaining in the game. From here on out, this game instantly became a game to remember.

A Kenneth Gainwell touchdown with 3 minutes left put Pittsburgh back on top, seemingly leaving too much time for the Raven’s dangerous offense to not have an answer, and that assumption proved correct. The Steelers 20-17 lead quickly disappeared with, you guessed it, another Zay Flowers deep ball, giving the Ravens a 24-20 lead with 2:18 left on the clock, and no timeouts for Pittsburgh. Not only was this game a classic Tomlin vs. Harbaugh slugfest, but we saw vintage Rodgers reappear for the Steelers, motivated to win for Coach Tomlin, and return to the playoffs. Pittsburgh’s 2-minute drill came down to a 3rd and 10 with 1 minute left from Baltimore’s 26, when Aaron Rodgers found a wide open Calvin Austin for a touchdown. Pittsburgh had taken the lead with less than a minute, but then, kicker Chris Boswell missed his first extra point of the year, keeping the lead at 2. If Baltimore could manage to get into field goal range, the division was theirs, and they did. A big return brought them about a first down away from field goal range, and on 4th down with 20 seconds left,  Lamar Jackson found Isaiah Likely, coming down at the Steelers 21 yard line. Baltimore had done it, needing just a 44-yard field goal to send them to the playoffs, and send Tomlin home for the year. The snap was good, the hold was good, but the kick sailed right, Tomlin was headed to the playoffs.

Tribute to the Rivalry

Even in its final chapter, these two coaches brought out the best in their teams to form an incredible game. Almost every meeting was close, tough, and hard fought, just as these two legends prepared their teams. Throughout the years these two have seen it all, from super bowls, to division titles, to heartbreak, and have been a model for coaches to come. They set a culture, demanded excellence, and made sure their guys fought, no matter what was thrown their way.

As a Steeler fan, most of my life I didn’t appreciate seeing John Harbaugh, as I knew every time I saw him it would be a battle. As this rivalry has grown and may not be the same as it was throughout my life, I have come to appreciate the coach that John Harbaugh is, and that is truly a legend. No matter how many heart attacks he caused me in trips to Heinz field, he and our beloved Coach Tomlin were models for everything involved with coaching, whether scheme, culture, or importantly, utmost respect for one another. At time of writing this article, Harbaugh has been hired by the Giants, and Tomlin is still unsure of his future. I know no matter what happens, these two will always be a staple of AFC North football, the Steelers vs Ravens rivalry, and notably, the entire league. It has been an honor to watch these two go at it for so many years.

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