In any other year, the idea of 2-time NFL MVP Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson staring down Pittsburgh Steelers edge rusher and 6-time NFL All-Pro T.J. Watt is enough to send football fanboy hearts aflutter.
In 2025, it comes with a bit of an asterisk.
The 2 venerated, veteran NFL warriors will line up across from each other once again in Week 18 with the NFC North Division title on the line, but it will hardly be the matchup we’ve seen in the past.
Watt will be playing for the first time after missing 3 games following an incident on December 10 in which he suffered a partially punctured lung during an elective, dry-needling treatment. He had to undergo surgery to repair his lung.
Jackson missed the Ravens’ Week 17 win over the Green Bay Packers with a back contusion suffered in a Week 16 loss to the New England Patriots, but has said he will play against the Steelers. He missed 3 games earlier this season with a hamstring injury.
“I feel pretty good,” Watt told ESPN’s Brooke Pryor on Friday, January 2 “Honestly, don’t know if I could have said that a week ago, but I feel really good. Feel really confident about the week of practice and excited to play.”
Watt, the 2021 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, returned to practice as a limited participant on December 31.
From the Mayo Clinic: “During a dry needling treatment, one or more thin, monofilament needles are inserted into a muscle trigger point. A trigger point is a local band of tight, irritable and dysfunctional muscle tissue. This often emerges because of injury, overuse or poor movement patterns.”
Watt’s History of Owning Ravens OL
While Watt has hit some rough times over the last 2 seasons — just 1 sack in his last 4 games against Baltimore — for the majority of his career he’s made a habit of dismantling the Ravens’ offensive line.
From 2019 to 2023, Watt had at least 1 sack in 9 consecutive games against the Ravens, including 3 games with 2.0 sacks and a virtuoso, 3.5-sack performance in 2021.
Jackson ‘100 Percent’ Will Play vs. Steelers
Speaking with the media on Thursday, January 1, Jackson said “100 percent” he was going to play against the Steelers, who came out with a controversial, 27-22 win in the first meeting between the 2 teams in Week 14.
Jackson found himself in a different kind of spotlight recently thanks to a bombshell column from The Baltimore Sun’s Mike Preston on December 23.
From Ravens Vault’s Sarah Ellison: “Lamar Jackson shot down several accusations from a recent Baltimore Sun column: He was asked if he has a strong relationship with his head coach John Harbaugh: ‘Yes. I don’t know where that stuff comes from.’ Is there any truth to him falling asleep in meetings? ‘Do you think Harbaugh would let me fall asleep in meetings? That’s crazy. I’m right in front. It’s just noise. … I heard I play games at 1 or 2 in the morning. I don’t even do that during the summer, so I don’t know where that comes from either.’ Does he want to be in Baltimore? ‘Absolutely, man, absolutely.’ He added that he’s never quit on his team, and reiterated he doesn’t know where narratives like that come from. He said he’ll ‘100%’ be the starter on Sunday, and he’ll wear protective gear around his back where he sustained a contusion.”
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