The Ravens’ first-round playoff opponent is a familiar foe.

Baltimore will play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium in this weekend’s wild-card round. The game will kick off at 8 p.m. and air on Prime Video.. The matchup was set after the Los Angeles Chargers beat the Raiders in Las Vegas on Sunday to secure the No. 5 seed in the AFC and the Steelers lost, 19-17, a day earlier to the Bengals in Cincinnati.

The victory by the Chargers means they will travel to Houston to face the No. 4 seed and AFC South champion Texans. The Steelers dropped to the No. 6 seed to set up a return date with the third-seeded Ravens, who trailed Pittsburgh by two games in the AFC North with four to play but won out to capture the division title on Saturday.

It will also mark the third meeting between the two heated division rivals this season. The Steelers won the first, 18-16, in mid-November at Acrisure Stadium, while the Ravens handily won their most recent showdown, 34-17, three weeks ago in Baltimore.

Now, they will square off in the postseason for the first time since 2015.

Playoff history

The Ravens and Steelers have played just four times in the postseason. The Steelers won each of the first three meetings — all in Pittsburgh — in 2002 in the divisional round, in 2009 in the AFC championship game and in 2011, again in the divisional round.

In their first playoff meeting, Pittsburgh dominated, building a 20-3 lead en route to a 27-10 blowout as Baltimore was held to 150 total yards and 1-of-18 on third down.

It wasn’t until seven years later that they finally met again in the playoffs, this time with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. Again the Steelers’ defense was the difference as the Ravens were held to 184 yards and turned the ball over five times, with Troy Polamalu’s 40-yard interception of a Joe Flacco pass for a touchdown in the fourth quarter the decisive blow in a 23-14 victory.

In the 2010 season, Baltimore and Pittsburgh both finished 12-4, but the Steelers won the AFC North thanks to a better divisional record.

In the divisional round showdown, the Ravens built a 14-7 first-quarter lead but the offense was again shut down. Baltimore was held to a paltry 126 yards, turned the ball over three times and scored just 3 points in the second half on its way to a 31-24 defeat.

Finally, the Ravens snapped the streak in 2015 with a commanding 30-17 wild-card win in Pittsburgh.

It was a victory that Baltimore fans remember fondly, with quarterback Joe Flacco completing 18 of 29 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns, including one in the fourth quarter to backup tight end Crockett Gillmore to put Pittsburgh away. The defense was also stifling, forcing three fourth-quarter turnovers, including an interception by linebacker Terrell Suggs, and sacking Ben Roethlisberger five times.

Lately

This time, of course, Baltimore will get Pittsburgh at M&T Bank Stadium, where the Ravens were 6-2 during the regular season with their only losses being in Week 2 to the Las Vegas Raiders and in Week 13 to the NFC East champion Philadelphia Eagles.

Those half-dozen victories at home also included a 34-17 handling of the Steelers, a victory that clinched a playoff berth and was the second of four straight wins to close out the regular season en route to capturing the AFC North title. In that game, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson threw three touchdown passes, while cornerback Marlon Humphrey scored on a fourth-quarter interception return to help seal it.

It also ended a four-game losing streak against Pittsburgh, which had won eight of nine against Baltimore up to that point, including earlier this season in Pittsburgh, where the Ravens played an ugly-mistake filled game.

Now, though, it’s the Steelers who have looked ugly, losing four straight to limp into the playoffs. During that span, they’ve been one of the worst teams in the NFL, averaging 14.25 points, 146.5 yards passing and 112.5 yards rushing.

Pittsburgh has also scored just two total touchdowns in its last four games, is 19 of 48 on third down and twice has been held to 74 yards or less on the ground.

Still, for all of Baltimore’s success this season, the Steelers have historically been a tough opponent. They also know all the pressure will be on the Ravens, who enter the playoffs perhaps the hottest team in the league and with the expectation of a deep playoff run.

What they’re saying

On Saturday, Jackson became the first player in NFL history to pass for at least 4,000 yards and rush for at least 800 yards in the same season. Running back Derrick Henry set a franchise-record for rushing touchdowns in a season. Outside linebackers Kyle Van Noy and Odafe Oweh became the first Ravens duo to produce double digits in sacks in the same season since Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil in 2014.

None of that matters now, because with little else to accomplish this team and most notably Jackson will be judged on postseason performance, something the team is acutely aware of.

“Starting off 0-2, just looking at how things was happening with us – just battling adversity, people just doubting us and just this turnaround we’ve had,” Jackson said. “I’m very proud of my team. We battled and we got the job done, but the job is undone.”

Added coach John Harbaugh: “We played all of the teams in the playoffs — we played them all when they were all playing really well — but they’ve been getting better as well, so we understand it gets better, it gets tougher, but so do we.”

Last season, Baltimore reached the AFC championship game for the first time in more than a decade before falling flat at home against the Chiefs. Now, the Ravens will likely have to win multiple road games if they are to get to the Super Bowl.

In many ways, their season is just beginning.

“This is why I came here,” Henry said. “We got the first goals done — to win the division — and [there’s] still much more we need to accomplish.”

Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1.