The Breakdown: Brown's Five Thoughts on Steelers Loss

The Ravens wanted to close the regular season with a victory, but what lies ahead is far more important.

Resting some key players against the archrival Steelers after clinching the No. 1 seed and the AFC North the week before, the Ravens dropped a 17-10 decision in rainy, windy conditions at M&T Bank Stadium. Finishing the season at 13-4, the Ravens look forward to the postseason as the team to beat in the AFC, as the No. 1 seed with a first-round bye.

Here are my five thoughts on a Saturday game that ended a special regular season for Baltimore:

The Ravens never like losing to the Steelers (10-7), especially twice in the same season. However, the Steelers had much more at stake in their battle to make the playoffs and prevailed by the same score that they beat the Ravens by in Week 5.

With all their regular season goals accomplished and the playoffs to look forward to, the Ravens won't dwell on this defeat. The AFC North was a monster this year, and the Ravens won it going away. How good is this division? If the Bengals beat the Browns on Sunday, it would be the first time that all four teams in the same division finish with a winning record since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970.

It took a special team to win the AFC North this year, and the Ravens were that team, running through a gauntlet of quality opponents in the second half of the season.

Now they can chase something bigger. They're not thinking about the Steelers. They're thinking about winning the Super Bowl.

"We've written a lot of pages in our book that set us up pretty good right now," Patrick Queen said. "We've got a week to prepare to find out who we're going to play. Nobody's hanging their heads. If we see those guys again, we'll be ready."

In a game with no playoff implications, it was paramount to come out of it healthy.

Head Coach John Harbaugh said he believed none of the injuries suffered in this game would impact anyone's availability for the playoffs. Safety Geno Stone (knee), who leads the AFC with seven interceptions, left the game in the second half, as did Brent Urban (concussion) and Del'Shawn Phillips (shoulder) ,[comma] while Odafe Oweh (ankle) was injured in the first half. However, Harbaugh gave a positive update after the game.

"I think it looks we got through OK," Harbaugh said. "Some of them looked a little tough. It looks like we got through okay health-wise," Harbaugh said. "Right now, it looks like we would have all those guys back for the Divisional Game."

That was great news for the Ravens. The Steelers may not have been as fortunate, after star edge rusher T.J. Watt went down with a knee injury. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Watt may not be available in the Wild Card round if the Steelers make it. Pittsburgh needs a loss Sunday by either the Jaguars or Bills to get in the postseason.