Ravens and Steelers meet for AFC North title. This time, both coaches are under scrutiny

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh have spent nearly two decades staring across the sideline from each other.

At some point, there's going to be a last time. There's a sense that the 40th meeting between them might be it.

On the surface, Sunday night's showdown between the Pittsburgh Steelers (9-7) and Baltimore Ravens (8-8) is for the AFC North title, fitting for two rivals that have played ping-pong with the division crown over a span of nearly two decades.

Yet the outcome might have significant ripple effects for a pair of clubs that haven't consistently looked like playoff-worthy teams over the last four months.

“I think both teams have their warts,” longtime Steelers defensive tackle Cam Heyward said. “But both teams have a chance to play their best ball late. And I would like to be the victor in that.”

Tomlin's 19th season in Pittsburgh has been uneven. A month ago, fans at Acrisure Stadium were calling for his job.

In fitting Tomlin style, the Steelers responded by ripping off three straight victories — starting with a win at Baltimore on the first Sunday of December. And in fitting Tomlin style, Pittsburgh let a chance to wrap up the division slip away during a three-hour pratfall in the muck at Cleveland last weekend.

The Ravens appeared buried after an injury-plagued 1-5 start. They got it together enough to briefly join the Steelers atop the division, only to stumble yet again before an emphatic victory at Green Bay last weekend.

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson plans to play after missing that game with a back injury, though it's fair to start wondering where the marriage between the two-time MVP and the only head coach he's ever known might be heading should Baltimore miss the playoffs.

Harbaugh, wrapping up his 18th season with the Ravens, understands the conversation even if he wants no part of it.

“All that stuff makes it all kind of interesting and kind of fun and real,” he said. “It’s sports, and that’s how sports are. And I think that’s part of the intrigue of it all, so I feel really honored to be a part of that.”

Pittsburgh hasn't won the division since 2020 and hasn't advanced in the playoffs since 2016. The Steelers have stressed repeatedly over the last 11 1/2 months the need to put an end to their six-game postseason losing streak.

The notoriously tunnel-visioned Tomlin, whose future beyond the end of this season has become the topic of what to this point remains idle speculation, declined to zoom out on what the fallout might be should the Ravens walk off the field as AFC North champions.

“The winner goes on,” Tomlin said simply.

And the loser will start an offseason that threatens to be more eventful than usual.

The Ravens are trying to become the first team to win the AFC North three times in a row.

“I’ve known that for a while. It was a surprise, but then not a surprise when I thought about it for about five seconds, because it’s so darn competitive,” Harbaugh said. “It’s a big deal, but it’s a game. It’s like any big game. There’s a lot riding on it, and there’s a lot to earn, but you have to go play a winning football game.”

The AFC North began in 2002. Baltimore won back-to-back division titles in 2011 and 2012, as well as in 2018 and 2019 — but couldn't make it three straight either time.

Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been solid if not spectacular in his first — and perhaps only — season in Pittsburgh.

The 42-year-old four-time MVP has thrown 23 touchdown passes and seven interceptions and had possibly the best game of his 21st season four weeks ago at Baltimore, where he threw for 284 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for a score.

Rodgers won't decide on whether he has a 22nd year in him until the offseason. He nudged the door open this week, saying he thinks he'll have an option or two if he wants to run it back.

For now, he's trying to relish playing meaningful football, something that didn't happen during his two injury-marred seasons with the New York Jets.

“I’ve been a part of the locker room the last couple of years where I get to December and you start talking about your offseason plans, where you’re going to be, your travel plans,” he said. “That’s not a whole lot of fun. You want to be in here talking about the game, talking about meaningful snaps, talking about doing something special. And it starts with this week against Baltimore.”

Derrick Henry ran for 216 yards and four touchdowns last weekend at Green Bay, carrying the ball a career-high 36 times. The 31-year-old Henry doesn't appear to be slowing down.

“I just know when it’s time to go to practice on Wednesday, I’m ready to go,” he said. “I just do my regular recovery, get my body back under me and be ready to go practice on Wednesday.”

Henry ranks third in the NFL with 1,469 yards rushing this season.

The Steelers will be without suspended wide receiver DK Metcalf, who will serve the second half of the two-game ban he received for making physical contact with a fan in Detroit on Dec. 21.

Outside linebacker T.J. Watt, however, is hopeful to return after missing three games while recovering from surgery to repair a partially collapsed lung. Watt has collected 17 of his 115 career sacks against the Ravens.

AP Sports Writer Noah Trister in Baltimore contributed to this report.

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Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) throws a pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Richard)

Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry (22) celebrates in the stands after scoring a touchdown against the Green Bay Packers during the second half of an NFL football game, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Deandre Hopkins (10) talks with head coach John Harbaugh, right, before an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin calls a timeout during the second half of an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Richard)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran sent its response to the latest U.S. ceasefire proposal to end the Iran war via Pakistani mediators on Sunday, but U.S. President Donald Trump quickly rejected it in a social media post as “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!” — the latest setback to efforts to resolve the standoff in the Persian Gulf that has throttled shipping and sent energy prices soaring.

Iranian state media reported that Tehran rejected the U.S. proposal as amounting to surrender, insisting instead on “war reparations by the U.S., full Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, an end to sanctions, and the release of seized Iranian assets.”

Washington’s latest proposal addressed a deal to end the war, reopen the strait and roll back Iran’s nuclear program.

Trump's rejection of the Iranian response included no details. In an earlier post, he accused Tehran of “playing games” with the United States for nearly 50 years, adding: "They will be laughing no longer!"

Trump is giving diplomacy “every chance we possibly can before going back to hostilities,” the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, told ABC earlier.

Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen or heard publicly since the war began, “issued new and decisive directives for the continuation of operations and the powerful confrontation with the enemies” while meeting with the head of the joint military command, the state broadcaster reported, with no details.

The fragile ceasefire was tested when a drone ignited a small fire on a ship off Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait reported drones entering their airspace. The UAE said it shot down two drones and blamed Iran. No casualties were reported, and no one immediately claimed responsibility.

Qatar's Foreign Ministry called the ship attack a “dangerous and unacceptable escalation that threatens the security and safety of maritime trade routes and vital supplies in the region." The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center gave no details about the ship's owner or origin.

Kuwait Defense Ministry spokesperson Brig. Gen. Saud Abdulaziz Al Otaibi said forces responded to drones but did not say where they came from.

Iran and armed allied groups such as the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group have used drones to carry out hundreds of strikes since the war began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28.

Trump has reiterated threats to resume full-scale bombing if Iran does not accept an agreement to reopen the strait and roll back its nuclear program. Iran has largely blocked the strategic waterway that's key to the global flow of oil, natural gas and fertilizer since the war began, rattling world markets.

The U.S. military in turn has blockaded Iranian ports since April 13, saying it has turned back 61 commercial vessels and disabled four. On Friday, it struck two Iranian oil tankers it said were trying to breach the blockade. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy says any attack on Iranian oil tankers or commercial vessels would be met with a “heavy assault” on U.S. bases in the region and enemy ships.

Another sticking point in negotiations is Iran’s highly enriched uranium. The U.N. nuclear agency says Iran has more than 440 kilograms (970 pounds) enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons grade.

In an interview posted late Saturday, an Iranian military spokesperson said forces were on “full readiness” to protect sites where uranium is stored.

“We considered it possible that they might intend to steal it through infiltration operations or heli-borne operations,” Brig. Gen. Akrami Nia told the IRNA news agency.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an excerpt of an interview with CBS airing Sunday said the war isn't over because the enriched uranium needs to be taken out of Iran. “Trump has said to me, ‘I want to go in there,’ and I think it can be done physically,” he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that Moscow’s proposal to take enriched uranium from Iran to help negotiate a settlement remains on the table.

The majority of Iran’s highly enriched uranium is likely at its Isfahan nuclear complex, the International Atomic Energy Agency director-general told The Associated Press last month. The facility was hit by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes in the 12-day war last year and faced less intense attacks this year.

Iran's deputy foreign minister warned against a planned French-British effort that aims to support maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz after hostilities are over.

“The presence of French and British vessels, or those of any other country, for any possible cooperation with illegal U.S. actions in the Strait of Hormuz that violate international law will be met with a decisive and immediate response from the armed forces,” Kazem Gharibabadi said on social media.

French President Emmanuel Macron responded by saying it won't be a military deployment but an international mission to secure shipping once conditions allow.

Several attacks against ships in the Persian Gulf have occurred over the past week, and a U.S. effort to “guide” ships through the strait was quickly paused.

South Korea announced initial findings from an investigation that said two unidentified objects struck the South Korean-operated vessel HMM NAMU about one minute apart while it was anchored in the strait last week, causing an explosion and fire. Officials have yet to determine who was responsible.

Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad; Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel; Tong-hyung Kim in Seoul, South Korea; Julia Frankel in Jerusalem and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.

Women walk in northern Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A Revolutionary Guard soldier stands at the counter of a fast food restaurant in northern Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The front page of the Sunday May 10, 2026, edition of Iranian newspaper, Jamejam, is seen with a cartoon satirizing the U.S. President Donald Trump that asks: "Open the the Strait of Hormuz" on a news stand in northern Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Vehicles drive past banners showing portraits of the school children who were killed during a strike on a school in southern town of Minab on Feb. 28, at Tajrish square in northern Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The South Korean-operated vessel HMM NAMU is docked after being damaged from a fire following an explosion in the Strait of Hormuz, at a port in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Friday, May 8, 2026. (Kim Sang-hun/Yonhap via AP)

Container ships sit at anchor in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Saturday, May 2, 2026.(Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)