When Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Jackson meet on a football field, most eyes will be on them.
But the quarterbacks may not be what decides the crucial Week 14 AFC North clash between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens.
Instead, the decider might be fumbles.
Yes, fumbles.
ESPN's Seth Walder wrote this on Saturday:
"The Ravens are favored going into the contest, but the Steelers have the edge in one high-leverage area: fumbles. No team has forced fumbles at a higher rate this season than the Steelers (on 2.0% of defensive plays). And the Ravens have been particularly susceptible to fumbling, doing so at the second-highest rate in the league (2.8% of the time on offense). If Pittsburgh can continue that trend in Week 14, that could even the playing field."
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Sure, those percentages don't sound that high, but even one fumble could change the whole complexion of the football game.
It's also a big game in the playoff picture.
"The playoff leverage for this game is massive. The Ravens have a 75% chance to reach the playoffs with a win but just a 31% chance with a loss, per ESPN's Football Power Index," Walder writes. "It's a similar story for Pittsburgh -- 64% and 19%, respectively."
Jackson and Rodgers will want to take this game into their own hands.
To do that, they better make sure they hang onto the football.
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