The Baltimore Ravens left Arrowhead Stadium victorious on Sunday but they seemed to be carrying a feeling of anticipation rather than satisfaction.Beating the Kansas City Chiefs, champions of the lowly AFC West division in the NFL standings, was simply a passage game to the Ravens’ real test; a battle royal with the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field this Saturday. Pittsburgh and Baltimore have been rumbling for the better part of the past decade, fighting for control of the AFC North during the regular season and routinely meeting in the harsh weather conditions of the playoffs. With the Steelers ahead by one win in the overall series since 2003, Baltimore will be playing for pride as much as passage to the next round.
What makes the Ravens-Steelers rivalry so compelling is the structural similarities between the two teams. Both squads’ strength lies in their defense and their ability to run the ball; smash mouth football, a philosophy that has long been Pittsburgh’s identity and which was carried over to Baltimore by former Steelers assistant coach Marvin Lewis, who was the defensive coordinator for the Ravens’ Super Bowl win in 2001 and defensive back Rod Woodson, who had been a Steeler for the bulk of his career before signing with the Ravens in 1998. With Lewis and Woodson long departed, Baltimore has maintained their position as the Steelers’ mirror image, though Pittsburgh has clearly had the upper hand over the past 10 years, winning 6 division titles and two Super Bowls. Both teams are led by fiery young coaches; Baltimore by John Harbaugh and Pittsburgh by Mike Tomlin, leaders who revel in their team’s physical style of play. The excitement of the clubs’ coaches was not the spark for the rivalry but rather the gas poured on top of an already raging blaze.
The defensive playmakers involved in this game are innumerable. Baltimore is led by their furious and vocal middle linebacker Ray Lewis, a force of nature on the field whose presence is felt by opposing players and fans alike. Behind Lewis in the secondary is safety Ed Reed, the NFL’s leader in interceptions since his entrance to the league in 2002. Reed is a spectacular playmaker as evidenced by his league-leading 8 interceptions this year despite missing the first six games of the season due to injury. The former Defensive Player of the Year will be playing with heavy thoughts on Saturday – Reed’s brother is missing after escaping from the Police in Louisiana. In addition to its leading University of Miami conglomerate, the Ravens also boast Terrelle Suggs and Haloti Ngata; two players who live in the opponent’s backfield. Suggs is an outside linebacker with an impressive motor, totaling 11 sacks this year as the Ravens’ top pass rusher, while Ngata is one of the NFL’s best space eaters – a massive lineman who routinely blows up offensive plays for a loss of yards. Pittsburgh matches the Ravens’ petrifying personnel with their own clan of headhunters, led by Samoan safety Troy Polamalu. Polamalu has become one of the league’s most recognizable players due to his long mane of unruly black hair, which falls out of the back of his helmet and flaps as he flies around the field. Beyond appearance, Polamalu has earned a reputation as maybe the NFL’s best player on the defensive side, constantly making crucial tackles and creating turnovers in crunch time for Pittsburgh. The safety is often the beneficiary of the pressure his front seven applies on the opposition. The Steelers’ 3-4 defense, crafted and directed by coordinator Dick LeBeau, is a unit that is feared league wide for its ability to halt the running game and crush quarterbacks. Doing the latter, mostly, for the Steelers is their pair of outside linebackers LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison. Woodley has demonstrated sharp instincts in his four years out of Michigan, even proving to be capable in pass coverage whole Harrison has used his intensely aggressive style of pursuit and punish to earn a Defensive Player of the Year award and several fines for dangerous hits.
Scores will be at a premium on Sunday with both teams aiming to control the clock and match the brutal cold with stingy defense. With two iron fists punching at one another’s knuckles, whichever team gets stronger play from the quarterback position will most likely win the game. The Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger has proven over the course of his career that he can put the offense on his shoulders and win big games while the Ravens’ Joe Flacco has yet to truly come into his own as a premier pivot. The two installments of this rivalry on the regular NFL schedule this year were decided by a combined six points with both teams winning on the other’s home field. Even without the constant hype and barbs traded by the organizations’ players and staff, this game should be anticipated because it is the definition of playoff football: cold, hard, angry war.
