The math is easy for the Pittsburgh Steelers: If they are to advance to their second Super Bowl in four seasons, they must beat the Ravens for a third time.
The Steelers secured their sixth berth in the AFC Championship Game in the past 15 seasons by beating the visiting San Diego Chargers, 35-24, at Heinz Field on Sunday. The Ravens advanced to the AFC Championship Game with a 13-10 upset at top-seeded Tennessee on Saturday.
Baltimore (13-5) faced Pittsburgh (13-4) twice during the regular season, losing 23-20 in overtime in Pittsburgh on Sept. 29 and again in Baltimore, 13-9, on Dec. 14. The third meeting is Sunday night at 6:30 at Heinz Field on CBS, with the winner advancing to Super Bowl XLIII.
But neither team has had much luck in the postseason in Steel City.
Pittsburgh is just 1-4 in AFC Championship Games at home since 1994, winning at Denver in 2006 en route to winning Super Bowl XL. The losses were to San Diego in 1995, Denver in 1998, New England in 2002 and again to the Patriots in 2005. The lone home win as over Indianapolis in 1996 before losing the Super Bowl to the Dallas Cowboys.
Baltimore, which is 5-1 all-time on the road in the playoffs, suffered its lone defeat with a 27-10 loss at Pittsburgh to end its quest of repeating as Super Bowl champs.
The Steelers appear ready for their third meeting with the Ravens, as they dominated the Chargers in nearly every phase of the game. In the third quarter, San Diego possessed the ball for just 17 seconds and ran only one play for no yards compared to the Steelers 122 yards on 24 plays.
