For the Ravens and Steelers, it’s the one that matters most.
“What else would you expect? Us and the Ravens,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said minutes after Pittsburgh defeated San Diego, 35-24, on Sunday. “It would be a big game if it was a scrimmage. It just happens to be the AFC Championship Game.”
The first two games between the Steelers (13-4) and Ravens (13–5) –won by Pittsburgh by a combined seven points –were for bragging rights. But when the teams meet on Sunday at 6:30, they’ll be playing for something much bigger: a berth to Super Bowl XLIII to play Philadelphia or Arizona on Feb. 1 in Tampa, Fla.
“If you want to go to the Super Bowl, who else would you rather it be but the Pittsburgh Steelers,” linebacker Bart Scott said. “It’s an opportunity for one of our organizations to build up the level of hatred for the other organization. Somebody is going to be happy, somebody is going to be hurt. What other team would you rather do it to?”
The Steelers won the first meeting against the Ravens, 23-20, at home on a 46-yard Jeff Reed field goal in overtime after Pittsburgh trailed 13-3 at halftime. The Ravens lost the second game, 13-9 in Baltimore, on a controversial touchdown by Santonio Holmes in which instant replays determined was a touchdown after he had been ruled down on the 1-yard line.
But neither team has had much luck in the postseason in the Steel City.
Pittsburgh is just 1-4 in AFC Championship Games at home since 1994, with losses 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 teams, however, have split their past 12 meetings, but none have had as much riding on it as the one in five days.
“It’s going to be a battle to play a team three times in one year, especially a divisional opponent,” Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. “It’s going to be a battle. It’s going to be one for the ages.”
