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Ravens to Battle Steelers in Steel Town: AFC Championship Preview

Bryan Hollister

Analyst Written on January 12, 2009

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Head coach Mike Tomlin summed up the coming match between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens this way:

"It would be big if it was a scrimmage. This is for the AFC Championship."

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present the candidate for understatement of the year.

This game is more than big. It's colossal. Huge. Gigantic. Herculean. Pick a word that is synonymous for extremely large, and you still will fall short.

This is not just a battle between two teams fighting for the right to represent the AFC in Super Bowl XLIII. The Titans and Chargers would be a battle. The Ravens and Colts would be a battle.

This, ladies and gentlemen, will be a death match.

Baltimore comes into this game knowing that they have failed twice already this season against the Steelers. One of the two is still being questioned. Losing three times to the Steelers in one season is unthinkable to them.

How much are the Ravens looking forward to next week's game? Consider Terrell Suggs's response when asked about his status for next week:

"The only way I wouldn't be there is if I didn't have air in my lungs. I'll see you next week."

Indeed.

This is not a new rivalry. The animosity between these two teams stretches all the way back to the Ravens' franchise history in Cleveland. Back then going to a Browns-Steelers game was to go see two teams out to get each other, no matter the stakes.

While the new Cleveland Browns are no slouches in the hits department, the level of dislike bordering on pure hatred just isn't there. No, the Steelers and the Ravens seem to save their best efforts for each other.

This third game in one year, and the first time it has happened since the Ravens moved to Baltimore, is as much another opportunity to knock a few more heads as it is to earn a trip to Tampa.

It's fortunate that there is a two-week break between the championship game and the Super Bowl. Whichever team emerges victorious from this one is going to need the extra time to learn how to walk again.

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written on January 12, 2009 Preview/Prediction

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