Ravens to Battle Steelers in Steel Town: AFC Championship Preview

Hines Ward vs. Ravens Secondary

Ward is the self-proclaimed "most hated man in Baltimore." Terrell Suggs proclaimed, possibly tongue-in-cheek, that Hines had "a bounty on his head." In typical Hines Ward fashion, he smiled, widely, when asked about the upcoming game:

"It'll be a great AFC Championship game to watch."

Candidate No. 2 for understatement of the year.

Baltimore has to consider that Ward is not only a clutch receiver, but that he is the hardest-hitting, best-blocking wide receiver in the game. If he's not running a route to get open for a pass, he's looking to block you out of the play and give his teammates extra yardage.

Some people call him a cheap shot artist, others call him the most complete receiver playing the game—you can guess which side I come down on. No matter how you slice it, the Ravens defensive backs will have to have their heads on a swivel and account for Ward every time he is in the game. If they don't, he'll just as likely beat them for a big play as take their heads off with a bone-crushing block.

Joe Flacco vs. the Steelers Secondary

"Joe Cool" had best be on is game. Troy Polamalu leads this group with seven interceptions on the year, and is all over the field. He's the best safety in the game since Ronnie Lott. He's just as quick, just as alert, and hits just as hard. He can hurt you on the pass, and punish you on a blitz.

If you don't know where he is, that means he is either fixing to pick you off or about to hit you from the blindside and rock your world.

Ike Taylor, Ryan Clark, and DeShea Townsend contributed an additional four picks, and backups Bryant McFadden, Tyrone Carter, and William Gay added an additional six picks, with Carter and Townsend each returning a pick for a touchdown.

Throwing into coverage against this squad could spell the end of Flacco's rookie dreams.

James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley vs. Adam Terry, Jared Gaither, and Todd Heap

Harrison and Woodley combined for 27.5 sacks, 161 tackles, two interceptions, and nine forced fumbles against opponents this year, with Harrison having a team-record 16 sacks. These two guys are Jack Ham and Jack Lambert good. They both have tremendous ability to get to the quarterback, and they both have the ability to cover short pass routes.

Let these two get by you and your quarterback is toast. Challenge them on a pass and they will either knock it down or punish your receiver for daring to come into their area of the field.

Mike Tomlin vs. John Harbaugh

Tomlin is in his second year as a head coach entering the third game of his career in that position. Harbaugh is a rookie head coach who is entering his third game this year. Tomlin is 1-1, Harbaugh is 2-0. Both of these coaches have the ability to have long, illustrious careers in their current positions.

Both coaches inherited already solid teams, and they have each performed above par in maintaining, even improving, what they were given.

As close as this game is likely to be, there's a pretty good chance that the turning point will come down to which coach has the guts to go for it on fourth down and "oh my God I can't believe he's going for it" to win the game.

I absolutely refuse to call this one, other than to say that the team who wins this game will be the one that loses the fewest players to injury and scores more points than the other team. No, I'm not scared. You know who I'm pulling for, but I wouldn't put anyone's money on this game. Besides, I went 1-3 last week, so I'm still licking my wounds.

Regardless of the final outcome, this is poised to go down as one of the hardest-fought, hardest-played, hardest-earned win in NFL Championship history.

Here's to hoping they don't run out of ambulances before the final horn.

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