NFL Playoff Predictions: Why the Super Bowl Could Be 'Harbaugh Bowl' Rematch

The two teams boasting the most dominating defenses in the league remain in the NFL playoffs, and it's not impossible to think that the two could meet in the Super Bowl this year.

The Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers met once already this year, on Thanksgiving night, in what has been dubbed the "Harbaugh Bowl," with brothers Jim and John Harbaugh the head coaches of the two squads.

John's Ravens won that first matchup 16-6 and marked one of just three Niners losses in the regular season, but there's a way for Jim and the 49ers to avenge that loss in the Super Bowl.

The Ravens host the Houston Texans on Sunday afternoon, a team they defeated in Week 6. However, things have changed drastically for the Texans since that time. They've lost starting quarterback Matt Schaub and his backup, Matt Leinart, to season-ending injuries, forcing the team to start third-string rookie T.J. Yates.

Yates hasn't performed all that poorly since taking the reigns of the offense, because the Texans' passing game is conservative no matter who is under center. That leaves the team vulnerable, however.

Houston's offense revolves around the run game and Arian Foster and if he can be effectively shut down, so can the Texans' best chances to gain yards and score points.

If Baltimore's league-leading defense can shut down Foster and the Texans offense on Sunday and win, they'll need another victory in the AFC Championship the following week to find themselves in the Super Bowl.

The Ravens' likely opponent in that contest will be the New England Patriots, who have the highest-scoring offense in the AFC.

The Patriots have proved stoppable this season, primarily by teams with great defenses keeping quarterback Tom Brady off the field. Though the Ravens aren't as equipped as the Pittsburgh Steelers or New York Giants to exploit the Patriots' weak secondary, they can control the clock by running the ball with Ray Rice.

If they can do so successfully while putting unrelenting pressure on Brady, the Ravens will find themselves the AFC's representative in the Super Bowl.

But what about San Francisco? The NFC is riddled with more high-caliber offenses than the AFC, but the only truly fearsome defense in the conference belongs to the Niners.

They face the New Orleans Saints and their league-best offense on Saturday. It may seem to be an impossible task for San Francisco to defeat such a team, but that's shortsighted.

The 49ers lead the league in forced turnovers, can put pressure on a quarterback like few other teams and will have the advantage of playing at home.

San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith is familiar with the chilly, swirling winds of Candlestick Park while Saints quarterback Drew Brees' most comfortable environment is in the climate-controlled safety of the Super Dome.

Further, the Saints haven't been as strong on the road as at home in the regular season and have yet to face a defense in any way similar to the one San Francisco fields.

Should San Francisco win, they'll move on to either face the Green Bay Packers or New York Giants in the NFC Championship Game.

The Niners only need to repeat their winning game plan against the Saints to defeat the Packers. Much like the Saints, the Packers have a high-production aerial game but not much of a defense.

The Saints will have to keep Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers off the field and hit him hard when he's on it while sticking to their run-first offensive strategy.

San Francisco has already defeated the New York Giants in the regular season, and they did so while giving up large chunks of yardage but not bending in the end zone.

On offense, the Niners aren't very adept at scoring touchdowns when in the red zone, and that's why kicker David Akers set the single-season field-goal record this year. In the game against the Giants in Week 10, four of the Niners' six scores came from Akers field goals.

While that doesn't seem to be a convincing way to win games, it serves to highlight why their defense is so particularly special.

For the 49ers and Ravens to meet again in the Super Bowl, both teams will have to dispatch some seriously tough opponents and teams with more explosive offenses.

However, in a year when the quarterback is king, it's still possible for defense to carry a team to, and win them, a championship.