Steelers Secure Trip to Super Bowl XLIII with 23-14 Win Over Ravens

It may not have been a thing of beauty, but for Steelers' fans, their AFC Championship game win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night at Heinz Field was as good as it gets.

The Steelers jumped out to a 13-0 lead, allowed the Ravens to hang around, and then did what they do best—put the game away with a huge defensive play by safety Troy Polamalu.

It was Polamalu’s interception of Ravens' QB Joe Flacco and subsequent 40 yard touchdown return with 4:39 left that began the real celebration for Steelers' fans around the nation.

It was that score combined with all day pressure on Flacco that made the Steelers' seventh trip to the Super Bowl possible. Flacco was just 13-for-30 for 141 yards, no TDs, and three interceptions.

The Steelers' offense was handicapped early on with the loss of wide out Hines Ward who was able to do just enough damage against a banged Ravens defense coming in.

Ben Roethlisberger made the play when he had to—running around enough to find Santonio Holmes for a 70-yard score to increase the Steelers' lead to 13-0 at the 14:16 mark of the second quarter. Roethlisberger was 16-for-33 for 255 yards and a score.

The Steelers though could not put the nail in the coffin on the Ravens when they allowed them to score on a Jim Leonhard 42 yard punt return—putting Baltimore at the Steelers 20. A pass interference call on 3rd-and-9 put the ball at the Steelers' three.  Willis McGahee then punched it in to make it 13-7.

Pittsburgh had a weird turn of events at the end of the half with two golden scoring opportunities but both times were turned away.

The first time Roethlisberger put a perfect pass right in the hands of rookie WR Limas Sweed but the wide out dropped it—turning a guaranteed TD into an incomplete pass. Then, with the team driving, Roethlisberger hit Mewelde Moore for 12 yards to the Ravens' nine, but the team could not get another play off. The clock ran out with the score still 13-7.

The Ravens did little in the third quarter while the Steelers put together a solid drive—making 11 plays and burning off 5:29 of the clock. While the drive stalled at the Ravens' 29, Jeff Reed nailed a solid 46-yard field goal to extend the Steelers' lead to 16-7 heading into the final 15 minutes.

The Ravens again would not go away. After a 21-yard punt by Mitch Berger, the Ravens went six plays from their own 42 and with another big pass interference call, they got the ball on the Steelers' one. McGahee went in for a score to make it 16-14 with 9:32 left.

The Steelers could not move the ball on their next possession and had to punt to the Ravens who pinned themselves in on their own 14 due to a huge personal foul call. After the Ravens got one first down, on a 3rd-and-13, Flacco threw short right and Polamalu jumped the route—taking it back for a 40-yard score to ice the game at 23-14 with 4:39 left.

The final two Ravens' possessions ended with a fumble and pick, as the Steelers knelt and began the celebration—getting set for a matchup in two weeks with the Arizona Cardinals, former offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt, and assistant coach Russ Grimm in Tampa Bay.

The Steelers are early 6.5 favorites.