Steelers move on to Super Bowl with brutal 23-14 victory over
Ravens
Recap
:
The Pittsburgh Steelers outhit the Baltimore Ravens and outplayed them behind a
steady-as-he-goes Ben Roethlisberger, marching into the Super Bowl behind a
defense that brought back memories of the storied Steel Curtain.
The Steelers ended their home-field jinx in the AFC title game by beating
Baltimore 23-14 on Sunday and Troy Polamalu ended any chance the Ravens had for
a comeback with a 40-yard interception return for a touchdown.
The Steelers will meet the Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl in two weeks in
Tampa.
The matchup is intriguing—Mike Tomlin vs. the Cardinals’ Ken Whisenhunt, the
offensive coordinator when the Steelers won the Super Bowl three seasons ago who
went to Arizona after being passed over for Pittsburgh’s job.
Whisenhunt and his top assistant, Russ Grimm, left after the Steelers
unexpectedly hired Tomlin, who has done something even Chuck Noll and Bill
Cowher couldn’t do by taking Pittsburgh to the Super Bowl in his second
season...more
Video
:
Jim Nantz and Phil Simms recap a hard-fought game between the
Ravens and the Steelers, which ended with Pittsburgh on top 23-14
Steelers top Ravens for
AFC title, Super Bowl next
The Associated Press - 17
minutes ago
The run of losses almost
made the Steelers glad to go on
the road for the entire Super Bowl
run-up to their last title. The
Ravens and Steelers own the
...
Ravens RB McGahee carted off field
Sports
Network - 1 hour ago
Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network)
- Baltimore Ravens running back Willis
McGahee was put on a stretcher and carted off
the field after a violent collision ...
Flacco looks, plays like rookie in
Ravens loss
The Associated Press - 28
minutes ago
Even though he wasn't
spectacular, the kid was plenty good
enough to get the Baltimore Ravens
to the AFC championship game against the
Pittsburgh Steelers. ...
Scoring Summary
BAL - PIT
1st Quarter
11:22
PIT
FG
Jeff Reed kicked a 34-yard field goal
0 - 3
6:11
PIT
FG
Jeff Reed kicked a 42-yard field goal
0 - 6
2nd Quarter
13:58
PIT
TD
Ben Roethlisberger passed to Santonio Holmes to the left
for 65 yard gain (Jeff Reed made PAT)
0 - 13
2:40
BAL
TD
Willis McGahee rushed to the left for 3 yard gain (Matt
Stover made PAT)
7 - 13
3rd Quarter
3:38
PIT
FG
Jeff Reed kicked a 46-yard field goal
7 - 16
4th Quarter
9:29
BAL
TD
Willis McGahee rushed to the right for 1 yard gain (Matt
Stover made PAT)
14 - 16
4:24
PIT
TD
Troy Polamalu intercepted Joe Flacco for 40 yards (Jeff
Reed made PAT)
Preview: The Pittsburgh
Steelers had the best defense in the NFL this season en route to the AFC North
title and the No. 2 seed in the conference.
If there's any team that can keep up with the Steelers, though, it's the
division rival Baltimore Ravens, architects of some of the best defenses in the
NFL over the last decade, including another elite unit in 2008.
Points will likely be at a premium when the NFL's top two defenses square off in
Sunday night's AFC championship game in Pittsburgh.
The Steelers (13-4) gave up an NFL-low 237.2 yards per game, the fewest allowed
by any team since the 1991 Philadelphia Eagles held opponents to 221.8.
Pittsburgh also led the league in scoring defense, allowing 13.9 points per
contest.
As impressive as the Steelers have been, the Ravens (13-5) are one team not
likely to be in awe of that success. Baltimore has been putting up similar
defensive numbers over the last decade, finishing in the league's top six in
opponents' yardage nine times in the last 10 seasons, including five top-two
finishes in that stretch.
Defensive coordinator Rex Ryan's unit didn't disappoint in 2008, ranking second
by holding opponents to 261.1 yards per game and third at 15.3 points allowed
per contest. Baltimore also led the league with 34 takeaways, and has an 8-1
turnover advantage in its two playoff wins...
Prediction: We keep hearing how
hard it is to beat the same team three times in a
season, the actual record though over the last 18
games is 11-7 in favor of the team that won the
first two. The Ravens have gone since week two
without a bye and we think it will catch up to them
some this week, the defense is stellar, but the
Steelers at home are just as good and statistically
are better. Flacco almost has to make a rookie
mistake at some point (we mean one that the refs
see) and this defense can force him into it. Steelers 17 - Ravens 13
The Game Plans:
As
they've done in the first two playoff games, the Ravens will try to force the
quarterback out of his comfort zone and create turnovers. The Ravens have forced
eight turnovers (five interceptions and three fumbles). Pittsburgh QB Ben
Roethlisberger has four interceptions in his past eight games. Offensively, the
Ravens want to establish the run and take pressure off rookie QB Joe Flacco
The
Ravens have not allowed a 100-yard individual rusher since December 2006, but
the Steelers believe they can run on them. Tennessee's Chris Johnson had 72
yards on 11 carries in the first half but did not return for the second half.
Willie Parker's running style is a lot like Johnson's. On defense, the Steelers
want to stop the run and put some heat on the rookie QB Joe Flacco, who has done
a decent job against them but was unable to get his offense in the end zone in
the last meeting
Watch out for this:
The Steelers defeated the Ravens both times the teams met during
the regular season by a combined margin of just seven points (23-20 in Week 4
and 13-9 in Week 15).
Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger is 6-2 in eight career postseason
starts. Roethlisberger now has 57 career wins (including playoffs), tied with
Tom Brady for the most by any starting QB in his first five NFL seasons since
1970
Ravens QB Joe Flacco is the first rookie QB in NFL history to
win two postseason contests
Video Preview: The AFC North
rivals play for the third time this year with the Steelers winning the two
previous times, this time a trip to Super Bowl XLIII is on the line. Jason
Horowitz and Charley Casserly breakdown the AFC Championship game
CBS analysts on Ravens-Steelers Baltimore Sun
Bill Cowher on the rivalry: "It’sa rivalry that goes way back
from the time that Cleveland moved to Baltimore. And it really probably started
right around
17.5
19.6