The Baltimore Ravens will travel to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers in a playoff match up of fierce rivals. The Ravens players said that they expect a hostile atmosphere. They also said that they expect the game to be very intense. There will be a lot on the line. These are two teams that have a well documented dislike for each other.
Some of the players enjoy being the bad guy. There where a few fights the last time these teams met. One of the biggest ones started after a late hit by Terrell Suggs on then Steelers running back LeGarette Blount. The Steelers thought it was a dirty hit and they reacted to it. Suggs had an interesting response when he was asked if he relishes being the bad guy. Suggs smiled and said, “You already know that. We kind of already know what the atmosphere will be like. That’s what makes this game so special, that’s what makes our league so special. So, you know I am definitely going to enjoy it. I am going to have fun with it.”
This game means a lot to the Ravens because it is more than just a playoff game. They haven’t been able to go into Pittsburgh and win a playoff game in three attempts dating back to 2002. The first game was a divisional playoff game which saw the Steelers win by a score of 27-10. The two teams met again in 2009 in the AFC Championship. The Ravens lost that one 23-14. The last match up was in 2011 when the Steelers beat the Ravens 31-24.
This year the Steelers will once again stand in the Ravens way as they try to win another Super Bowl. This point didn’t go unnoticed by Suggs. “We have to just play one football game. Come Saturday, it’s an opportunity to do something special, something that we have never done.” Suggs said that the Ravens will see the Steelers again after they lost the second regular season game this year. This match up is one that Suggs has waited for and in a way, predicted. “I think the football gods have smiled on us. We get to go back to Pittsburgh. We kind of split. Both teams won one, won by twenty. Tempers flared and you know, it’s a good week for football. We are going to enjoy it. The fact that it is this team makes it a little bit more interesting, a little more fun.”
Veteran wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. is new to the Ravens vs Steelers rivalry but he knows that it will only get even more intense with it being a playoff game. “I think the playoff games, everything is faster, moves faster, it’s more intense. The professional dislike I think is even more interesting and I hope to be in the thick of it.” Smith said. The Steelers vs Ravens game is more intense than Smith Sr. thought it would be. “In the two games that I’ve played vs the Steelers, watching it on TV and playing in it, it’s been night and day.” Smith Sr. continued, “We played Thursday night, it was my second home game and it was like a playoff atmosphere. When we went down there, it was the same thing. It seemed like a playoff game. You could tell by some of the things that happened in both games, it was intense. I watched, it was my first rodeo and it was wild.”
The two teams haven’t met in the playoffs in a while. Both of these teams are threats to go deep in the playoffs and have Super Bowl winning quarterbacks. Joe Flacco told the media what he feels makes this game special. “It’s awesome that we are both back in the playoffs. It’s been a couple of years. Last year, neither of us where in it. That’s what makes this game so important, the fact that both teams have been in the playoffs and vying for playoff spots and vying for Super Bowls.” He said.
These are two teams that know each other well. Saturday’s game will be the third time that they will meet this season. Head Coach John Harbaugh cherishes the opportunity to go against the Steelers. “It’s great to be a part of it. It’s a playoff game now and it means a lot. It’s great and I am looking forward to it. It helps in some ways but in some ways it makes it tougher. We know each other so well that the level of strategizing is way deeper, it’s more subtle. You look back at so many games and it’s like chess. You are more moves down the road. We are looking ahead more moves than we may not normally see.” He said.
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