MySports Today

The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Baltimore Ravens 23-14 on Sunday night to win the AFC Championship and advance to Super Bowl XLIII on February 1, 2009 in Tampa Bay, Florida. The Steelers #1 ranked defense was the difference and Troy Polamalu’s interception and subsequent 40-yard return for a touchdown all but out the game out of reach with just under 3 minutes to play.

The Steelers defense harassed Ravens rookie Quarterback Joe Flacco all game long. Flacco, who had led his team to 2 playoff victories to get to the AFC Championship Game, was exposed as a rookie who still has much to learn about how football is played in the NFL. Flacco completed only 13 of 30 passes for 141 yards. He threw 3 interceptions, 2 in the 4th quarter which destroyed all chance of the Ravens pulling off the improbable upset win in Pittsburgh.

Hines Ward summed it up best: “It was a typical, hard-hitting, physical game. It’s the way every Baltimore-Pittsburgh game is. Sometimes guys get hit so hard. you don’t know if they’re going to get up. They say defense wins championships, well, we have the No. 1 defense. And they’re the reason we’re really going to the Super Bowl.

The Steelers have now won 2 out of the last 4 AFC Championship Games. Ben Roethlisberger will get a chance to play in his 2nd Super Bowl in only his 4th year in the NFL. In Sunday’s game, Roethlisberger completed 16 of 33 passes for 255 yards. He connected with Santonio Holmes on a 65 yard touchdown pass minutes into the 2nd quarter to give the Steelers the early 13-0 lead, but most importantly, Roethlisberger did not throw any interceptions. Roethlisberger led the Steelers on efficient drives that also resulted in 3 field goals for kicker Jeff Reed.

Despite trailing early, the Ravens never gave up. Baltimore cut the Steelers lead to 6 points right before the end of the 1st half on a 3-yard touchdown run by Willis McGahee. McGahee’s 2nd touchdown of the game – a 1-yard plunge in the 4th quarter – cut the Steelers lead to 2. The Ravens had their chances later in the 4th quarter, but Flacco’s inopportune interceptions brought an end to the Ravens run.

The Pittsburgh-Arizona Super Bowl match-up is an interesting one. Cardinals Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt was the Steelers Offensive Coordinator when the Steelers won the Super Bowl in 2006. After Bill Cowher retired following the 2006-7 NFL season, the Rooney family and the Steelers elected to go outside the organization and hire Mike Tomlin as the Head Coach. Whisenhunt saw this as a snub by the Steelers, and he decided to leave to take the Arizona Cardinals Head Coach position. Fellow long-time Steelers assistant Russ Grimm also left the Steelers and is now Whisenhunt’s top assistant in Arizona. In taking the Steelers to a Super Bowl appearance in just his 2nd year, Tomlin is doing something that Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher couldn’t do for the Steelers organization.

It should be an interesting match-up in 2 weeks in Tampa. The Steelers are currently favored by 6-7 points on most boards, but the Cardinals have been winning despite being the underdog in 2 of their 3 playoff games. Will that streak continue? Only time will tell.

The Baltimore Ravens upset the Tennessee Titans in Nashville on Saturday on a 43-yard field goal by Matt Stover with only 53 seconds left in the game. The Ravens are poised to return to that 2000 NFL Championship form in a similar fashion – wild card team with a dominant defense, winning 3 playoff games on the road to advance to the Super Bowl. We’ll see if the Ravens can repeat that magic.

The Ravens forced 3 Titans turnovers which negated good statistical games from the Titans offense. Kerry Collins completed 26 of 42 passes for 281 yards. But Collins threw a costly interception in the red zone and did not have a touchdown pass. Chris Johnson had a good start to the divisional playoff game but was forced to leave in the 2nd quarter with a right ankle injury. Johnson scored the Titans only touchdown of the game on an 8-yard run on the game’s opening drive, and rushed for a total of 72 yards on 11 carries. In reserve, LenDale White rushed for 45 yards on 15 carries, but had a turnover that cost the Titans a chance to score in raven’s territory. Alge Crumpler also had a fumble for the Titans.

Ravens Quarterback Joe Flacco and the Ravens offense did just enough to get the victory. Flacco helped the Titans tie the game at 7 on a 48-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Mason. Flacco completed only half of his passes (11 for 22) for 161 yards, good for a 89.4 passer rating. Flacco is the only rookie quarterback to lead his team to 2 NFL playoff game victories. The Ravens also only had 50 rushing yards, but that was enough to help set up 2 field goals by Matt Stover in the 4th quarter. Stover connected from 21 yards out in the early part of the 4th quarter to give the Ravens a 10-7 lead. After the Titans tied the game at 10 on a Rob Bironas 27-yard field goal with 4:23 left in the game, Flacco orchestrated the drive that set up Stover’s 43-yard game-winning field goal.

Now it’s off to Pittsburgh for the AFC Championship. Although the Steelers defeated the Ravens in both regular season meetings (by a combined 7 points), the Ravens held their own in both contests and match up well against the physical Steelers. It should be a fun, grind it out football game. Are you ready for some smash-mouth football?!