There are no palm trees or ocean breezes in Pittsburgh, but, in most people’s minds, the Super Bowl will be played there Sunday.
Take Steelers linebacker La- Marr Woodley, for instance. So, LaMarr, do you believe the winner of the AFC championship game will win the Super Bowl?
“Ah . . . yeah,” Woodley said. “I have to say that just because of the way both teams’ defenses play. Usually the game is won on defense. If you’re a good defense and not allowing that many points on the board, that’s the team that usually wins the Super Bowl.”
The Steelers and Ravens, the last two teams standing in the AFC, don’t know the first thing about good defense. They prefer great defense. Intimidating defense. Dominant defense. The kind of defense that’s supposed to be outdated in today’s pass- happy, receivers-rule, defensive- backs-drool NFL.
Ladies and gentlemen, we give you the Throwback Bowl.
“Throwback teams?” said Woodley. “I guess you could say that.”
The Steelers and Ravens, the top two defensive teams in the business. The Steelers, the team Art Rooney bought for $2,500 in 1933 after a big day at the track, vs. the original Browns, who broke every heart in the Dawg Pound by bolting for Baltimore.
Think Hatfields vs. McCoys.
“I don’t think these two teams really like each other,” Ravens safety Ed Reed said.
“It’s kind of like Rocky vs. Drago, almost,” Steelers offensive tackle Willie Colon told reporters. “It’s going to be a slugfest. It’s going to be nasty.”
Former Colorado linebacker Chad Brown knows all about nasty. He spent the first four years of his 15-year NFL career as a Steeler.
“You know, being a Steeler, it’s impossible to remove that from your blood,” Brown said. “The team and the town, you can’t remove one from the other. You couldn’t take the Steelers someplace else. You couldn’t put them in New York. It’s a certain type of football for a certain special place for the NFL.”
We’re not just talking Steeler football. We’re talking Steeler football in January. Bare-knuckle, make-it-hurt, who-cares-what-the-wind-chill-is football. Against the hated Ravens, no less.
“It’s going to be an awesome, classic football game,” Brown said. “I know it won’t be one of the prettiest games of the year, but if you’re a football fan, you’ll remember it for a long time. Both teams play an aggressive, hard-nosed, smash-mouth brand of football. They’re not trying to outtrick you or outexecute you. They’re going to try to overwhelm you with emotion and physicality. Whatever team turns it up the highest is going to win.”
The Cardinals, who’ll play Philadelphia for the NFC championship, allowed 426 points during the season. The Steelers allowed a league-best 223, barely half as many, and the Ravens were second at 244. Pittsburgh has one sure-fire Hall of Famer in safety Troy Polamalu, and Baltimore has two in Reed and linebacker Ray Lewis.
Not that the similarities end there. They can say they don’t like each other, but the fact is, they’re mirror images of one another. Tough teams from tough towns playing a game for tough guys.
“I think it’s just the love of the game that both of us have,” Reed said. “Pittsburgh has an awesome tradition around there, obviously, with the Steel Curtain and everything going back to those days. And we have a tradition around here that began before I got here. I think it’s two teams that really enjoy playing football, that really enjoy getting after it.”
“We both have a similar defense,” Woodley said. “I appreciate their defense so much. Their team is built on defense. If you watch them play defense and you watch the Pittsburgh Steelers play defense, I feel that’s how teams across the league should play defense.”
No wonder the two games between these AFC North rivals went down to the wire. The Steelers won the first 23-20 in overtime at Pittsburgh and needed a last-minute touchdown pass to pull out the second 13-9 at Baltimore.
Look for more of the same Sunday. A tight, low-scoring game in which field position is more precious than a sideline heater. Why wouldn’t we anticipate that kind of game? Neither team allowed a 100-yard runner, and the Steelers didn’t allow a 300-yard passer. Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has kept his interceptions to a minimum, but threw zero or one touchdown pass in 12 out of 16 games.
The game will mark the first matchup of the league’s top two defenses in a conference championship game since the Rams and Cowboys met in the 1978 NFC championship game. In the end, it could come down not to which team’s offense scores more, but which team’s defense and special teams light up the scoreboard.
What, you think we’re exaggerating? Reed has 10 interceptions and two touchdowns in his past eight games. Santonio Holmes, meanwhile, returned a punt 67 yards for a touchdown in the Steelers’ playoff victory over San Diego.
Even if it’s as low scoring as anticipated, that doesn’t mean it won’t be great theater. In all likelihood, it will be. Familiarity, after all, breeds contempt.
“It’s a big-time rivalry game, and there’s a lot on the line right now,” Woodley said. “We’ve been able to beat them twice in the regular season, but all that really doesn’t count. Now we’re in the playoffs and it’s win or go home, and the winner advances to the Super Bowl.”
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com
