*The Ravens are ready to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers this weekend, two members of the enemy team answered a few questions about their squad. *
BR.com gives you Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and linebacker James Harrison.
Head Coach Mike Tomlin
What differences do you see in the Ravens he faced earlier in the season and the team the Steelers will face this Sunday?
Mike Tomlin:"They've got the experience of winning seven out of the last eight, so they're playing with a great deal of confidence. Not that they lacked confidence the first time we played them, but they're a cohesive unit that's playing in sync in all three phases."
How much are you talking to your team about the big picture or are you just focusing on this week's game?
MT:"We very rarely talk about the big picture or look at the big picture. We follow the premise that if you focus on what's in front of you, the big picture will take care of itself. And from that standpoint, this week is no different."
What do you think of the development of rookie QB Joe Flacco and the Ravens' offense this season?
MT:"He's doing like most players would do – he's getting better and more comfortable the more he plays. No question, he's a talent. Shoot, he showed what he was capable of when he drove them the length of the field in the fourth quarter to tie that game up against us. I think he's used that experience and just continued to move forward. It looks like they're just as comfortable with him as he is playing."
What is the mindset of your team is that allowed them to be outplayed by Dallas for most of last Sunday's game and then come back and win?
MT:"Dallas is a good team. Games don't always unfold the way we envision them. The big thing is that we're mentally tough and we're a team, and that's what's required to come from behind and close out football games. We were in a less than advantageous position when we played the Ravens the first time. I think we were down 13-3 at the half. We've been in several situations where we haven't played as well as we'd like and found ways to win football games, and I think that's what good teams do. And of course, that's what we're trying to be."
How is your offensive line holding up and what will they face against the Ravens' defense this Sunday?
MT:"We're continuing to try to find cohesion and move the ball and find ways to win. We're not always as successful as we'd like, but that's life. These guys are going to work their tails off and prepare, and I think everybody is aware that we need to be at our best in order to have success on Sunday."
Linebacker James Harrison
What more do you think you could have done this season?
James Harrison:"I want to be better than last year. Just like whatever this year turns out to be, I want to try to come in and do better than this year. If you come into each year and your approach is not to do better than what you did last year, then you might as well stop coming."
What do you think about being compared to Greg Lloyd by Ravens T Willie Anderson and do you pattern your play after Lloyd?
JH:"No, I don't really pattern myself after anybody. I try and go out there and try things that I may have seen somebody else do and see how it fits into my game. If I feel like I can do it well, then I'll keep it. If not, then I'll throw it away. But I try and just do my own thing – whatever feels good to me."
Does the Steelers' defense feels like it needs to make a lot of plays each week since their offense has been struggling?
JH:"We don't really feel like we have to do anything because our offense isn't or is doing something. We go out and we do what it is that a defense is supposed to do – we try and stop the other team from scoring. And if we are able to do that, it doesn't matter what our offense does because you can't win if nobody scores points."
What do you think about the rarity that both the Ravens and Steelers have defenses with a strong ability to score?
JH:"You've got two of the top defenses in the NFL that are about to get a chance to get at each other's offenses come Sunday. The defense, I believe, that outplays the other one will be the defense and the team that wins this game. You're not going to have a shootout. It's not going to be a 30, 40-point game."
**Trevor Pryce** commented after the November 2007 Ravens/Steelers game that not much would be heard from you again. Does that bother you?
JH:"Not really. Actually, stuff like that motivates me. It makes me want to prove somebody wrong. When I hear what somebody tells me I can't do, it drives me to want to do it even more to prove them wrong."
