For only the second time in franchise history, the Ravens will battle the Pittsburgh Steelers for the AFC Championship.
But these teams know each other much better than that.
The Ravens and Steelers will meet this Sunday at 6:30 p.m. in Heinz Field, marking the 28th battle between the bitter AFC North rivals.
It is also the third such occasion this season.
Baltimore dropped the previous two 2008 matchups with the Steelers in decidedly close fashion.
In Week 4, the Ravens traveled to Heinz Field for Monday Night Football, where a 46-yard field goal from Jeff Reed in overtime secured the win for Pittsburgh. They did it again at M&T Bank Stadium later in the year. That cloudy Dec. 14 afternoon, the difference was a controversial touchdown pass to wideout Santonio Holmes with less than a minute left.
Round III has all the makings of another thrilling classic.
The Steelers, the AFC's No. 2 seed, defeated the San Diego Chargers 35-24 Sunday to advance to the conference title tilt.
Baltimore rallied Saturday to take out the top seeded Tennessee Titans, 13-10, in a hard-hitting battle.
Considering that Pittsburgh features the NFL's best defense and is known for its rugged mentality, it is going to be just as physically demanding for the Ravens to advance to the Super Bowl in Tampa, Fla.
The Steelers boast a 16-10 advantage in the regular-season series, in addition to a 27-10 victory over Baltimore in a 2001 Divisional Playoff.
