PITTSBURGH - It was one month ago when the Pittsburgh Steelers walked off the field of M&T Bank Stadium with a 13-9 win and a voice rose from the crowd of players:
"We're still the No. 1 defense! We showed you boys how to play defense!"
Today, in the AFC championship game, those appear to be fighting words.
The Steelers, who rank No. 1 in defense, are the NFL's best at stopping teams from moving the ball. The Ravens, who rank second, are the best at taking it away.
If the two heated rivals agree on anything - and the list is short - it's that the best defense will advance to the Super Bowl in Tampa, Fla.
"They certainly deserve their rankings and all that," Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan said. "But right now, it comes down to one game. So if we're the best defense, we'll win."
This marks only the second time since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger that the league's top two defenses will meet in a conference title game. The other was the 1978 NFC championship game (Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams).
The defenses of the Ravens and the Steelers are close to being mirror images of each other, from statistics to schemes. They both play unpredictable 3-4 fronts (three linemen and four linebackers). Their foundation is crushing the other team's running attack and quarterback.
By the end of the regular season, just 23.9 yards per game separated Pittsburgh's top-rated defense (237.2) and the Ravens' second-rated unit (261.1).
"I respect their defense," Pittsburgh linebacker LaMarr Woodley said. "We are similar. If you watch them play and you watch the Pittsburgh Steelers play, I feel that's how teams ... should play defense."
Ravens defensive lineman Trevor Pryce said the players make his team's defense special.
"We have one of everything," Pryce said. "We have the best middle linebacker in the game. We've got a great outside rusher and a great inside rusher. We have a safety that's crazy. We have [a] tough guy. We have a run stopper. We have a lockdown corner and a hitting corner. Everybody has an identity, and when you put those pieces together, you have a good defense."
Asked what makes the Steelers' defense unique, Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin pointed to the entire unit instead of individual players.
"I'd probably say the level of consistency," Tomlin said. "It's not necessarily your ceiling that defines you as a player, as a unit, as a football team. It's your floor. What I mean by that is we're very consistent week in and week out with how we play, very little ups and downs. To me, that's as important as what you're capable of doing."
