NFL: Preview of Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers

This is the huge game of the day. Not to put the NFC Championship Game down or anything, but this game should be on a completely different level. The two teams are going to fly at each other as hard as they can for 60 minutes, and it’ll be a miracle if either team comes out even semi-healthy.

Both of these teams have great defenses. Which defense is better is debatable. But what isn’t debatable is that both of these teams are fueled by their defenses. And, both of these teams live and die by the turnovers created by their defenses. How many games would these teams have won without collecting turnovers? Probably not very many. In fact, both of these teams may have very well missed the playoffs.

But let’s not kid ourselves that the turnovers were unforced or lucky. These defenses beat-up an offense and a frustrate an offense so much that turnovers are forced. They are the logical result to getting hammered physically and mentally.

So, I would expect that both these offenses have some trouble moving the ball, especially early. It will come down to which offense remains patient and waits for their defense to create a turnover.

And who is usually responsible for a turnover? What offensive player turns the ball over more than an other offensive player? The quarterback. And who has the more experienced quarterback? The Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Steelers also have homefield advantage. So you would think that the Steelers would definitely have an advantage coming in. However, the Ravens do have Ed Reed and Ray Lewis. And Big Ben can be shaken into making mistakes. But will he? And will Reed and Lewis be able to step things up?

Well, I don’t think so. I just don’t think Flacco will outplay Big Ben.

Therefore, I’m taking Pittsburgh in a really close game.

My Pick: The Steelers