Sunday's Key Matchup: James Harrison vs. Jared Gaither

James Harrison could have been a Raven. After the Steelers released him in 2003, Baltimore added him to the roster during the 2004 offseason. But the Ravens released him during training camp, he re-signed with the Steelers, and it sure seems like he's spent the past couple of years trying to remind Baltimore of what it could have had.

He's had six sacks in the past two years against the Ravens. He's forced three fumbles and picked off one pass. So when the Ravens watched the film of their first regular-season games against the Steelers, it must have become clear quite quickly that they had to figure out someway to stop their worst nightmare -- an angry Harrison.

In their first matchup of the season on Monday night, Harrison had 11 tackles, 2 1/2 sacks and a forced fumble that led to the game-changing touchdown. In 2007 on Monday night, Harrison was even better, recording 10 tackles, 3 1/2 sacks, two forced fumbles and picking off a pass. In two of the past three games, Harrison had singlehandedly beaten the Ravens.

So what did the Ravens do in the Week 15 game? They made sure that Harrison wouldn't beat them, even if they had to sell out their protection schemes to do it. On one play, the Ravens went with an unbalanced line with three tackles lined up side-by-side-by-side. All of them blocked Harrison. As you would expect, Harrison was nowhere near Flacco on that play, but it's not advisable to devote three of your best pass protectors to blocking one man, no matter how good he is.

But in winning the battle, the Ravens still lost the war. Harrison didn't record a sack, but the Steelers got pressure on Flacco and they picked him off twice while holding him to 11-of-28 passing for 115 yards. So the Ravens have been burned twice. The first game, they tried to block him one-on-one, and it didn't work. In the second, they made sure Harrison didn't beat them, but that opened up opportunities for Aaron Smith, LaMarr Woodley and others.

That's not a problem that's been limited to the Ravens. Teams all year have struggled to block the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year, and his partner Woodley. If you're looking for the key explanation for why the Steelers' defense finished the year ranked No. 1 in most significant categories, it's because the Steelers no longer have to rely entirely on the blitz to get to the quarterback.

So while you'll hear a lot of talk about Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau's zone blitz, don't expect to see a whole lot of crazy blitzes on Sunday. Against the Ravens, Pittsburgh sent defensive backs on blitzes only three times in 66 pass plays (two by Ryan Clark and one by Ike Taylor). Pittsburgh didn't need to dial up confusion, because Harrison has demonstrated that he can beat Jared Gaither one-on-one, while Woodley has had success against right tackles Adam Terry and Willie Anderson. The Steelers will mix in some X-blitzes from the inside linebackers (where Larry Foote and James Farrior attack the same offensive line gap in the hopes that the second man will be unblocked), and when the Steelers go to the nickel defense against the Ravens' three-receiver sets, they'll send Lawrence Timmons (who had a sack and three hurries in limited action against Baltimore) on a variety of blitzes.

But the key matchup that should decide this game will be Harrison versus Gaither. Gaither allowed only three sacks all year, but Harrison consistently got the upper hand on him. If the Ravens' left tackle has a better game, it will go a long way towards giving Baltimore a chance. If Harrison again spends the night in Flacco's face, Pittsburgh can start making plans to travel to Tampa.