Jets At Steelers, Who Ya Got

All week The Four Corners of Sports has been dissecting every aspect of these playoff teams, ranking their quarterbacks, running backs, receiving games, defense and special teams. All to get to the point of who is the most well rounded team,who will win on Sunday and find themselves in the Super Bowl.

In the AFC the Steelers are the favorite,but the underdog Jets have already beaten the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots in these playoffs, not to mention the Steelers themselves back in week 15. So how will today's game be different? How will the Steelers remedy what they could not do against the Jets roughly a month ago? Or will the Jets continue this amazing streak of upsets and find themselves in only their second Super Bowl ever?

In order for the Steelers to win they will need to run the ball effectively. All week the talk has been about how Rex Ryan and the Jets defense is going to attack Ben Roethlisberger. While all the focus is on that, Rashard Mendenhall should be licking his chops at this opportunity. If he can neutralize the Jets defense, and open up the great Steelers play action,then they will be able to move the ball and get into positions to score. Roethlisberger will get his yards and make his plays, he has not won two Super Bowls by chance, and Mendenhall can make that easier for all of them with a good day on the ground and slowing down the Jets defense.

They also need to stop the Jets running attack. In the previous match up the Jets ran for over 100 yards against the Steelers. You do not do that to this team, who averaged giving up only 62 rushing yards a game all year. Having all everything safety Troy Polamalu back can not be talked about enough, as he is a one man wrecking crew in that run game. If they can stop the run, like they have, then all of a sudden Mark Sanchez is getting more responsibility and pressure on him.

The Jets have to make sure that they do not abandon that run game for Sanchez. They need the balance, and controlling the tempo is a big advantage that they have had these playoffs. In the second half of the Colts game they were able to put together two long drives that limited the Colts and Peyton Manning's chances. It will be on the offensive line, one of the better groups in the league, to make this win happen for the Jets. If they are able to pick up those Dick LeBeau blitzes and give Sanchez time to find his talented receiving corp, then they should be doing alright come fourth quarter where anything can happen.

On defense it all comes down to Antonio Cromartie. Last week he was able to talk the talk and then walk the walk, this week it becomes that much more necessary. With Revis being under the assumption that he will more than likely shut down his match up (by a lot of uncalled holds, grabs, and illegal use of hands in general), Cromartie will have to step up and play big against either Hines Ward or Mike Wallace. If Roethlisberger is able to focus in on that match up and have an advantage, then the Jets are in trouble. They need Cromartie to force throws towards Revis, and towards those other Steelers receivers.

In the end the Steelers do have the better overall team, but the Jets do have that momentum. With a leg up in the coaching battle with Mike Tomlin, the Steelers will have a better scheme for this game after week 15. Polamalu makes a huge difference, and the Steelers find themselves back in the Super Bowl.Steelers 24 Jets 17