Two of the Ravens' four worst rushing performances this season have occurred against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
But a pair of Ravens insist that they can run against the Steelers in Saturday's AFC Divisional playoff game at Heinz Field.
Both Ray Rice and Willis McGahee asked for patience, arguing that the rushing attack can be effective against a defense that surrendered an average of just 62.8 yards per game — best in the NFL.
"The one thing about the run game, you have to be patient," Rice said Wednesday. "A 2-yard run is a 2-yard run. We can't make a 2-yard run into a 50-yard run unless it's there. I think we just have to stick with it. As long as we get positive runs against the Steelers defense, that's a great run."
Both tailbacks have had success against Pittsburgh. Rice is the only opponent in the Steelers' last 50 games to gain 100 yards (141 yards on Dec. 27, 2009), and McGahee has scored three touchdowns in his last five meetings with Pittsburgh, including two in the 2008 AFC championship.
This season, however, the Steelers have been a virtual roadblock, allowing no more than 58 rushing yards in seven contests. And the Ravens compiled just 113 yards in both regular-season meetings.
"We always stop the run around here," Pittsburgh nose tackle Casey Hampton told The Associated Press Tuesday. "Look at the last 10 years, that's what we do. It's nothing new to anyone around here."
Only the New York Jets and the New England Patriots have rushed for 100 yards this season against the Steelers. Rice and McGahee think the Ravens could be the third offense to do the same.
"It's going to come down to whoever wins the offensive side of the ball," McGahee said. "We've got to get out running game established and set the tone early and just go from there."
Suggs lets his T-shirt talk
If Terrell Suggs didn't think he would be a target at Heinz Field Saturday, the outside linebacker just blew his cover by wearing a T-shirt expressing his feelings about the Steelers.
The black T-shirt read "Hey Pittsburgh" at the top with a giant purple Raven offering a one-fingered salute. But Suggs said he's not concerned about receiving a backlash from Steelers fans over the shirt.
"Do I seem worried? This game is going to be what it is regardless," he said. "It's a physical dogfight, so I ain't expecting nothing different. And this is the shirt I wore this morning. This is just the shirt I chose."
This isn't the first time Suggs has used fashion to make a statement. In training camp before the 2009 season, he wore black T-shirt with the letters "YBYSA" on the front and the saying "You Bet Your Sweet [Butt] I hate the Steelers" on the back.
Birk, Stallworth miss practice
Only two players — center Matt Birk and wide receiver Donte' Stallworth — were absent from Wednesday's practice.
Birk missed the first practice last week with a knee injury and still started the wild-card game at Kansas City. Stallworth was sent home with an illness.
Cornerback Chris Carr was limited with a thigh injury.
Flacco is better prepared
The last time Joe Flacco played the Steelers in the postseason was in the AFC championship game two years ago.
At that time, he was a rookie quarterback playing in his third playoff game. Now, he's much more prepared.
"I have 32 regular-season games and a couple more playoff games under my belt," Flacco said. "Anytime you have game experience, you become more prepared for any team you're playing. We've played the Steelers a lot since I've been here, so the more game experience you get against that defense, the more you can prepare yourself for it."
Unusual celebrations
Speaking of Rice and McGahee, the duo celebrated touchdowns in Sunday's 30-7 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in atypical ways.
McGahee capped his 25-yard scamper in the fourth quarter by imitating the tomahawk chop, which he said was directed at Chiefs fans who had been doing the same before and during the game.
"I saw fans doing that earlier during the game, and I just felt like I really had to go out there and do that," he said. "… When we were coming in, everyone was doing it."
Rice paid homage to New York Jets running back LaDainian Tomlinson after catching a 9-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, extending both arms and flipping the ball with his left hand.
"Shout out to Ladanian Tomlinson I look up to him so that TD flip was out of respect," Rice wrote on his Twitter account.
Steelers wary of Heap
Todd Heap's franchise record-setting performance of 10 catches and 108 yards in the Ravens' 30-7 rout of the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday's AFC wild-card playoff round got the attention of Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin.
"He's a talented guy," Tomlin said during a conference call with Baltimore media Tuesday. "He's done similar things to us since I've been here. He got after us pretty good at our place a year ago [two catches for 37 yards and two touchdowns on Dec. 27, 2009], red-zone fades and things of that nature. The unique things that he's capable of doing from the tight-end position, he's just a special player."
Heap, who didn't return after pulling his right hamstring on the first play of the Ravens' second regular-season meeting with the Steelers, said he is anticipating more scrutiny from the Steelers defense.
"I think they'll be paying attention to me, but we've got some other guys that they need to be paying attention to as well," Heap said. "You look across the board, the threats that we have on offense – receivers [T.J.] Houshmandzadeh, Derrick Mason, Anquan Boldin and then all of our backs. We've got some guys that can make plays, so you can't key in on one guy. That's kind of what we've been trying to build to as an offense this whole year."
Baltimore Sun reporter Jamison Hensley contributed to this article.