Playoff preview -- Air-bound rematch between Steelers and Titans

The Pittsburgh Steelers won't easily forget their last trip to Tennessee. They lost the game, and, fortunately, left the stadium knowing Tommy Maddox would be ok after a hit at the end of the third quarter by Titan's linebacker Keith Bulluck, which left Maddox without any feeling in his arms or legs at the time.

By week 11, the underrated Tennessee team already knew where to attack the Steelers' defense: long passes down the middle of the field. That's how they moved the ball then, and most probably, that's how they will try to move the ball again in their playoff matchup this Saturday.

In the last few years, the confrontation between these two teams have been hard-fought power football games, in which field position and running were vital, and clock control was a must. This year both teams have morphed from rushing-first contenders to happy-passing offenses.

The Titans, right now, are on a five game winning streak behind the MVP-like performance of their quarterback Steve McNair, who didn't even practice for the last few games due to injuries. But his performance dropped significantly through December's streak, and in the last three games, McNair passed for only one touchdown, and completed 47.7 percent of his throws for just under 150 yards in each game. That is something the Titans' need to worry about if they want to beat the Steelers.

Pittsburgh's weak spot is their air defense, as Cleveland showed and exploited in their wild card game. Tennessee must do the same and use their three wide receivers to beat them passing. If McNair is accurate, and his wideouts are able to get some separation from the Steelers' secondary (something that shouldn't be difficult), the only way Pittsburgh can stop them is by getting close to McNair and hit him early in the game to scare him. If they don't do that, Tennessee will have room for their running game, and this rematch will be looking a lot like their game on week 11. Long passes down the middle, and Eddie George slowly racking up some running yards while eating up time on the clock.

From Pittsburgh's side, the key will be minimizing mistakes. Maddox must pass downfield, and look for Antwaan Randle El through the middle, because that is where the Titans' defense is vulnerable. They were only the 25th in the league in pass defense, allowing 221.2 yards per game.

Also the Steelers must be the Steelers. A common mistake coach Bill Cowher makes in the playoffs is changing their playing style instead of doing what's been working for them during the regular season.

Pittsburgh is a tricky team. They love doing reverses, misdirections, pulling their quarterback off the line and letting a wide receiver take the snap. They must take advantage of having so many receivers that can pass the ball, and call those kinds of plays to surprise the Titans' defense, because they won't be able to use a no-huddle hurry-up offense in the noisy Adelphia Coliseum.

For a wrap up, Maddox must keep being the leader of the Steelers like he was in their comeback against Cleveland. He must keep writing his own Cinderella story, because I think the Steelers will upset the Titans in Tennessee.