Last updated: February 20. 2013 3:55AM - 201 Views

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OWINGS MILLS, Md. &#8212; It was as if linebacker Ray Lewis, safety Bernard Pollard and the rest of the Baltimore Ravens' defense set out to provide a quarter-by-quarter demonstration of how they do business.





In an age of high-powered offenses in the NFL &#8212; this season's games featured 45.5 points, the highest average since 1965 &#8212; and increasingly safety-conscious officials, a pair of hard-hitting, oft-penalized defenses are meeting for the championship. Those second-half shutouts of the Patriots and Atlanta Falcons in the conference title games were only the latest reminder from the 49ers and Ravens that defense still matters.

Sometimes it isn't about some sort of newfangled, complicated Xs-and-Os defense, either. It's about players pushing it to the limit &#8212; and, sometimes, perhaps beyond &#8212; in a league that has been taking steps to rein in certain kinds of hits.

Being physical? That's vital, man. That's what we live by, Baltimore cornerback Cary Williams said. That's something that Ray Lewis established here back in &#8216;96, and we're going to continue to do that. It's been, I guess, in our bloodline. It's in our DNA. We don't bring in guys that's timid. We don't bring in guys that's not going to hit anybody.

What about San Francisco's defense?

They're just as physical as we are, Williams replied, offering what in his mind is probably the highest compliment he could pay another team's players.

San Francisco defensive lineman Justin Smith deflected a question about whether his defense is as good as Baltimore's, replying: I mean, we're just trying to win a ring.






When you go against a team that has that kind of reputation, and you can watch it on film, it definitely gets in your mindset and you know you have to deal with it, Ravens linebacker Paul Kruger said. I'm not sitting here saying that we're intimidating everybody or anything like that. But you know we're coming to hit you, for sure.

If his is a way of thinking about the game that, as Williams noted, Lewis brought to Baltimore, the 49ers' current group &#8212; featuring players such as safety Donte Whitner and linebacker Patrick Willis &#8212; can trace its lineage back to Hall of Fame safety Ronnie Lott.


There is a Steel Curtain or Chicago Bears type mentality with both of these defenses. Both of them bring a kind of edge to how they play, Lott said in a telephone interview. They both swarm to the ball, get a lot of people to the ball. It won't be just one guy hitting you. There will be a number of guys.



In a game like this where you have guys who are explosive guys, like (Frank) Gore, like (Ray) Rice, like (Colin) Kaepernick, like (Anquan) Boldin, you have to tackle, Lott said. And you have to tackle properly. These teams do.



It's just like the old saying, Baltimore's Ellerbe said. Offense sells tickets; defense wins championships.

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