Heading into another showdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Baltimore Ravens hope momentum is better than rest.

The Ravens and Steelers split two games this season, each winning on the road by three points. Both finished 12-4 and tied atop the AFC North.

But because Pittsburgh had a better division record, it received a No. 2 seed and a first-round bye. Baltimore, in turn, was forced to hit the road as a wild-card team.

“For such a small margin, what a big difference that makes,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said Monday. “But we kind of understand who we are. We understand our path, our road. We’re not intimidated by it at all. We’re looking forward to it. We wouldn’t have it any other way at this point.”

The Ravens hammered Kansas City 30-7 on Sunday, and therefore will bring a season-high five-game winning streak into Pittsburgh this Saturday.

“There is definitely an advantage to having the time off from a rest perspective, and there’s probably an advantage from playing from a being sharp perspective,” Harbaugh said. “So we’ll try to take advantage of the strengths in our favor, and hope the strengths in their favor are minimized by the way we approach what we do.”

Like it or not, the Ravens will be operating on a short week against a team that will have gone nearly two weeks without a game.

“I’m very confident we can get our guys rested, recovered and ready to go on Saturday,” Harbaugh said.

Baltimore beat the Steelers on the road in October, but in the playoffs the Ravens are 0-2 in Pittsburgh, including a 23-14 loss in the AFC title game in January 2009. Given a preference, the Ravens would love to have this game in Baltimore.

But it’s off they go to Pittsburgh again, with the knowledge that they’re coming off one of their best games of the season. Baltimore NFLdominated the Chiefs after halftime in such a fashion that by game’s end about the only fans left in the stands were wearing purple and black.

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