The Seahawks (15-3) have won 13 of their last 14 games — the loss was a meaningless season finale at Green Bay — and routed Carolina for the conference championship as the No. 1 seed. In Shaun Alexander, they have the league MVP, and their defense led the NFL in sacks.

Yet they seem overshadowed by one of pro football's most storied franchises, one that made its name by going 4-0 in Super Bowls with Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris and the Steel Curtain.

"I said the other day that as far as any games, odds or who's the favorite or who's the underdog, we have nothing to do with that," Holmgren said. We just are who we are and Pittsburgh is who they are.

"The only thing I can think of is that they beat Indianapolis, a huge win for them. And that popped up Pittsburgh, as it should.

"And then the other thing is, not many people know about us, to be honest. Unless you're on the West Coast or specifically in the state of Washington or in the Pacific Northwest, you'd be probably hard-pressed to name a bunch of our defensive players. People know Shaun Alexander and (QB Matt) Hasselbeck, perhaps. Walter Jones, maybe. But I think that has something to do with it."

Even commissioner Paul Tagliabue, in his annual state of the league address Friday, mentioned the "contrasting matchup."

"The newcomer, Seahawks from the Northwest, versus the tradition of the Steelers from industrial America, where our game and our league were born," he noted.

Seattle had the NFL's most prolific offense, with Alexander leading the league in rushing and setting a record with 28 touchdowns. Pittsburgh's defense, led by All-Pro safety Troy Polamalu — he of the flowing hair and fierce hits — and chatty linebacker Porter has been opportunistic throughout the winning streak.

The Steelers consistently have jumped to leads and protected them in the playoffs. Seattle has been ahead through most of the postseason.

Both teams generally avoided creating controversy this week — except, quite notably, Porter's verbal feud with Stevens. When the Seattle tight end had the temerity to suggest Bettis' homecoming would not end happily, Porter took it as an affront to the running back, the rest of the Steelers, and the city of Pittsburgh.

He promised Stevens would remember him when Porter delivers his first tackle Sunday.

Oh, yeah, football.