NBC's NFL WILD CARD Saturday Coverage Returns this Week

NBC kicks off its coverage of the 2014 NFL playoffs this Saturday night in primetime with a Wild Card matchup between bitter division rivals, when Ben Roethlisberger and the AFC North champion Pittsburgh Steelers host Joe Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens at 8 p.m. ET. NBC's NFL Wild Card coverage on Saturday begins at 7:30 p.m. ET with a special edition of Football Night In America.

The Steelers earned the AFC North title and the No. 3 SEED with a 27-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals onSunday Night Football last weekend, led by Roethlisberger's 317 passing yards and two touchdowns. The Ravens reached the playoffs for the sixth time in seven years with a 20-10 win over the Cleveland Browns, coupled with San Diego's loss in Kansas City, as Flacco led a fourth-quarter comeback by completing 8-of-9 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns in the final stanza.

Saturday's primetime matchup between the Ravens and Steelers marks the third time these division rivals will square off in the postseason, with all three taking place in Pittsburgh, and their third meeting this season. The Steelers defeated the Ravens 23-14 in the 2008 AFC Championship Game en route to their victory in SUPER BOWL XLIII, and earned a 31-24 win over Baltimore in the 2010 Divisional Round.

This season, the Ravens defeated the Steelers 26-6 in Week 2 in Baltimore, holding Pittsburgh without a touchdown for the first time since the 2011 season. In Week 9, Roethlisberger threw six touchdown passes for the second consecutive game in a 43-23 win on Sunday Night Football.

Calling Ravens-Steelers is seven-time Emmy Award-winner Al Michaels (play-by-play), in his 29th season as THE VOICE of the NFL's premier primetime package; 15-time Emmy Award-winner Cris Collinsworth, who has won the Emmy for Outstanding Event Analyst in each of his five seasons in the SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL booth; and two-time Emmy Award-winning sideline reporter Michele Tafoya.

NBC's coverage of SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL is led by Emmy Award-winning producer Fred Gaudelli and Emmy Award-winning director Drew Esocoff. SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL has won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Sports Series for a record six consecutive years.

Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports, is hosted by 26-time Emmy Award-winner Bob Costas, who will report from Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Sunday. Costas will be joined on site by Collinsworth, Tafoya, and former Steelers receiver and two-time SUPER BOWL winner Hines Ward.

Dan Patrick co-hosts Football Night from NBC Sports Group's Studio 1 and will be joined by Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy, two-time SUPER BOWL winner Rodney Harrison, Mike Florio of PRO FOOTBALL TALK on NBCSN and NBCSports.com.

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