When Tom Brady walks out with his sports hernia to participate in the coin toss on Sunday, let’s all hope he flips a mean coin. Both the Pittsburg Steelers and the Seattle Seahawks have suffered pretty harsh moments during the toss, the likes of which neither team wants to see repeated. Two years ago, the Seattle Seahawks took the Green Bay Packers to overtime in the playoffs. Upon winning the flip, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck boldly declared to a national television audience, “We want the ball and we’re gonna score!” A few plays later, he did indeed throw for a score, as the Packers’ Al Harris intercepted his pass and ran it to the end zone to win the game. The Seahawks couldn’t win a playoff game, but what else was new.

The last time the Steelers played in Detroit, running back Jerome Bettis had a hard homecoming. The game went to OT and when the ref tossed his coin, the indecisive Bettis called “head…tails.” Referee Phil Luckett correctly went with the first pick, and when the coin landed tails it proved unlucky for the Steelers indeed. The Steelers put the game in the hands of their defense and remained confident they could pull it out. But the Lions scored on their first possession. (Unfortunately for Luckett, tails was the louder call and the only one the cameras picked up, leading fans everywhere to believe that they had just witnessed possibly the worst call in sports history.) But these stories do exemplify the differences between these two franchises. The Steelers remain a hard-nosed, physical team that dominates with defense and simply outworks the other squad for 60 minutes (but apparently no longer). The Seahawks, meanwhile, are the cocky new kids on the block who, like their boy band predecessors, will try to “hang tough” against a bigger, meaner team on Sunday.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have one of the richest histories of any NFL franchise. Founded in 1933, the Steelers became one of the AFC’s original teams when the AFL and NFL merged in 1970. Super Bowl XL will be the team’s sixth appearance on the biggest stage in sports, and the team owns four Lombardi Trophies. For the sake of tradition, it’s worth mentioning that the Steelers have had only two coaches since 1969, Hall of Famer Chuck Noll and likely future entrant Bill Cowher.

History presents a different story for the Seahawks. Before this postseason, the Seahawks hadn’t won a playoff game since the 1983 season. This Sunday will be the franchise’s first taste of the Super Bowl. The team’s utter lack of rivals and prestige led to its realignment in 2002, shifting the team from the AFC West to the NFC West. The team has a pathetic three Hall of Famers and two retired numbers—number 12, for the fans as the “12th man,” and Steve Largent’s number 80, which was brought out of retirement for an old and decrepit version of Jerry Rice. In short, the Seahawks’ past is anything but storied.

The teams have taken entirely different routes to Super Bowl XL. The Steelers have been the Steelers, winning with a dominant, intimidating defense and an offense based on ball control and running up the gut. They faced some difficulties this year, especially with QB Ben Roethlisberger down for part of the year, but not in the playoffs. They have beaten the top three seeds in the AFC, each on the road and each convincingly. These impressive wins allowed them to be the first six-seed ever to make the Super Bowl. Linebacker Joey Porter (whom teammate James Farrior accidentally referred to as “Jerry Porter” on media day) has chosen a different target to trash talk each week. This week it’s Seahawks tight end Jerramy Stevens, who seems to be using a ridiculous beard to cover the fear on his face. The offense has taken on a new character, dictating the game with a newfound air attack. Ken Whisenhunt, the offensive coordinator prodigy nicknamed “the Whiz” and frontrunner for the Oakland Raiders head coaching position, has carved up defenses week after week. (Personally, I think “the Whiz” doesn’t really fit anyone going from the Steelers to the Raiders. Maybe “the Brick,” “Killer,” or something along those lines.) But wearing the classic and unchanged Steelers uniform, the defense has looked like the rugged Steel Curtain that won four Super Bowls in the 70s.

Meanwhile, the Seahawks dominated the NFC all season and came into the playoffs with a first-round bye and the top seed. The Seahawks feature an explosive offense led by MVP and touchdown record-setting running back Shaun Alexander and the talented Hasselbeck. The defense is just average, rating 16th of the 32 NFL teams in total defense. Granted, the defense has had to stay on the field for longer than most because of the high scoring offense, but in any case it has certainly not been a dominant force. Nevertheless, it has played well enough for the team to rest at 15-3. But the Super Bowl will see strength pitted against strength as the vaunted Seattle O lines up against the Pitt D.

NFL purists, respecting toughness and “intangibles” (which seems an intangible concept in and of itself) and following the mantra that “defense wins championships” have Pittsburgh favored by four points on Sunday. But expect Seattle to come away with the trophy. Their defense will play well enough to let the offense earn the victory, just as it has all year long. It is fast and athletic, and gets tremendous pressure on opposing QBs. The Seahawks will contain the new-look Pittsburgh passing game and the Steelers offense will become, well, the Steelers offense. A key matchup will be USC rookie linebacker Lofa Tatupu against the two-headed monster that is Pittsburgh’s running game. Whether Bettis up the middle or Willie Parker (who went to UNC because he loved Michael Jordan) to the outside, the Pittsburgh rushing game will see some success, but not enough to take the victory. Shaun Alexander will tell the world he’s going to Disneyworld and smile even more than he does now. And I’ve never seen Shaun Alexander not smiling. For Steelers fans there is one piece of solace: the Seattle weather is sure to rain on their victory parade. Well, I guess they have their four Super Bowl wins too. But despite which team wins, it promises to be a close, entertaining game at least and one of the best Super Bowls ever at best. I just hope the game doesn’t end up going into OT, or maybe if it does the captains can thumb wrestle instead of calling the flip.