No man alive has tested or been tested more by Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin's defense. No one has more wins (12) or touchdown passes (30) or fourth-quarter comebacks (five) against Iron Mike's version of the Steel Curtain.

"Joe Flacco," says T.J. Houshmandzadeh, the Bengal legend turned Fox Sports Radio host who caught one of those comebacks, "understands how to play the Steelers."

Flacco and Tomlin are two grizzled AFC North heavyweights who eternally keep coming back to fight each other for the title. When Flacco takes the Bengals into Pittsburgh Sunday (1 p.m.-Cincinnati’s Local 12), it's their 24^th weigh-in. Count last year's game for the Colts, when Flacco came off the bench early to throw two touchdowns for a TKO, and that's a dozen wins against Pittsburgh.

Of course, count the playoffs, and Flacco has two more bruising losses to Tomlin during his 11-year run in Baltimore in a rivalry that seemed to have an automatic prime time spot. No one has 13 losses against Tomlin, either.

But Flacco also has a postseason win against him. You could call it all a draw (each has emerged from the North with a Super Bowl ring), but Flacco doesn't see it like that. The first and last thing he remembers about the Steelers is that steel-cage death match 2008 AFC title game in Flacco's rookie year and Tomlin's second.

"I remember throwing a game-sealing pick to Troy Polamalu and then having to try to tackle him on the way back," Flacco says of the Steelers Hall-of-Fame safety. "I was on the ground, looking at him score a touchdown as the stadium was going crazy. That's what I remember about that.

"It was the third time we played them that year, and we didn't beat them, but man, that was my 19th game of my rookie season. It was incredible. Those games are always crazy physical. They had so many good guys and we had so many good guys, they were cool games to be part of."

While Bengals defensive coordinators Mike Zimmer and then Paul Guenther tortured Flacco (he's thrown 29 interceptions against the Bengals), Tomlin has yet to get him to turn it over like he does so many other quarterbacks. Flacco has thrown just 12 interceptions in those 23 regular-season games against Tomlin.

"One, you know they're going to pressure," Houshmandzadeh says. "They always have a good defensive front. But if they're going to pressure you. Back when I was playing, it was a fire-zone (blitz), nowadays, it's just pressure, and they play man."

Man-to-man. The Steelers always seem to live there to open up the pressure on the quarterback. The league has no better men than Bengals wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

"Joe doesn't hold on to the ball. He gets it to his playmakers," Houshmandzadeh says. "It presents problems to that style of defense that they like to play and that (Tomlin) likes to employ …You need to win on the outside when you play the Steelers. That's how you beat the Steelers. You have to throw the ball …"

How long has Flacco been playing?

After he caught 507 balls for the Bengals, Houshmandzadeh was in one of those cool games as a member of the 2010 Ravens. His 18-yard touchdown catch from Flacco with 32 seconds left erased a 14-10 lead to silence the deafening Heinz Field jackals.

How you beat Tomlin then is how Flacco beat Tomlin with Chase and Higgins last month when he threw for 342 yards, his second-best game against the Steelers in his fifth fourth quarter comeback against Tomlin.

Protect the passer. Picking up the blitz. Getting the ball out. As usual, the Steelers rank second in sacks, leading to the league's third-most turnovers. Last month, they sacked Flacco three times, but they didn't turn it over.

"More so than against most teams," says Bengals left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., "you have to win your one-on-ones. That's how Mike Tomlin has always been. He keeps the pressure on you. They rush five a lot. It opens up coverage somewhere."

Bengals running back Chase Brown had a career game last month against the Steelers, chewing up 10 yards per his 11 carries. He pointed to the same holes Houshmandzadeh saw all those years ago. The way Tomlin's always effective front seven comes furiously downhill can be suffocating at times. But it can also be used against them.

"Our ability to squirt the ball outside (on perimeter passes to Chase and Higgins) stretched the defense out. That opened up a lot of opportunities in the run game," Chase Brown says. "Pittsburgh plays extremely aggressively. Their linebackers add on really quickly. It opens up some very big opportunities. If they pressure the quarterback, they leave open some uncovered areas, and there are big plays to be made."

Tomlin was bringing the pressure late in that '10 matchup in, of course, the No. 1 CBS game with Jim Nantz and Phil Simms. That meant man coverage. That meant Houshmandzadeh and Flacco outfoxing cornerback Bryant McFadden. Before the snap, Flacco told Houshmandzadeh if he got a look, he would signal an out-and-up. He got the wave.

"The DB jumped outside, so I slipped inside," Houshmandzadeh says. "I ran a terrible out route. I had to sell him a dream, and it turned into a nightmare."

But only because the Ravens picked up the blitz long enough for Flacco to throw a dream ball to Houshmandzadeh just before he ran over the back line of the end zone. Only because tight end Todd Heap won his one-on-one against the blitz. Against the ubiquitous Polamalu.

Fifteen years ago. But the same principles apply Sunday. Flacco, in his 200^th NFL start, has much regard for Tomlin's durability and consistency.

"This game always comes down to physicality and being able to put your guys in position to play physical and to play fast," Flacco says. "He's been in this league and on that team for a really long time because he knows how to put those guys in positions to make plays.

"Even though we only played them a couple of weeks ago, you know that they're going to have a plan and be able to come out and execute it at a high level. I think any time you have a head coach that's been around as long as he has, it's the ability to get the most out of your guys. They've consistently done that by playing fast, putting pressure on the quarterback, stopping the run and being physical. And I think he's found ways to do that no matter what."

But Flacco has often found a way and now he's got two receivers that Houshmandzadeh says are so good, "Joe must be wondering, 'Where have they been my whole career?

"He's getting it out quick. The O-line is playing well and they're picking up the Steelers' pass rush. You know it's coming and we've got guys on the outside that can win … The way the Steelers defense has been playing (133 points in the last four games) … I know they're mad at me the way I'm talking about them. Oh, well."

The Steelers figure to change it all up from last month after Chase burned them for a Bengals-record 16 catches. Since then, they've moved cornerback Jalen Ramsey to safety, but Chase says the switch doesn't seem to have changed them much.

He says in the last game, Tomlin threw everything at him.

"A lot of disguises. A lot of disguises. Usually, the past couple of years (the Steelers have played) man one high," Chase says of the one deep safety look. "A little (cover three). But this year, they mix around with some cloud, showing a little quarters here and there, a little three buzz, some six strong sometimes."

Zones and double coverage, he's saying. But Chase admits it always seems to come back to man against the Steelers.

"Making a play when it's time? Yeah," Chase says.

Flacco has made his share when Jersey Joe has met Iron Mike.

"They've been able to establish a culture and what it means to be a Pittsburgh Steeler, and they've found good enough players to carry that through the last 50 years," Flacco says. "I think it's the baseline. I think it's what we all think of when we think of good football teams. It still comes down to being physical, playing fast, and having guys that care about the game."

The Bengals just need Flacco to be a little faster on Sunday for a lucky 13^th time.