What goes into all this? What approach do you take?

Do you alter things? Do you treat everything the same?

Those are questions the playoff-bound Steelers (10-5) -- and, more precisely, the coaching staff -- will answer Sunday, when they travel to Baltimore to square off against the Ravens (4-11) in AFC North Conference clash.

While the Steelers know they will be on the field in a playoff game next week, there is a delicate balance that needs to be danced upon this Sunday -- does coach Mike Tomlin play the reserves against Baltimore, with winning a secondary concern, or does he stick with the personnel that got the team to this point this season?

"There are two ways to it," Steelers receiver Hines Ward said. "Whatever coach decides, that is what we will do. It is not our decision if we want to play or not. So it really doesn't matter, as players, what we think. The coach knows what is best for his team and he knows individually which guys are banged up and what not. We just have to prepare like any other game."

In truth, there is something still caught in the balance of this Sunday's affair. A Steelers' win at Baltimore, coupled with a San Diego loss at Oakland, will give the Steelers the AFC's No. 3 seed.

Regardless of whether the Steelers win or lose against Baltimore, they will fall to the No. 4 seed if San Diego wins against Oakland.

In either event, the Steelers will play host to a playoff game next weekend at Heinz Field.

If the Steelers earn the No. 3 seed they will play either Cleveland or Tennessee. If the Steelers earn the fourth seed, they will play Jacksonville, a team that defeated them, 29-22, two weeks ago at Heinz Field.

"It is out of our control," Ward said of the Steelers' seeding. "We are just going out and trying to win against Baltimore. We won our division, we know we are in the playoffs and we just have to have that mindset that we cannot look down the line. We just have to play and Baltimore is our next game."

The team's playoff seeding isn't paramount to Steelers left guard Alan Faneca, either.

"I don't care, three or four, we are in," Faneca said. "[The] three or four [seed] doesn't matter, it just changes who we are playing."

But there is someone who could benefit a great deal from the fact that, in the large scheme of things, winning or losing does not mean all that much to the Steelers this week.

That is backup quarterback Charlie Batch, who, to this point, has thrown five passes this season. But, with a lingering ankle injury to starter Ben Roethlisberger and in the interest of keeping his backup sharp, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin undoubtedly will play Batch for a period of time against Baltimore.

"Each week is a different scenario for me, but the one thing that is always the same is that I don't know," Batch said. "But I know this week that, at some point, I will see that action. Now, will that come in the first quarter, will that come in the fourth quarter, I don't know."

As for Baltimore's motivation, linebacker Bart Scott summed up his squad's mindset, saying, "If I get hurt, I got all year to rest up. I gotta use all this juice, no need to save any for the reserve tank."

Last season, the Steelers faced a similar quandary, making a final-week trip to Cincinnati after being mathematically eliminated from the postseason.

"For us, when we had tough times, even last year, we looked at it very simply," Batch said. "We would go into games like this one Baltimore is going into and say, 'Hey, Let's finish this thing out strong.'

"Not to speak for them, but that is how we always looked at it when we were faced with a similar situation,"

Colin Dunlap can be reached at cdunlap@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1459.