It's the kind of game for which no one wants to admit he'd prefer to sit.

New England and Indianapolis have byes, a week off before their first playoff games. Today is a chance for some Steelers to take the same kind of break, for a group of key players to rest ailments they all have, starting with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. He had a sprained ankle this week, a sore arm the week before and 47 sacks on his resume this season.

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Today

• Game: Steelers (10-5) vs. Baltimore Ravens (4-11), 4:15 p.m.
• Where: M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore.
• TV: KDKA.

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Finding Steelers who would come clean about a desire to take today off, though, was like finding a Baltimore Ravens fan in their locker room.

"Do I want to?" Alan Faneca said, repeating a question he could not answer. "I'll tell you what, if you can find someone in this locker room to tell you they want to take a break, come tell me. Come tell me."

The Steelers will take the field at M&T Bank Stadium today for their 4:15 p.m kickoff and try to win a ballgame to finish the regular season 11-5, but it will not be the same team that has clinched the AFC North Division championship and a home playoff game.

Roethlisberger and some others will not play, and even more will be yanked long before the score goes in the books. And for many who do play, it's a different feeling than playing with a playoff spot on the line.

"One thing, it can have an affect because you know you're already in it, so mentally you can get complacent," guard Kendall Simmons said. "As a group, we don't want to go in and say we really don't have to do anything; it can affect you. You don't want to go in and not play as hard as you normally do because that can lead to injuries."

Especially to the quarterback, if his line would play that way.

"You're right," said Charlie Batch, in line for his first start since the first game of 2006.

It can be a touchy thing for coach Mike Tomlin -- which players to rest and when?

"If you rest one person, the other person's going to complain," Batch noted. "Coach Tomlin probably will be in a no-win situation because there will be guys who will say, 'Why him and not me?' And vice versa.

"Which guys are you going to play with? You want that rapport. You want to at least know who's going to be out there with you when you step on the field."

Batch, for instance, would love to have his line intact and be throwing to his top receivers: Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes and the recently productive Nate Washington.

"It's been a while since I've been able to play," Batch said. "It's been almost a year, because last year I got a little bit of playing time, this year I really didn't get much at all. I'm excited. It's another opportunity. They don't happen often."

Batch has thrown just five passes this season with many more kneel-downs to kill the clock at the end of games -- he has 11 "carries" for minus six yards.

There are some players truly excited to play today's game, or at least they say they are, for various reasons.

"We're professionals," defensive captain James Farrior said. "On top of that, it's Baltimore. That's one of our biggest rivals. They had a lot of comments they said after the first game that didn't sit too well with a lot of guys in this locker room."

The most notable was Bart Scott threatening Ward, who threw a tough block on the linebacker in Heinz Field Nov. 5. Other Ravens called the Steelers' 38-7 victory that day a fluke.

"58-7!" tackle Max Starks said of the combined scores from the Ravens' two victories against the Steelers last season. "That's my motivation. The fact they were probably two of the most embarrassing games I've ever been part of. The chance to right that wrong is an internal motivation.

"Plus, I don't care for them much. There are some guys on that team I just don't like and they don't like me. It works good in that environment."

Many of those Ravens, though, won't play today and it has nothing to do with their 4-11 record that includes nine straight losses, among them Miami's only victory of the season.

Kyle Boller, Todd Heap, Ray Lewis and Willis McGahee have bowed out of this one with injuries, as will other Ravens.

Will the depleted Ravens bring anything to this game?

"They better," Farrior said. "I would hope they would. But, you know, it is at the end of the year, you don't know what team will come out."

That goes for both sides.