Specifically, the talk has been the deja vu of the 2000 playoffs, the only other time Tennessee held the top seed in the AFC field, only to have the upstart Ravens come into Nashville and stun the Titans 24-10, thanks to a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown and a Ray Lewis interception taken 50 yards for a score.

And even though the Titans did manage to take a measure of revenge three years later with a wild-card round win in Baltimore, Tennessee fans have never completely gotten over seeing the Ravens not only pull the upset that day, but go on to claim the Super Bowl championship many Titans backers felt was theirs that season.

So while the fans and media recall the not-so-fond memories and maybe even dread the Ravens coming back for another round in the playoffs, Titans coach Jeff Fisher insisted in his weekly press conference Monday that those games of years past were just that -- the past.

"Maybe you need to talk to the Eddie Georges, the Frank Wychecks, the Steve McNairs and the Trent Dilfers and Jamal Lewises and Jonathan Odgens, because that's when we were playing them twice a year and battling for the playoffs," Fisher said. "These are two completely different teams. Obviously, both teams have a lot to lose. This is sudden death. Both teams are hoping to go out and play as best as they possibly can to win and move on."

There is no denying, however, that the teams that will take the field on Saturday in the divisional round, are strikingly similar in style to the ones that played in that game eight years ago.

Both teams love to play hard-nosed physical defense and like to control the line of scrimmage on offense with the running game. And both teams rely on getting turnovers and big plays on special teams to help flip field position and change momentum.

Not even Fisher could deny those similarities to the old days.

"Both these teams are pretty much built the same way as those teams were back in 2000," Fisher said. "They play good defense, they run the football and they have exceptional special teams, and they're very physical teams. That's the kind of matchup you expect to see in this round of the playoffs."

While games of eight or even five years ago have no bearing on Saturday's outcome (except to superstitious fans who believe in curses or jinxes), there is one that might have some relevance to Saturday. That was Tennessee's 13-10 victory over the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium back on Oct. 5.

In that contest, the Ravens dominated the Titans for much of the day and held a 10-3 lead through three quarters, before Tennessee rallied for the final 10 points. Kerry Collins engineered an 80-yard drive, with aid of a questionable roughing the passer call on Baltimore's Terrell Suggs, and hit Alge Crumpler with an 11-yard touchdown pass to pull out the win with 1:56 to play.

"It was a good win for us against a good team that basically mirrored us, that ran the football that made some plays with the play-action pass and then played good defense," Fisher said. "It was a good win for us on the road in a tough place to play, but I think both teams are much better now than they were when we played the first time."