On Sunday, the New England Patriots will be playing in their record sixth-straight AFC Championship as they will host the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium. This will be Patriots head coach Bill Belichick’s and quarterback Tom Brady’s 11th appearance overall in the AFC Championship.
Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger isn’t a conference championship stranger either as this will be his fourth appearance. Believe or not, this will be the second time Roethlisberger and Brady have met one another in the AFC Championship. In the 2004 AFC Championship, New England defeated Pittsburgh 41-27 at Heinz Field in Roethlisberger’s rookie season.
New England got to the AFC Championship by beating the Houston Texans 34-16 in a game many expected to be a total domination. In the Steelers divisional round win, they were led by six field goals by kicker Chris Boswell as Pittsburgh was able to hold off Kansas City 18-16 at Arrowhead Stadium.
The winner of Sunday’s game will break a tie also held by the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos for the most Super Bowl appearances (eight).
Pittsburgh Steelers at New England Patriots
Kickoff: Sunday, January 22, 6:40 p.m. ET
TV: CBS
Spread: New England -6
Three Things to Watch
- Tom Brady vs. Steelers Defense
Despite their 18-point victory, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady had a poor outing as he was only able to complete 47.4 percent of his passes against the Texans. Houston was able to sack Brady twice and knocked down the future Hall of Famer eight times. If Pittsburgh is going to pull off the upset on the road, they will need to follow a similar blueprint.
Steelers Bud Dupree and Ryan Shazier have enough athleticism and speed to create havoc defensively. Brady has one of the quickest releases in NFL history, so the Steelers defensive backs will need to be physical to allow time for defenders to reach the backfield.
In the first two rounds of the 2016 playoffs, Pittsburgh running back Le’Veon Bell has had one of the best stretches in postseason history. Against the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Wild Card Round, Bell rushed for a franchise record 167 yards and two touchdowns.
Bell then followed that performance up with a 170 yard game against the Chiefs in the divisional round. New England will present a new challenge for Bell as the Patriots finished third against the run during the regular season as they allowed an average of 88.6 yards per game on the ground.
When the Steelers and Patriots played each other three months ago, Bell was held to just 81 yards on 21 carries, but that was without Roethlisberger. Now with the threat of a passing game, that could help Bell become more of a factor on Sunday.
Last week against the Texans, Dion Lewis showed how versatile he could be. Lewis recorded a touchdown on a 98-kickoff return, a 13-yard reception and a touchdown run as he became the fifth Patriots player in history to score a touchdown three different ways.
While running back LeGarrette Blount gets a lot of attention; the Steelers will also need to pay close attention to Lewis. Brady could rely on Lewis a lot in the Patriots short passing game to avoid pressure. Pittsburgh has the speed on defense to keep Lewis from making big plays as the Steelers defense was able to prevent Chiefs all-purpose player Tyreek Hill from making any huge play in last week’s win.
Final Analysis
Even though New England has been in the AFC Championship quite often in recent memory, they’re not invincible when they reach this stage. The Patriots have lost three out of their last four AFC Championships and they’re going to have their hands full with the Steelers, who have won nine consecutive games, five of them on the road.
Pittsburgh has one of the best offensive lines in the league as they’re led by center Maurkice Pouncey and right guard David DeCastro. In order to continue Bell’s hot run, the Steelers offensive line unit will need to contain the Patriots defensive line and linebackers.
2008 was the last time the Steelers won a Super Bowl and this is their best chance since then to return to the big game. Pittsburgh won’t be intimidated by playing in Foxborough, so Sunday should be a very compelling contest between the Steelers and Patriots.
Twitter: @antwanstaley
