Why are the Patriots the benchmark for the Steelers 2017 season?
When talking Steelers football, one team comes up more often than Pittsburgh themselves: the New England Patriots.
After disappointing losses to the Patriots over the years, compounded by a crushing defeat in the AFC Championship game last season, I can sympathize with fans who fear Tom Brady and company. What I find difficulty in believing is that this Goliath of sorts is unbreakable.
As they say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. There’s no one bigger than Brady and his head coach Bill Belichick. Both have created a dynasty over the last seventeen-plus years. Each could go down as the greatest in their positions.
I have no problem saying that but what doesn’t sit well with me is how it’s become acceptable to think that the Steelers are incapable of toppling the giant. I get a sense that fans have forgotten the bad fortune Pittsburgh has had in the postseason over the last few years. In 2014 they didn’t have Le’Veon Bell, in 2015 they lost Bell and Antonio Brown (and were arguably a Fitzgerald Toussaint fumble away from the title game that season).
In the AFC matchup with New England, they lost Bell again, in a game that was still close through halftime.
Those might sound like excuses, but they’re also facts as to why the Steelers haven’t overcome the Patriots hurdle. Even last year’s regular season, the Steelers lost at home to the Patriots in a game where Ben Roethlisberger was watching from the sidelines while recovering from a knee injury. Landry Jones kept the Steelers in the game, and I do believe this year’s Steelers, even with some ups and downs, are far superior in many ways to that iteration of the team.
Pittsburgh ripped off nine-straight wins before falling to New England in the conference championship; a game without Bell, and where they were also missing Cameron Heyward. In a rebuilt secondary, though admittedly missing Joe Haden for the time being, I have to believe the Steelers are talented enough to take on the Patriots: and win. Much has been made about playing zone against Brady, but the future Hall of Fame quarterback carves up man and zone defenses alike.
What’s different this year is that the Steelers all have a year more of experience. They are relatively healthy and they should have most, if not all of their weapons for a postseason run. The narrative of playing “down” to “lesser” opponents might ring true, but it also applies to a Patriots team that has a weaker defense than in 2016 and is also missing some key contributors.
While sitting at the same record as the Steelers, New England has its own odd season. They lost to Kansas City in their home opener, beat New Orleans on the road, then had difficulty over their next four games. They won in last-second fashion at home against Houston (by three) before dropping their next home game to Carolina (also by three). A Thursday night game in Tampa Bay was all but decided by Bucs kicker Nick Folk, who missed three field goals.
The Patriots won by five.
New England then traveled to division opponent New York, where the Jets were robbed of a touchdown by a video review of an Austin Seferian-Jenkins catch/no-catch/fumble/touchback debacle.
The Patriots won by seven.
They then defeated the Falcons and Chargers before ripping off big games against the weakened AFC West Denver and Oakland teams.
So for everyone who’s not sold on the Steelers, I present to you a very similar glass half empty, glass half full proposition with the Patriots: are they the team that the Steelers need to beat? And if so, can the Steelers beat them?
Many believe Pittsburgh will have to defeat New England twice: once at home in December and again in the playoffs. The assumption here is that the Steelers stand their best chance of beating the Patriots at home; and in order to secure home-field advantage in the playoffs, Pittsburgh will have to beat New England in a few weeks. That also makes some assumptions, such as both teams maintaining their winning streaks and having the same records. Should that happen, the Steelers would own an all-important tiebreaker to secure the top seed in the AFC.
Another advantage in the impending December 17th encounter: it will be the Patriots third-straight road game, following games against division opponents Buffalo and Miami, the latter of which puts New England on a short week as the Patriots play the Dolphins on a Monday night.
Making the Patriots travel could be the key to finally overcoming that hurdle, but facing them in Foxboro isn’t as daunting as it was in the past either. Having dropped two home losses this season, the Patriots are no longer invulnerable at home. Still, winning on the road in the NFL is a difficult task, one that could make the Steelers path to the Super Bowl much easier if the Patriots are the team traveling to Heinz Field.
