A Trip Down Brady Boulevard

In a time of more parity than National Football League has ever seen (22 teams have a .500 record or better, most ever), it's more difficult to handicap, predict, or even discuss a New England-Pittsburgh matchup than to fathom how cool it would be to walk in the shoes of the still unidentified man who placed $250 on the Cardinals with 999:1 odds and stands to collect $375,000. 

It is impressive to note that the AFC has been represented by the Patriots or the Steelers in seven of the last ten Super Bowls.  Tom Brady has been the most unbeatable quarterback over the last decade for most teams, even good ones like Pittsburgh.  But it’s a little different with Pittsburgh.  Discussing the rivalry and its history is more interesting than figuring out who is this game’s x-factor or what is the best way to defend speedsters Wallace and Welker. 

This rivalry started even before Brady and Big Ben, when the Steelers were trying to make it back to the big game after losing Super Bowl XXX to the Cowboys.  The Steelers made the playoffs for two more seasons, meeting Drew Bledsoe and the New England Patriots in both postseasons.  Each team won the matchup once, with Pittsburgh going on to lose the conference title to the Broncos in 1996 and with New England getting to the Super Bowl for overrated Brett Favre’s only Super Bowl win. 

Pittsburgh went through a few rebuilding (that is, keeping a great defense while waiting for the offense to decide in constantly dramatic fashion, who was going to take snaps from center) years and didn’t make it back to the postseason until 2001, with Kordell Stewart making his final season a winning one, leading the Steelers to the AFC title game against the Patriots.  A young Tom Brady was knocked out of the game and Drew Bledsoe preserved the win for the Pats. 

Pittsburgh would return with Tommy Maddox the following year (only these odd Steelers teams could oust a quarterback who’d possibly resurrected his career to sign an NFL quarterback bust but XFL star who was selling insurance), beating the only Browns playoff team since their return to Cleveland.  I’ll never forget sitting in the upper deck in Pittsburgh, able to hear only the bass drum beats of the beginning of Styx’s Renegade among the screaming as Maddox led the Steelers on the game winning drive (many years after he was originally drafted by Denver to take the torch from John Elway, the other quarterback famous for playoff drives against the Browns) to overcome Kelly Holcomb’s 400+ passing yards.  The song is now played at every home game.  Who knows what kind of Super Bowl there would’ve been if referee Ron Blum hadn’t told teams they had three timeouts in overtime (when teams, by rule, had one each) and Pittsburgh cornerback Dewayne Washington hadn’t been the victim of a horrible running-into-the-kicker penalty on a missed Joe Nedney field goal against Tennessee  Following the penalty, Nedney nailed the closer kick and the Steelers went home.  Reports that Nedney secured an Oscar nod for lead actor in a penalty went unconfirmed.

Wow!  Somehow this has turned into more of an exploration of depressing Steelers losses rather than that of Steelers-Patriots matchups.  I think I’ve found my point, however!  Looking back on past Pittsburgh-New England games is depressing enough as it is.  This brings us to the first playoff loss for the franchise’s best quarterback since Terry Bradshaw.  In storybook fashion, it came at the end of a 16-1 rookie (ROOKIE!) campaign in 2004.  The temperature was nine degrees and it turned out that Big Ben didn’t yet have the ice water in his veins that Brady had in his. 

Since then, the schedule makers have found a way for the Steelers to play the Patriots in all but three seasons since.  Roethlisberger is 2-3 in the regular season against New England, with point totals deadlocked at 126-126.  The Steelers rarely blow out anyone, and they certainly won’t blow out New England.  That’s why this matchup is so hard to handicap.  A three point favorite?  Please.  Either the Steelers win by 3 or the Patriots win in a route.   

Mike's Picks for Week 7 (8-3 last week! 38-28 overall):
Indianapolis @ Tennessee (-8.5): This spread is too big and the Colts have to play well at some point, right? This blogger believes that the true Titans were the team that was routed last week by Arian Foster.
Jacksonville @ Houston (-9.5): Jacksonville will keep it close after their defense showed what it is capable of (in oh-so-glorious fashion) on Monday night.
Minnesota @ Carolina (-3): This is one of the week's better matchups, but the Vikings are still playing with a dead man walking behind center.  More interesting is the matchup of the two best sound effects (Panther growl -VS- Viking horn) in use at NFL stadiums.  Too bad both can't be used here, as the Minnesota Viking horn blower is likely strolling the Mall of America, enjoying his day off.
New Orleans @ St. Louis (-13.5): Saints beat Louis. Saints beat Louis bad.
Arizona @ Baltimore (-12.5): I think if the Ravens had showed up on Monday and taken care of business, they'd actually be favored by fewer here. I'm actually rooting for them here because facing the Ravens next week after TWO bitter losses is just a recipe for disaster.
Miami @ NYGiants (-9.5): The real New York Giants are going to show up someday, right? I mean, they're led by a Manning boy with a healthy neck who is not named Cooper, so how are they NOT playing better football?
Washington @ Buffalo (-5) @ Toronto (dumb): What's with home games being played in London and Toronto? It won't matter here, as the Bills win by at least a touchdown, but seriously, aren't we tired of this?
Detroit @ Denver (+2.5): Tebow mania is over, as the Lions return to their winning ways.
New England @ Pittsburgh (+3): New England, as much as I hate to type it.
Cleveland @ San Francisco (-8.5): Some are calling for this to be a route. Local sports radio would have you believing that Hillis will walk out on the team and that McCoy will be backing up Chad Henne next season.  None of this will happen, but the Niners will do just enough to win and cover.
Cincinnati @ Seattle (+2): Talking heads are calling this a trap game.  I don't see how a team like the Bengals, who are playing very good, but still bad football (yes, of course that makes sense, just like the Steelers, who often play bad, but still GOOD football) can qualify to be part of a trap game. All I do know is that the game could be scoreless.
Dallas @ Philadelphia (-3): Talking heads are also saying that the Eagles are getting it figured out and should be feared. I think not. Cowboys by a few, unless Romo figures out a whole new way to throw a game away.
San Diego @ Kansas City (+3): Maybe if the most overrated quarterback in the league hadn't peed away last week's game against the Jets, they'd be favored by a couple touchdowns. The question should no longer be "When will Philip Rivers win a meaningful game?" but "What will he do next to lose one?"  For the record, last week's answer was to throw in bounds twice with under two minutes to go and throw the ball away, out of bounds on 4th down with 11 seconds remaining.