Take a good look at the picture, Steelers fans: This is the guy who could come in and ruin your dreams of a sixth Super Bowl ring.
The fact that he might do it at home just makes the thought even worse.
Pittsburgh faces the Baltimore Ravens Sunday in a showdown for the AFC Championship and a shot at yet another Super Bowl victory. Pittsburgh is one of only three teams who have won five Super Bowls, and should they succeed against the Ravens on Sunday will face the NFC Champions in a battle for No. 6.
There's a problem though.
They are playing at home.
In the 10 years prior to their odds-defying road run to Super Bowl XL, Pittsburgh hosted the AFC Championship game five times. The only time they got a ticket to the show was 1995, where they lost to the Dallas Cowboys.
A home championship record of 1-4 has to be weighing on the minds of players and coaches of both organizations. It most assuredly is on the minds of the fans.
"It's big," Ben Roethlisberger said when asked for his thoughts on the game. "The last time we were here in my rookie season, I didn't play so well, so I'll be looking for a little redemption."
In that wonderful season, if you will remember, Ben Roethlisberger went undefeated as a starter, and won his first playoff game in decisive fashion. But then came the championship against the Tom Brady-led Patriots, and the Steelers lost their fourth straight home game in the last stop to glory.
No other team has done what they did so quickly. Only the erstwhile Buffalo Bills can match them in futility when it comes to winning The Big One. Buffalo went 3-0 at home during their Super Bowl run of the early 1990's—the '93 game was played in Miami—only to suffer heartbreaking loss after heartbreaking loss in the Super Bowl four straight years.
To be sure, the quarterbacks the Steelers have faced in Pittsburgh have been top-notch play callers.
Stan Humphries—holder of a Hall of Fame slot in both the San Diego Chargers and Louisiana Sports organizations, and might one day make it to Canton—beat them in 1995 when he rallied the Chargers from behind in the fourth quarter to defeat the heavily favored Steelers.
Hall of Famer John Elway beat them in 1997 to go to the first of his two career-closing Super Bowl Championships.
Drew Bledsoe—not necessarily Hall of Fame material, but good enough in his time—played well enough in relief of injured Tom Brady to beat the Steelers 24-17 in 2002.
Tom Brady brought the Patriots back to Pittsburgh in 2005 and beat the Steelers soundly by a score of 41-27 before winning the Super Bowl that year.
In fact, of the teams that beat the Steelers at home in the AFC title game, only the Chargers did not go on to win the Super Bowl.
San Diego had the misfortune of running afoul of the San Fransisco 49ers. When they actually make it to the Super Bowl, they win it.
Enter Joe Flacco, the rookie-who-isn't-really-a-rookie, playing for rookie coach John Harbaugh. If that isn't an affront to your sensibilities, it should be. Rookies just don't do what these two have done.
But do it they have, with an unflappability and air of confidence you would only expect of a player and coach who had been together for years. Their luck should have run out before the season was over, but they somehow slipped into the postseason.
Then they had to travel to Miami, and the high-flying attack of the Dolphins was sure to put them in their place.
Nope. Won that one 27-9, and Pennington was horrible.
On to Tennessee, where the Titans' top-ranked defense was sure to close them out and make things right in the football universe.
Nothing doing. Tennessee stood strong on defense, but offensively they blew it big time, and "Joe Cool" provided just enough to get them the win.
Now they face the hated Steelers at Heinz Field. Ask any team who has been there: This is not an easy place to play. And the Ravens have failed twice this year already.
This is a grudge match. Baltimore will be coming in hot, ready to take back the dignity they feel was stolen from them earlier in the year. Flacco has been nearly perfect in his playoff debut. The rookie mistakes he was supposed to make are non-existent.
The Steelers are likely hoping he saved them all up for this game. If not, he could be the odds-on favorite to pull off what no rookie quarterback has ever done.
8 comments Last one added 5 months ago — Leave a Comment
Bryn Swartz 5 months ago
Great article. Should be one of the hardest hitting games of all time. I didn't realize you had lost it at home four times! I didn't know about 1994! Everybody gave McNabb so much crap when we lost at home 2 straight years....
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Bryan Hollister 5 months ago
Five home Championships, four defeats. Dismal. And even when they won at home, they gave it away to Dallas in XXX. I hated Neil O'Donnell for YEARS, and had to put up with him not only with the Titans, but as a contributor to the Nashville sports broadcast when he retired.
He shoulda gone into radio instead.
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Gus HowT 5 months ago
Eh, it could be a hard hitting game...
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Robert Dimond 5 months ago
The Steelers lost 2 of the AFC title games because the Pats cheated. They knew what defence Pit was going to play. If it wasn't for Belicheat, Pit would be wearing two more superbowl rings.
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L.J. Burgess 5 months ago
*sniffle*
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GFJones 5 months ago
The past is what it is. Weren't we hearing this same noise last weekend about how San Diego beat the Steelers at home in the playoffs before? How about all of this talk about how hard it is to beat a team 3 times. Look at the stats. Teams are 12 for 18 in that regard. Apparently it's hard only one third of the time.
Looking at this past weekend, while the Titans may have lost, they exposed the Ravens as the team that has gone seventeen weeks without a break. As the game progressed more and more bodies hit the ground and were slower and slower to get up. Fatigue will bring on the injuries. Baltimore will be up for this coming game but how long will they last? Meanwhile in Pittsburgh the Steelers put on a ball control clinic in their game with the Chargers. The D is well rested and ready for the stretch. The offensive line looks like they have gelled pretty well. Everyone is fresh. I'm not sure that this one is even going to be close.
One thing being overlooked in these playoffs, how many of these players from the four remaining teams have Super Bowl rings from the past five years. Experience is everything. Pittsburgh won't look past Baltimore or get lost in the glitz leading up to the Super Bowl.
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L.J. Burgess 5 months ago
Maybe we should play on a High School field somewhere in eastern West Virginia just to even the odds a little.
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Bryan Hollister 5 months ago
Or they could use Pitt's field...lol
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