Steelers and Patriots Vying for Most Super Bowl Appearances

The Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots enter Sunday evening's matchup each with eight appearances in the Super Bowl.

The two franchises sit in a four-way tie, along with the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos, for the most appearances in the NFL—meaning the winner of Sunday's showdown will take sole possession of the top spot, per ESPN Stats & Info.

While both Pittsburgh and New England have eight appearances prior to this season, they have varying results in terms of success in the Super Bowl. The Steelers have won the most Super Bowls (six) in NFL history, going 6-2 in their eight appearances, while the Patriots have only hoisted the Lombardi trophy in four of their eight chances.

Both teams started off the season without one of their star players. For Pittsburgh, that player was Le'Veon Bell—who was suspended for the first three games of 2016 for violating the league's substance abuse policy. New England was without Tom Brady for the first four contests this season due to his role in the 2015 AFC Championship Game Deflategate scandal.

Neither team felt the effects of missing one of its stars, though. The Steelers went 2-1 in their first three games of the season. And the Patriots began 3-0 before dropping the final contest ahead of Brady's Week 5 return against the Cleveland Browns.

The clubs share another parallel entering Sunday's game—extended winning streaks. The Patriots have won eight consecutive contests, while the Steelers have won nine. Another epic matchup may be on tap for the teams led by star quarterbacks in Brady and Ben Roethlisberger, and the two rosters have the talent to potentially meet more times in the postseason moving forward.