Pittsburgh Steelers meet New England Patriots in matchup of AFC’s best

PITTSBURGH — The two most successful teams from the AFC since the NFL merger in 1970 will meet in this year’s conference title game. The winner will be the first team in NFL history to play in nine Super Bowls.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots each played in eight, and have been the two best teams in the AFC by far since 2000.

The Patriots won all four of their Super Bowls since then and the Steelers added their fifth and sixth Lombardi trophies during that span. No other AFC team has won more than one Super Bowl since the turn of the century.

So it seems strange these teams are meeting in the playoffs for the first time since Ben Roethlisberger’s rookie season in 2004, when the Patriots beat the Steelers in the AFC title game at Heinz Field.

When the Steelers went to the Super Bowl in 2005 and 2010, the Patriots were eliminated in the divisional round by the Denver Broncos and New York Jets, respectively.

When the Steelers went in 2008, the Patriots did not qualify for the playoffs.

Conversely, when the Patriots went to the Super Bowl in 2007, 2011 and 2014 the Steelers were eliminated each time in the wild-card round.

Finally, they’re meeting again.

“I’m going to be honest, I don’t care who we had to play in the AFC Championship Game,” Roethlisberger said. “It’s the championship game. You have one game to get to the Super Bowl.

“Like I said, you are going up to the lion’s den, the dragon’s lair. They are the dragon. We are trying to slay them. It doesn’t matter who it is, but they are the ‘gold standard.’”

The Steelers have won nine consecutive games, while the Patriots have won eight in a row.

The Steelers are built around a strong running game and an opportunistic defense that has improved greatly since the beginning of the season.

The Patriots are first in the league in scoring defense and third against the run while Tom Brady continues to play at a high level.

The matchup between Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell and the Patriots defense will be one to watch. Bell has almost 1,200 yards during the Steelers’ nine-game winning streak, and he sat out the regular-season finale against the Browns.

“They play real well up front,” Bell said Wednesday. “They pride themselves on stopping the run. I think it was a circumstance of us not getting enough totes, too. Last time we played them we weren’t as aggressive running the ball as we are now. It should be an interesting game going against those guys again.”

The Steelers got to the championship game by beating Kansas City, 18-16, in a divisional round game. The Patriots beat the Texans, 34-16, in their divisional round game.

It wasn’t the Patriots’ best performance or Tom Brady’s for that matter. But Steelers coach Mike Tomlin knows great teams advance in the playoffs even when they have an off-night because they find ways to win.

That’s exactly what the Steelers did in Kansas City, when they became only the sixth team in league history to win a playoff game without scoring a touchdown.

“I think just watching them win that game last weekend, exemplifies that he is a great player, but they are a great team,” Tomlin said. “They found multiple ways to win that game.”