Even with the AFC’s best record, the Pittsburgh Steelers have one threat they cannot ignore for the rest of the season.
It’s no secret the New England Patriots and Tom Brady have had the Steelers’ number for years. Year after year it seems as though Pittsburgh gets as close to another Super Bowl as possible just for New England to come in and knock them off.
Well, this year is different. Kind of. With an mid-season lead over the Patriots, maintaining home-field advantage in finally in the hands of the Steelers. Although their schedule for the remainder of the year is one of the toughest, they have enough firepower to easily head to the playoffs as the AFC’s top team.
A playoff run through Pittsburgh is huge this season. Tom Brady come December is unstoppable at home, and making him travel to the Steel City is going to go a long way in overcoming the Patriots.
Yes, teams like the Chiefs, Jaguars and even the Bills are threats to any team this season, but compared to the Steelers come January, they aren’t opponents this team will need to worry about. Maybe, right now, there’s a sense of discomfort facing these teams, but when the playoffs start, there’s one team Pittsburgh should be worried about.
That means there’s one goal for the Steelers during the rest of the regular season – beat out the Patriots. Homefield advantage is a gamechanger this season and if the Steelers want to finally pull off a Super Bowl run, going through Heinz Field is how it needs to happen.
There’s still plenty of work still to be done within this team. Ben Roethlisberger is still trying to find his chemistry with everyone, Martavis Bryant is becoming more of a distraction than an asset, and if the team wants to stay healthy, they need to find a way to win without Le’Veon Bell touching the ball 35 times a game.
If they can pull these off, though, there’s no reason Pittsburgh doesn’t send New England through the Steelers home turf.
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Even if the Patriots don’t have the team to handle the Steelers, that’s still goal number one, because even Pittsburgh knows – you don’t want to go through Foxborough in January.