The Steelers are heading back into a matchup that has been rough on them for two decades, and the history in New England still stings. Before Tom Brady entered the picture, Pittsburgh actually held the edge in the series, 12-5.
Since that loss to Brady in 2001, though, the Patriots have taken control and now lead 19-16 overall. In New England, the Steelers trail 4-7.
The most recent trip there came in 2019, and it was a beating from start to finish. Pittsburgh lost 33-3, Ben Roethlisberger finished without a touchdown and with one interception, and Brady did what Brady always seemed to do against the Steelers: throw three touchdown passes.
But one of the most memorable Steelers-Patriots meetings in New England came in December 1997, when Pittsburgh walked into a high-pressure game and walked out with a win in overtime.
That Steelers team had already taken the AFC Central title in 1996 with Mike Tomczak at quarterback and Kordell Stewart as a key piece of the offense. Before the first preseason game the next year, Coach Cowher made Stewart the starter.
Pittsburgh then rolled through a 5-0 preseason, including a game in Dublin, and expectations were high. Then came a 37-7 loss to Dallas in the opener, a result that put an early damper on the season.
By the time the Steelers reached New England in Week 16, they were 10-4 and sitting atop the AFC Central. Jacksonville was just one game back, so Pittsburgh needed a win to lock up another division title.
The Patriots were in a similar spot at 9-5, tied with Miami at the top of their division. Drew Bledsoe, a five-year veteran, was leading New England, and the previous year he had taken the Patriots to Super Bowl XXXI, where they lost 35-21 to Green Bay.
Both sides needed the game badly, and Cowher showed it right away. On Pittsburgh’s first possession, with the drive stalled and a fourth-and-one on the Steelers’ own 29, he kept the offense on the field. Kordell Stewart converted with a three-yard run, and even though the drive eventually died and Josh Miller had to punt, the message was clear.
After a scoreless first quarter, turnovers opened the door for New England. Stewart’s interception set up Bledsoe on a short field, and Bledsoe hit Ben Coates for an 18-yard touchdown.
Adam Vinatieri’s extra point made it 7-0. Another Stewart interception led to more damage, this time a one-yard Bledsoe touchdown pass to Sam Gash.
Stewart did settle in after that. He helped drive Pittsburgh 72 yards, finishing it himself with a one-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 14-7 at halftime.
He kept pushing in the second half, too. The Steelers put together an 80-yard drive that ended with Norm Johnson’s 36-yard field goal, and Johnson added another from 34 yards in the fourth quarter to pull Pittsburgh within one.
New England answered with a 49-yard touchdown pass from Bledsoe to Dave Meggett, pushing the Patriots ahead by eight. Then, with two minutes left, Pittsburgh made its move. The Steelers blitzed while Bledsoe was looking for a receiver, and defensive end Kevin Henry came up with the interception, returning it 36 yards.
Stewart finished the drive with a one-yard touchdown pass to Mark Bruener. Then came the key two-point conversion, with Stewart hitting Yancey Thigpen to tie the game and force overtime. Once the extra period began, Stewart moved the offense again and set up Johnson for the 31-yard winning field goal.
The final: Pittsburgh Steelers 24, New England Patriots 21.
It was the third overtime win for the Steelers that season, after victories over Jacksonville, 23-17, and at Arizona, 26-20. Pittsburgh finished with its fourteenth division title on a tiebreaker over the Jaguars and entered the playoffs as the No. 2 seed.
New England also won its division and ended up facing Pittsburgh again in the divisional round. Stewart didn’t have a clean game there either, completing just 14 of 31 passes for 134 yards with one interception. Still, one big play changed everything: his 40-yard touchdown run gave the Steelers a 7-6 win and sent them on to the championship game against Denver.
That run ended the Steelers’ season. John Elway and the Broncos beat them 24-21 after Pittsburgh turned it over three times, lost a fumble, and missed a field goal.
Even with the disappointment, Cowher’s message was upbeat. “I’ve never been more proud of a bunch of guys,” Coach Cowher acknowledged.
“We’ll be back.”
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