Blast from the past 

By Mike Batista

Steelahs.com deejay

December 7, 2007

"I get knocked down! But I get up again! Ain't nothin' gonna keep me down!"

America was rocking to those lyrics the last time the Steelers won a game in the little hamlet of Foxborough, Mass.

"Tubthumping" by one-hit wonder Chumbawamba was topping the charts right around Dec. 13, 1997, the day that game was played. The Steelers could use those words for inspiration on Sunday.

The Steelers' last win in New England, which came almost exactly 10 years ago (isn't this numerical symmetry scary?), wasn't just any win. They needed a miracle comeback to defeat the Patriots 24-21 in overtime.
 

The Patriots had the ball near midfield with just over two minutes left leading 21-13. The Steelers had no timeouts. All the Pats needed was a first down, but instead Drew Bledsoe threw a blind pass under heavy pressure into the arms of the Steelers' Kevin Henry, who returned it into Patriots' territory. That set up Kordell Stewart's touchdown pass to Mark Breuener and 2-point conversion pass to Yancey Thigpen. The key play in overtime was 41-yard screen pass to Courtney Hawkins, which set up Norm Johnson's game-winning 31-yard field goal. It was a devastating loss for the Patriots. The headline the next day in the venerable Boston Globe said "Kick in the teeth." I must confess, I "borrowed" that headline for my column on the Steelers' loss to the Jets this season.

Without that dramatic win over the Patriots, the Steelers wouldn't have had home-field advantage when the two teams met again in the AFC divisional playoffs. And the Steelers needed every advantage they could get in that game. Kordell Stewart's 40-yard touchdown run five minutes into the game was all the scoring the Steelers could muster in their 7-6 win. Since then, the Steelers are 1-5 against the Patriots.

A word of caution

The Steelers can spoil the Patriots' pursuit of history on Sunday. On the surface, the Patriots' perfection looks a little shaky. They needed to come from behind in the fourth quarter to beat two middling teams in the Eagles and Ravens. The Steelers, meanwhile, seem to be back in top form, at least on defense, after their win over the Bengals. Conditions seem ripe for a Steelers win on Sunday. Hell, Anthony Smith guarantees it.

But let's not get too optimistic. The Steelers are not a great road team. The only teams they've beaten on the road this season are the Browns and Bengals, and the Browns have improved since they lost to the Steelers in the season opener. The Steelers' offensive line seems to have righted itself after not allowing a sack against the Bengals. But the Bengals rank 30th in the NFL in sacks. The Patriots are tied for eighth. On offense, Willie Parker has averaged just 73 rushing yards over the past three games, and we know the Patriots are going to try to exploit his fumble-itis.

Was I the only Steelers fan who was torn on Monday night? I enjoy a Patriots loss as much as the next guy, but I also kind of wanted the Steelers to get their shot at hanging a big, fat "1" in the Patriots' loss column at Gillette Stadium, especially since I'm going to be at the game. Even if they do that, however, they're probably going to have to beat the Patriots again at Foxborough in the playoffs if they want to win another Super Bowl.

A rivalry renewed

The way I look at it, the more Steelers-Patriots games we see, the better, because this is qualifies as a rivalry. Four of their last nine meetings have come in the playoffs. I can't speak for Pittsburgh, but having lived in New England, if you mention "the 7-6 game," it's understood you're talking about the Steelers' win over the Patriots in the 1997 playoffs.

Steelers fans are all too familiar with the Patriots' two AFC championship game wins at Heinz Field. The first one in 2001 was a shocker, but the second one, in 2004, was no surprise. Ben Roethlisberger looked like a rookie in the Steelers' very lucky win over the Jets in the divisional round, and the Patriots kicked the Colts' ass in Foxborough the next day. I watched the Patriots' game against the Colts on TV, and when the clock struck zero, I said "Shit!" out loud. I knew the Steelers were going down the next week. But the Patriots didn't win their championship without a few nicks and cuts (no, that's not a Gillette Stadium pun, the New England press has beaten those to death) inflicted by the Steelers, who beat them 34-20 at Heinz Field in the regular season to end their NFL record 21-game winning streak.

The other four regular-season games between the teams in the past decade have all had some meaning or drama. On Dec. 6, 1998 (why do these teams always seem to play in early December?), the playoff-bound Patriots beat the Steelers 23-9. The Steelers were in the midst of losing five straight games to finish 7-9. The Patriots christened Gillette Stadium with a 30-14 beating of the Steelers on Monday Night Football to open the 2002 season (I was at that game. I got stuck in an elevator, and I'm kinda sorta claustrophobic. Apparently they were still working out a few kinks in the new stadium. Just further evidence that the Patriots are evil.) There was the Steelers' win over the Patriots in 2004, then there was the Patriots' 24-21 win over the Steelers on a last-minute Adam Vinatieri field goal on Sept. 25, 2005.

A good rivalry also requires a little friction between the two sides, and these teams have that. There was Kordell Stewart talking about hanging out with his buddies in New Orleans before Super Bowl XXXVI. That provided bulletin-board material for the Patriots, just like Smith's guarantee does this week. In the 2005 regular-season game at Heinz Field, Patriots safety Rodney Harrison suffered a season-ending injury. Surly Patriots coach Bill Belichick shooed the Steelers' medical staff off the field when they tried to help out.

A good rivalry also needs a storyline. I give you Mike Vrabel, who has had an impact in both uniforms. He knocked the ball loose from Drew Bledsoe on the Patriots' final drive to help secure a win for the Steelers in "the 7-6 game." But he couldn't get to the Super Bowl with the Steelers. He's been there all three times with the Patriots. The Steelers made a huge mistake letting him go.

A good rivalry doesn't quite need a conspiracy theory. But I'm going to submit one anyway. In 2005, the Patriots finished the regular season with a loss at home to the Dolphins. They weren't going full tilt, even though they could have had the No. 3 seed in the playoffs. They ended up with the No. 4 seed and hosted Jacksonville, probably the worst 12-4 team of all-time. The Patriots beat them easily in a wild-card game. Had they been the No. 3 seed, they would have hosted the Steelers. The Steelers had to win the last four games of the regular season just to make the playoffs, and they won all of them convincingly. Was Belichick trying to duck the Steelers? Belichick might be the NFL's most reviled villain, but he's also a football genius. Perhaps he saw the Steelers' run to the Super Bowl coming. Just a thought.

Payback time

The only thing that would have made the Steelers' 2005 championship any sweeter is if they knocked out the Patriots along the way. The Steelers can take the cherry off the sundae of a potential Patriots championship by winning on Sunday at the House of Evil. If the Patriots lose to the Steelers but still win the Super Bowl, they'd be just another Super Bowl champion and have to take their place in line with all the other teams in the "greatest of all-time" debate.

That doesn't mean I'm conceding the Lombardi Trophy to Team Evil. Yes, the Patriots are the favorites to win the Super Bowl, and they're favored to win Sunday. The Steelers are underdogs. The Patriots have denied the Steelers two Super Bowl berths, with perhaps a little espionage involved. Now it's time for the Steelers to deny the Patriots their coveted 19-0 record.

If that's not enough to get you fired up, then it's time to blast some Chumbawamba.