The Pittsburgh Steelers will get the chance to finally upend the team that has been their playoff bugaboo when they face the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday evening. Pittsburgh entered the playoffs as one of the hottest teams in the AFC and looked like the real deal in wins against Miami and Kansas City. However, the Steelers are going to need to score touchdowns if they hope to beat the Pats. New England has scored at least 27 points in every playoff game against a team not named Denver over the last four seasons and will put up points on Pittsburgh too.
Don't miss the AFC Championship from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts at 6:40 p.m. ET on Sunday. Catch every moment of the game live on CBS.
NFL Playoff Odds at BookMaker.eu
Patriots -5.5
Steelers +5.5
Over/Under 50
When the Patriots Have the Ball…
It’s been a long time coming, but Dion Lewis finally showed us why New England has had such faith in him. Lewis didn’t light up the stat sheet in terms of yards, but contributed three touchdowns in the Patriots win over the Texans in the Divisional Round. He is a viable runner, but an even bigger threat in the passing game. Lewis presents a much better option against the Steelers than LeGarrette Blount does and will be the feature back.
Tom Brady traditionally has great numbers in the postseason, but was uncharacteristically bad against Houston. He completed less than 50 percent of his passes and for the first time looked like he really missed Rob Gronkowski. Brady repeatedly relied on Julian Edelman in the passing game and didn’t look comfortable throwing to anyone else. Martellus Bennett, who many believed would take on a big role with Gronk out, caught just one pass for 4 yards and was unable to shake free of Houston’s defense.
Pittsburgh doesn’t have the defense that Houston did, but can stop the run meaning that Brady will have to beat the Steelers with his arm. If he can’t, Pittsburgh has a chance to pull off the upset.
When the Steelers Have the Ball…
LeVeon Bell is going to get the rock as much as possible. He has had monster games against both the Dolphins and the Chiefs and his offensive line is run-blocking fantastically for him. Bell’s patience in the hole has been commented on repeatedly over the last few weeks but it really is something to behold. He is able to find lanes that no other running back in the league can find and his ability to chop his feet and keep inching forward makes it tough to stop him.
Pittsburgh will need to have a better game from Ben Roethlisberger if it wants to pull off the upset. Big Ben has more career interceptions than touchdowns in the playoffs and has had only a few noteworthy postseason performances. In his career, more often than not, the Steelers have won in spite of him rather than because of him and that will need to change.
Roethlisberger has one of the best receivers in the game today in Antonio Brown and Brown should be able to get loose against this secondary. The New England defensive backs haven’t faced many good passing attacks and Brown can take the top off the defense.
The X Factor
There isn’t a better coach in the game today than Bill Belichick. He has four Super Bowl rings for a reason and has been the best playoff coach we have ever seen in the NFL. Belichick’s Patriots have won the AFC East every year since 2008 and there is no coach you would rather have for a big game.
Across the sideline, Mike Tomlin’s record is a bit more checkered. Tomlin only has one Super Bowl victory and his Steelers feel like they have underperformed with him at the helm. He will get a chance to make up for it against the Patriots with a team that is arguably more talented.
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