Monday 23 January 2017 06:41, UK
We look at the reasons why Pittsburgh can beat New England and go on to add to their record six Super Bowl titles.
There are two mouthwatering championship games this weekend and any of the four teams can lay legitimate claim to being the favourites to claim the Super Bowl in just over a fortnight.
You can see all the action from 7.30pm on Sky Sports 1 on Sunday with the second of our live games seeing the New England Patriots take on the Pittsburgh Steelers as an age-old rivalry is renewed in the AFC Championship game.
Both teams are bidding for a place in their ninth Super Bowl which would be a record and the Steelers head to Gillette Stadium having won their last nine games but knowing they have won just three of the last 13 meetings between the teams - including two AFC Championship matches.
However, here we set out our reasons why Pittsburgh can emerge victorious in Foxborough and remain on track for Super Bowl number seven.
We have said five reasons and we could cheat and list the following names on their own - they are that good!
But Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell are heading the same way as the legendary Steel Curtain, the Pittsburgh defence of the 1970s.
To join that Pittsburgh pantheon, the three Bs will need to add silverware to the numbers that will ensure Bill Belichick and the Patriots will be well aware of the threat posed.
The hottest of them all is Bell, who has almost 1,500 scrimmage yards across the Steelers last eight games.
The running-back missed the first three games of the season but is in spectacular form and if, or rather when, he gains more than six yards on Sunday, he will set a franchise record for most post-season rushing yards.
125 yards in the game will take Bell into the all-time top five for an NFL post-season and it's possible he has 337 yards from his games against the Dolphins and the Chiefs but the third-ranked run defence of the Patriots will be a stiffer test
Roethlisberger is a two-time Super Bowl champion and an almost certain future Hall of Famer. A third ring would see him join Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, Tom Brady and Troy Aikmen as a winner of three or more Super Bowls.
Time may be running out for Big Ben who has had his injury problems but on his day he is can be the best in his position.
The best in his position is a title that has been bandied around for Brown, and the wide-out owes his team one having been forced to apologise for a storm in a Facebook Live style tea-cup.
Only Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald was targeted more in the regular season while only Green Bay's Jordy Nelson had more touchdowns from the WR position. In the post-season, he already has two TDs and 232 yards, Brown is a threat and a big-game player who delivers.
For the Steelers to see off the Patriots, all three will have to be on their game and the good news for Pittsburgh fans is they rarely disappoint.
They are the Steelers. And they win Championships and they win Super Bowls.
Pittsburgh are one of the most storied franchises in the NFL, and we are not just talking those bumblebee uniforms, we are talking titles and silverware
No team has won more than Pittsburgh's six Vince Lombardi trophies, and along with three other teams that have been to eight Super Bowls, a win on Sunday will take them clear of the field on nine showpiece Sundays.
When they get there, they win, their six wins from eight Super Bowls shows they have the big-game mentality.
Along with Sunday's opponents, the Patriots, they have won eight AFC championships, more than any other franchise
One note of caution - in the AFC Championship game, the Steelers aren't quite so prolific. They have a winning record (8-7) but only a narrow one - although they have won each of their last three (2011, 2009 and 2006).
The Steelers defence has been flying since they put their early season issues behind them. James Harrison, the 38-year-old has perhaps never played better while Ryan Shazier has interceptions in four straight games.
Pittsburgh are a franchise steeped in defensive history and they are hitting form at the right time, with six post-season sacks from their two games. Added to the 27 sacks they made in weeks 9-16, it makes them arguably the most in-form defence of the final four teams.
To put all that in context, the Steelers had managed just eight sacks over the first eight weeks of the season and where anyone has got even the merest hint of joy in unsettling Tom Brady this year, it's been when they have got in his face.
That's how the Steelers picked up their last win over the Patriots in 2011 and they'll need to find a way to disrupt the Patriots No 12 on Sunday.
In Weeks 1-8, the Steelers managed just eight sacks. In Weeks 9-16? They had 27 sacks, and have added six more in two post-season games. Pittsburgh have had limited success against Brady, whether they blitz him or not. But the last time they beat him, during the 2011 season, it was the defence that set the tone.
Much has been made of Green Bay's running of the table but no one is hotter than the Steelers.
Having won their final seven regular-season games, Pittsburgh added the scalps of the Dolphins and the Chiefs over the first two weeks of the play-offs to make in nine in succession.
Five of those wins have come on the road, most notably in Kansas last week and they will need to keep winning on their travels when they head to New England and they hope on to Houston and Super Bowl LI.
We've pointed out offence and defence strengths and the Steelers have been strong on both sides of the ball during their current run with playmakers in both areas.
The Patriots have won eight straight themselves and have a formidable home record but looked shaky against the Houston Texans in the first half last week as they had to play their way back into form after a bye week.
Momentum can be a key component and Pittsburgh, like the Packers, have needed to keep winning and the confidence and belief has come flooding back as a 4-5 record has been overturned.
If the three Bs don't get you, then the fourth will!
Kansas City may well have thought that keeping Roethlisberger, Brown and Bell scoreless last week would have had the Chiefs through to Championship Sunday, but it wasn't to be.
Up stepped Chris Boswell to boot six field goals from distances ranging from 22 and 43 yards to score all 18 points in the Steelers victory.
It was redemption for Boswell who went viral earlier this season with his rabona attempt at an onside kick that he didn't quite pull off.
The defence sets the tone, but if the offence doesn't quite fire, you need someone to score the points and Boswell looks like he has found his range and his accuracy at just the right time.
If the game is close, Boswell could be the match-winner - although hopefully via the traditional and successful method rather than any extravagant moves.
Sky Sports is your home of NFL. Watch both Championship match-ups live on Sky Sports 1, on Sunday January 22, from 7:40pm.
