Football Footnotes: Believe it — the Steelers have won in New England. No, seriously

The Pittsburgh Steelers head to Gillette Stadium this Sunday for a Week 3 showdown against the New England Patriots.

It’s a game that could have long-term ramifications. Given the soft AFC East chasing Buffalo, Drake Maye’s potential advancement at quarterback, and a revamped coaching staff with former Steeler and Patriot Mike Vrabel in charge, optimism is abundant in Foxborough.

Jumping up four or five wins from 4-13 to 8-9 or 9-8 sounds like a huge ask. But there is no reason to think New England can’t finish in front of the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins in second place in the division. That may be good enough to at least keep them in wild-card contention most of the year.

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh is looking very much like it’ll have a similar resume. Roughly 9-8, well behind Baltimore atop the division. Probably better than Cleveland and the Joe Burrow-less Bengals.

Their potential second-place finish may put the Steelers right on the playoff cut line with the Patriots. That’s a place the Steelers have lived for most of the past eight years.

So, this game could have significant tiebreaker/playoff implications three months from now.

Let’s hope it goes better this time around for Mike Tomlin’s bunch than it usually does. Gillette Stadium has been a place where Stiller dreams have gone to die many times over.

Bill Cowher’s 2002 Steelers opened that building as the Patriots’ opponent in Week 1 of the season. The Pats crushed the Steelers, 30-14, that night. The franchises were nine months removed from New England’s upset of the Steelers at Heinz Field during the AFC Championship game.

As a tandem, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick went on to win each of the next six games they played against the Steelers at their new home, including the 2016-17 AFC Championship game.

6 years ago today Brady throws for 384 yards and 3 touchdowns. 2016 Season AFC Championship. pic.twitter.com/q4rL3fmn6l

— RandomTomBradyHighlights (@TomBradyDaily) January 22, 2023

New England won that game and went to the Super Bowl. They went to the next two as well, winning two of the three. The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since that day.

Overall, the Steelers are 1-6 all-time in Gillette and 4-7 in New England through the history of both organizations. Two of those losses for Pittsburgh (1997, 2016) were playoff games.

For this Friday’s “Football Footnotes,” we look back at the four times the Steelers actually won in Foxborough.

2008

• The only time the Steelers won a game at Gillette, Brady didn’t play. Tomlin’s team won there Nov. 30, 2008, by a final score of 33-10 with Matt Cassel as the New England quarterback.

The Steelers came back from a 10-3 deficit in the second quarter. Willie Parker and Mewelde Moore combined for 154 yards rushing.

Ben Roethlisberger had touchdown passes to Santonio Holmes and Hines Ward. Jeff Reed kicked four field goals.

The Steelers totaled five sacks and forced five turnovers, including an 89-yard interception return by Lawrence Timmons that set up a Gary Russell touchdown.

Troy Polamalu added a pick and three other pass breakups.

The Steelers went 12-4 and won the AFC North by one game over Baltimore. So they had home-field advantage in the AFC Championship game against the Ravens.

As for the Patriots, somehow, they went 11-5 without Brady. Yet, somehow, that wasn’t good enough to make a loaded six-team AFC playoff field.

1997

• The 1997 season featured quite a few exhilarating comebacks for the Steelers in Kordell Stewart’s first full season as a starter. One of those games was an overtime contest at “Foxboro Stadium” in Week 16.

Cowher’s crew got down 14-0 in the first quarter, but Stewart brought them back, throwing 48 times for 266 yards. He also ran for 57, and Jerome Bettis added 80 more on the ground.

Stewart and Mark Bruener both scored from a yard out during the game. Norm Johnson nailed three field goals, including the OT game-winner, and the Steelers’ defense held Drew Bledsoe and company to just 253 total yards (42 rushing). They also intercepted him twice.

Dave Meggett had a 49-yard score from Bledsoe, but it wasn’t enough as the Steelers went on to win 24-21, holding onto the ball for more than 41 minutes.

Courtney Hawkins set up Johnson’s game-winner with a 51-yard catch-and-run on a screen pass.

Eleven months earlier, the Steelers lost that infamous “Fog Game” (28-3) there in the 1996-97 playoffs. Pitt’s Curtis Martin had 166 yards rushing.

The Steelers improved to 11-4 and won the AFC Central at 11-5 in a tiebreaker over Jacksonville. New England won the AFC East at 10-6 by beating Miami the next week.

Then Pete Carroll’s team hosted Miami in the first round of the AFC Playoffs and won 17-3, before going to Pittsburgh and losing 7-6 at Three Rivers Stadium.

Vrabel made the biggest play of that game as a Steeler against his future team. With less than a minute left at the New England 42, up by a point, Vrabel strip-sacked Bledsoe, and Jason Gildon made the recovery.

1979

• Prior to that effort from Stewart, you’d have to go all the way back to 1979’s season-opener to find a Steelers victory in New England. It was also an overtime win when the building was still called Schaefer Stadium.

The Steelers’ defense beat up Patriots quarterback Steve Grogan. He was only 11 of 33 for 123 yards, sacked five times and intercepted by Jack Lambert and Dwayne Woodruff.

New England did outrush the Steelers, though, 162-118. However, they were 8 for 20 on third downs.

Sidney Thornton ran for a touchdown and caught a TD pass from Terry Bradshaw (who was hurt in this game, then returned). But there was a missed extra point, and the teams went to overtime tied at 13-13.

Matt Bahr came through in the extra frame, striking a 41-yard kick to win it 16-13.

The Steelers went on to win Super Bowl XIV that year. New England was 9-7, finished second in the AFC East behind 10-6 Miami, and missed the five-team NFL playoff format.

1974

• In the penultimate week of the 1974 season, the Steelers headed East to Massachusetts in December at 8-3-1, in control of the AFC Central. The Patriots were slogging along at 7-5 after winning six of their first seven contests.

Mack Herron scored the first TD of the game in the first quarter and the last TD of the game in the fourth quarter. In between, it was all Steelers.

Franco Harris had 136 yards and a touchdown. Bradshaw only completed 10 passes for 86 yards, but one of them was a 7-yard scoring connection to diving rookie receiver Lynn Swann.

Also, L.C. Greenwood registered a safety of quarterback Jim Plunkett, and Roy Gerela converted a pair of field goals as the Steelers won 21-17.

The Steelers locked up the division and went on to win Super Bowl IX. The Pats also dropped their regular-season finale, finished 7-7 and missed the playoffs.

So, of the Steelers’ six Super Bowls, three of them occurred during seasons when they won in New England. A fourth such win was part of a trip to the AFC Championship game.

This year’s Steelers might win in New England this year (emphasis on “might”….like mayyyyybe). That other stuff? Don’t hold your breath.

Regardless of what happens Sunday, I’ve got the Steelers at 9-8, second place in their division and missing the playoffs. I’ve got the Patriots finishing at 8-9, in second place in their division and missing the playoffs.

Those may be similar outcomes, but they’d certainly result in very different reactions from their fanbases.

Grudgingly, I’ll take New England, 24-22.

Listen: Christopher Price from the Boston Globe joins me to preview the Steelers game in New England on Sunday