From fire alarms to faulty headsets to broken guarantees, Steelers find plenty of headaches in New England

When they face the New England Patriots on Sunday at Gillette Stadium, the Pittsburgh Steelers finally won’t have to deal with two of their longtime nemeses.

It has been a lengthy wait.

For the better part of two decades, coach Bill Belichick and Tom Brady were the unsolvable puzzle for the Steelers whenever they ventured into Foxborough, Mass. A Rubik’s Cube that didn’t have a winning combination.

The Steelers have won just once since the stadium opened nearly 25 years ago. Brady wasn’t involved in that game, having sustained a season-ending knee injury in the season opener. That 33-10 victory for the Steelers with Matt Cassel at quarterback for the Patriots should come with an asterisk.

Brady left New England after the 2019 season, which, coincidentally, is the last time the Steelers have played at Gillette Stadium. Belichick was forced out two years ago and is dealing with life coaching in the ACC these days.

The chance to start anew against the Patriots with Mike Vrabel as coach and young Drake Maye at quarterback was enough to make the longest-tenured Steelers player nostalgic.

“It is weird,” defensive tackle Cameron Heyward said. “We’ve had openers there, AFC championships there. It’s a crazy place to be. I’m just praying we don’t have a fire alarm go off.”

That occurred in the hours leading up to the AFC championship game following the 2016 season. A drunken Patriots fan admitted to the stunt and was arrested. The Steelers, though, could be forgiven if they didn’t think a little bit of gamesmanship was involved.

It was just another case of Murphy’s Law for the Steelers in New England. Whatever could go wrong, has gone wrong for the Steelers there over the past quarter century.

A sampling:

Sept. 8, 2019: The Steelers entered the season having turned the page on offense. In the offseason, they traded Antonio Brown to Oakland, and they informed hold-out running back LeVeon Bell that they wouldn’t tag him in free agency. Bell then signed with the New York Jets.

Little did the Steelers know that the season opener against the Patriots would be their only full game with Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback. Roethlisberger attempted 47 passes in a 33-3 loss, perhaps putting extra strain on his right elbow. It popped the following week, and Big Ben had to undergo season-ending surgery.

The Steelers failed to score in the first half and trailed 20-0 at intermission. Chris Boswell’s 19-yard field goal in the third quarter accounted for the only points.

Jan. 22, 2017: After riding Bell’s legs and Boswell’s right foot to playoff wins against Miami and Kansas City, the Steelers were just one step away from returning to the Super Bowl. After dealing with the fire alarm incident, the Steelers came out in a haze and trailed 10-0 in the first quarter. They would never catch up in a 36-17 loss.

Bell had set the franchise single-game rushing record with 236 yards against Buffalo in December, and he was the workhorse of the postseason, rushing for 167 yards and two touchdowns against Miami and 170 yards against Kansas City.

He had just six attempts for 20 yards before injuring his groin in the second quarter. He sat out the rest of the game.

The Patriots, meantime, scored 19 unanswered points in the third and fourth quarters to take a 36-9 lead.

Sept. 10, 2015: Another season opener at Foxborough, another bit of alleged chicanery by the home team. For much of the first half, the Steelers coaches-to-coaches headsets picked up the Patriots radio broadcast. Communication was disrupted for the Steelers, and although the NFL cleared the Patriots of any wrongdoing, coach Mike Tomlin had his doubts, saying “that’s always the case” when his team visited New England.

That first half wasn’t kind to the Steelers, to say the least. Rob Gronkowski caught a pair of touchdown passes from Brady, and the Steelers trailed 14-3 at intermission.

Nov. 3, 2013: A 55-31 loss dropped the Steelers to 2-6 on the season. The Patriots scored the first two touchdowns and held a 24-10 lead at halftime. The Steelers rallied to tie the score in the third quarter on back-to-back touchdown passes from Roethlisberger to Jerricho Cotchery. Brady threw two touchdown passes to Aaron Dobson, and, despite a third Roethlisberger-to-Cotchery touchdown, the Steelers couldn’t catch up.

Roethlisberger finished with 400 yards passing. Brady, as was his custom, was just a shade better, throwing for 432 yards.

Dec. 9, 2007: This is known as the infamous “guarantee” game by safety Anthony Smith, who predicted the Steelers would be the team to wreck the Patriots’ unbeaten season.

“People keep asking me if we’re ready for the Patriots,” Smith said. “They should be asking if they’re ready for us.”

Smith then added, “Yeah, I can guarantee a win. As long as we come out and do what we’ve got to do.”

The Patriots trailed early, 3-0, but used two Brady-to-Randy Moss touchdown passes to take the lead for good.

The Steelers pulled to within one point later in the first half, but the Patriots scored 20 points in the second half to cruise to a 34-13 victory.

Late in the game, Patriots fans serenaded the Steelers with chants of “guarantee, guarantee.”

Sept. 9, 2002: To commemorate the opening of Gillette Stadium, the NFL booked a rematch of the 2001 AFC championship game. The Patriots raised their first Super Bowl banner and then christened the new venue with a 30-14 victory.

Brady showed his success in the previous season was no fluke. He came out throwing against the Steelers and didn’t stop until he had completed 29 of 43 passes for 294 yards and three touchdowns. The Steelers had no choice but to try to keep up, and Kordell Stewart wasn’t up to the task. Stewart threw a touchdown pass, ran for another score and had 242 yards passing, but he was intercepted three times in the loss.