A Final Trip to Pittsburgh?

At this point, there are few teams that Tom Brady and Bill Belichick don’t have history with. Even occasional opponents like the 49ers, Saints and Packers have all provided at least one memorable games.

But few places stack up with the Steelers, especially in Pittsburgh. Yes, we saw the nightmares in Miami that can happen and three seasons in Denver have come to a crashing halt. But Pittsburgh was the rare mostly-friendly away stadium of a really good team.

If the Tuck Rule was the unofficial start of the dynasty run, the next game was a 2001 AFC Championship that is often overlooked. They were underdogs in 2004 and again hoisted the Lamar Hunt Trophy on their way to their third Super Bowl.

In 2005, critical injuries took down Matt Light and Rodney Harrison, blows that the team never recovered from.

In 2010, the dejected Pats, coming off a loss to Eric Mangini and the Browns, went into Pittsburgh and showed that the end was a distant place. The following year, the Steelers exposed how bad the Patriots defense was. A flaw they’d hide almost all the way through another Super Bowl run.

Last year’s game came down to the final plays, with one of the more notable finishes to any of the battles of the last 18 years in Pittsburgh.

With the end approaching this could be the final trip to Heinz Field for Brady. The Patriots aren’t slated to travel to Pittsburgh again until 2022.

It’s a fitting place for what looks like it will be the defining game of the 2018 regular season, where it took two road playoff wins to get to two Super Bowls. Those 2001 and 2004 Patriots teams had their regular season stumbles but they were teams that could win in the most adverse conditions away from Foxboro. 

The 2018 team might have to demonstrate that same kind of will if they’re to get to Atlanta, but they still control where any game outside the conference championship game is played. Win out and they can roll the dice and see if they and the Chiefs both advance before worrying about Arrowhead.

In a one-game situation to get to the Super Bowl, I’ll take my chances on a Brady-Belichick team, even one that has been so remarkably worse away from home. Even against these Chiefs. The Pats will only go down swinging like crazy for 60 minutes.

Can the offense turn in another totally balanced attack needed to go toe to toe with the other top NFL offenses? It sure looked like Edelman and Gronk are back, and Brady is showing little signs of decline. But the Burkhead-Michel-White trio is the true engine.

Behind them, all other options are on the table and the point total could hit 40. But no longer is this an all Brady-Gronk-Edelman offense and that shows how quickly the future is coming.

Still, the 2018 Patriots have shown plenty how good they can be in all facets. On their best day they’re as good as anyone in the league. But on the road, they can look very different.

Another big game in Pittsburgh to determine a lot. This never gets old.