So much is made of the continuity of the Steelers’ franchise, that this team that’s been owned by the same family for more than 80 years has had just three coaches since 1969.
The Steelers also have a rich tradition of providing bulletin-board material for their opponents, particularly the Patriots, before big games and ultimately getting burned by it.
It didn’t take long for them to throw logs into Bill Belichick’s motivational fireplace this time. After advancing to the AFC championship game with an 18-16 win over the Chiefs Sunday night in the divisional playoffs, Antonio Brown shot a 17-minute Facebook Live video in the locker room.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was heard on the video calling the Patriots “a–holes” and going off about how the Patriots had an extra day and a half to prepare for the game since they played on Saturday.
#Patriots @zeus30hightower on Mike Tomlin's post game speech: "He called us a-holes? I don't care. Was that supposed to hurt my feelings?"
— Jones & Mego with Arcand (@JonesandMego) January 16, 2017
Well, feelings might not be hurt, but the Patriots have been known to take anything that comes out of an opponent’s mouth and spin it into a motivational bonfire.
The Steelers are the only team that’s won six Super Bowls, but it might have been more than that if it weren’t for these foot-in-mouth moments throughout their history.
No. 5: Ryan Shazier on slowing down Rob Gronkowski
Steelers inside linebacker Ryan Shazier was entering his second season after an injury-riddled rookie year, but apparently he had covering Rob Gronkowski all figured out heading into the 2015 season opener.
“You just have to jam him up a little bit,” Shazier said via CBS Boston. “You have to mess up their timing and get in his face with pressure, then I feel we can slow him down a little bit.”
The Steelers didn’t slow down Gronkowski, not even a little bit. They didn’t even bother covering the Patriots tight end on a couple of occasions and Gronkowski caught five passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns.
The Patriots won that game 28-21. At least the Steelers don’t have to worry about Gronkowski Sunday.
Considering this was a Week 1 game, Shazier’s words rank at the bottom of the list. There have been times when the Steelers ran their mouths when the stakes were much higher.
No. 4: Mike Tomlin calling Patriots “a–holes”
The Steelers have done a great job using the latest technology to serve up bulletin-board material.
In the early years of the 21st century, Steelers players would talk to reporters and those reporters would write stories and post them online. It would take a few hours before the quotes were picked up on the Patriots’ bulletin-board radar.
But this is 2017, and a reporter doesn’t have to be around for thousands of people to be tuned in live to something that’s being said.
Antonio Brown kept count.
Tomlin complained last year about headset problems at Gillette Stadium and insinuated that it wasn’t first time it happened. So it hasn’t always been lovey dovey between Tomlin and the Patriots. But now that the Patriots know how Tomlin really feels about them, Tomlin might have fallen into the Rex Ryan Zone in their eyes.
Ryan was never afraid to take shots at the Patriots, but it didn’t end well for him. Tomlin doesn’t have to worry about losing his job because of an inability to beat the Patriots, but he also doesn’t want to be remembered for fueling their fire on social media.
And this bit of bulletin-board material could rank higher by Sunday night.
No. 3: Kordell Stewart looking forward to Super Bowl XXXVI
The Steelers went 13-3 in 2001, their best record since 1978, and hosted the 11-5 Patriots in the AFC championship game.
This was before the Patriots had won any Super Bowls. They came back to beat the Raiders in the divisional playoffs thanks to the Tuck Rule. The Steelers were hosting the AFC championship game for the fourth time in eight years and it was easy to dismiss the Patriots as a Cinderella team.
That’s just what Kordell Stewart did.
The Steelers quarterback, a New Orleans native, talked about how he was looking forward to playing Super Bowl XXXVI in front of family and friends in New Orleans. Some of his teammates talked openly about making logistical arrangements for the Super Bowl.
The problem was that all this was said before the game, and Stewart of all people should have been aware of the Steelers’ 1-2 record in their three previous AFC title games at home. He was the quarterback when the Broncos beat the Steelers in the 1997 game.
Stewart threw three interceptions, including two in the fourth quarter, as the Patriots stunned the Steelers 24-17. New England went on to upset the Rams in the Super Bowl and a dynasty was born.
In the game’s closing minutes, Patriots linebacker Willie McGinest yelled “Cancel those reservations, baby!” to the Heinz Field crowd.
The Steelers learned their lesson three years later when they hosted the Patriots again in the AFC championship game. They kept their mouths shut, but still lost.
Apparently, with new players and a new coach, those lessons were forgotten by 2007.
No. 2: Anthony Smith guarantees victory over unbeaten Patriots
The stakes weren’t as high as they were in the AFC championship game six years earlier, but Anthony Smith’s infamous guarantee in 2007 ranks higher because the Patriots played it so perfectly.
The 9-3 Steelers were set to visit the 12-0 Patriots, who went on to finish the regular season 16-0, and Smith did something that defined his otherwise nondescript career.
He guaranteed a win over the Patriots and said that the Steelers had faced better receivers than they would face against the Patriots even though one of the receivers they were about to face was Randy Moss.
How did the Patriots respond?
Tom Brady burned Smith for two touchdown passes to Moss in a 34-13 victory.
After the game, Bill Belichick said that the Patriots had faced better safeties than Smith.
The Patriots infamously lost Super Bowl XLII to the Giants that year after going 18-0. But Smith and the Steelers didn’t get anywhere near the Super Bowl that year, losing to the Jaguars in a wild-card game at home.
No. 1: Steelers make premature Super Bowl video
The Steelers were double-digit favorites against the Chargers in the 1994 AFC championship game, hosting the conference title game for the first time since the Steel Curtain Days in 1979.
Pittsburgh had 55 sacks that year and its 12-4 record was the franchise’s best since its last championship in ’79. The 11-5 Chargers had never gone to a Super Bowl. They beat the Steelers 37-34 in the regular-season finale, but that was a meaningless game in which the Steelers rested many of their starters.
The Steelers sure weren’t resting on the Tuesday before the AFC championship game. Many of them were in a meeting in which they planned a Super Bowl video.
When word came out about this, Steelers coach Bill Cowher was fuming, and the Steelers fell to the Chargers 17-13.
If all that happened today, Cowher probably would have found out about the Super Bowl video meeting on Facebook Live.
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