Steelers-Patriots Part 2? NFL playoff matchups we want to see

Mueller: The AFC, despite being a much weaker conference top to bottom, holds within it the possibility for a matchup that would have a potentially fascinating dynamic. It will almost certainly not come to pass, owing mainly to the fact that one of the teams involved is currently hanging on for dear life as the sixth seed and starting Devlin “Duck” Hodges at quarterback. 

Hear me out, though. 

Steelers. 

Patriots.

In Foxborough.  

Mike Tomlin has always had major issues with the Pats and Bill Belichick, particularly at Gillette Stadium, but this year’s Steelers are playing loose, and if they make the playoffs, they would be the most improbable story in the league and Tomlin’s best coaching job by far. He seems loose and is clearly relishing his team’s underdog status. 

Pittsburgh has had a difficult time handling weighty expectations, and Tomlin has fed into them; in 2017, he sat down with NBC’s Tony Dungy for an interview and said, “Man I’m going to embrace the elephant in the room,” in reference to the team’s upcoming clash with New England. He continued, “It’s going to be fireworks. It’s probably going to be part one, and that’s going to be a big game. But probably, if we’re both doing what we’re supposed to do, the second one is really going to be big. And what happens in the first is going to set up the second one and determine the location in the second one.” 

The Steelers were robbed of a victory in the regular-season tilt thanks to the Jesse James play and then robbed themselves of a chance at revenge when they laid an egg against Jacksonville at home in the divisional round. Tomlin received an avalanche of criticism for his comments, and rightfully so. 

What better way to get redemption than to pull off a seismic upset against a team that might be ripe for the picking? New England’s offensive struggles are real, and while Tom Brady, Josh McDaniels and Bill Belichick are doubtless poring over possible solutions, none has materialized. What’s more, the Steelers have the most important element required to beat Brady: a ferocious pass rush. Pittsburgh’s 43 sacks are third most in the league, and they come from everywhere –- T.J. Watt, Bud Dupree, Cam Heyward and Javon Hargrave lead the way. They have forced a league-leading 30 turnovers, and in Minkah Fitzpatrick possess the kind of ball-hawk at safety who calls to mind former Ravens star Ed Reed, who kept Belichick and Brady up at night. Most of all, the Steelers have no expectations whatsoever. 

If Pittsburgh makes it in, it will likely be viewed as a one-and-done team, even with that fearsome defense. What better way for Tomlin to finally vanquish New England than to do it when no one thinks he will? 

Tunison: The Steelers have a long debt of postseason defeat to New England in need of repayment. More recent unfinished business involves Patrick Mahomes and his denial of a chance to match Tom Brady in overtime of last season's AFC championship. Because Baltimore currently holds the tiebreaker over New England, it's possible the Patriots may have to "settle" for the second seed. That means there's a better-than-decent chance if Kansas City emerges from the wild-card round, the Chiefs would play at Foxborough in the divisional round.

Thanks to injury and some inevitable regression to the mean, Mahomes' 2019 output has dipped a bit compared to his otherworldly MVP numbers from 2018. He has regained his health and has a chance Sunday to show what he can do in a possible preview on the road in Gillette Stadium. It's reasonable to ask why I would want another playoff meeting between these teams when they played twice last season, and said rematch would only take place a little over a month after this Sunday's meeting. Well, both games last season between the Chiefs and Patriots were fantastic.

One could reasonably argue that both offenses have taken a step back from 2018, when their two meetings averaged a final score of 40-35. But it will be fascinating to see whether the Patriots' attack has regressed enough that it can no longer hold off the Chiefs, who are playing slightly better defense this season as the offense waits to catch fire, as it did last year.

What's more, if Mahomes and Kansas City can vanquish the big, bad Pats in the postseason, it would likely set up the Chiefs-Ravens AFC championship game that is more likely to dazzle audiences than any other potential matchup to decide the conference.  

Mueller: I’m tempted to say here that I want Aaron Rodgers to get another crack at the 49ers after San Francisco humiliated the Pack 37-8 in prime time in Week 12. It was an utterly dominant defensive performance, and the revenge narrative for Rodgers is built-in. Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s defense harassed him into one of the five worst games of his career; surely it couldn’t happen again, right? 

That would be too easy, though. 

What I’d rather see is Rodgers against the Seahawks, dueling Wilson in a rematch of their memorable NFC Championship Game battle from the 2014 season. Rodgers was at the end of a six-season run that established him as the league’s best quarterback in the eyes of most observers, and Wilson was coming into his own as a weapon and not just someone along for the ride with the Legion of Boom. 

That game was dramatic, with Seattle rallying from a 19-7 deficit with less than three minutes left and eventually winning 28-22 in overtime. It prevented Rodgers and Tom Brady from battling in the Super Bowl, but it wasn’t exactly a master class by either quarterback. They combined for six interceptions, and Seattle punter Jon Ryan tied for the game high with one touchdown pass. Rodgers is on the wrong side of 35, but he looks like a man several years younger thanks to first-year head coach Matt LaFleur’s presence, and the Seahawks are Wilson’s team now and have been for several seasons. Were it not for Jackson, he’d be the easy MVP choice. 

The “great quarterback vs. great defense” formula is tried and true and often yields incredibly entertaining results, like it did when the teams met nearly five years ago, but I’d rather see them conduct a shootout where 35 points might not be enough to win. And if it wouldn’t be too much to ask, let’s have the game at Lambeau Field, in full mid-January snow globe mode. 

Tunison: I think we're neglecting some of the lower seeds here, and that's understandable. For obvious reasons, those teams tend to be less consistently thrilling, have conspicuous flaws or even just a lack of marketability. For example, the Bills are only a game back from being tied for the best record in the NFL. They've allowed the third-fewest points (188), after the Patriots and 49ers.

Even after thrashing the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, you'd be hard-pressed to describe any of the Bills' core players, including Josh Allen, as household names. Allen has significantly improved in his second season, and with that defense, the demands on him are never too strenuous. He still hasn't had a postseason start, so it's fair to wonder whether he'll have what it takes to advance in January.

While Buffalo could still technically overtake the Pats to do the unthinkable — deny New England an AFC East crown — their next three games are vs. Baltimore, at Pittsburgh and at New England. Winning those three might as well be a run to the Super Bowl on its own. Most likely the Bills remain a wild card, and I would like their chances of pulling an upset if they had to travel to Houston on wild-card weekend. You'd have to have an icy heart not to enjoy seeing the Bills get their first postseason win since 1995. 

Speaking of Dallas, while the Cowboys haven't clinched the NFC East, I still expect them to eke out a division title, especially because the Eagles are so sufficiently drained at this point that they're losing to Miami. And that means hosting whichever team finishes second in the NFC West race on wild-card weekend. I envision a home blowout loss to either Seattle or San Francisco, reminiscent of when the 'Boys were ousted by Jake Plummer's Cardinals following the 1998 season. That loss essentially spelled the end of Dallas' dynastic era in the '90s, and getting crushed in the first playoff game after limping to a division title in the weakest bracket in the league could well close the Jason Garrett era as well.