AFC Championship: Pittsburgh Steelers at New England Patriots
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It would be perfectly fitting for the Steelers and Patriots to square off in the AFC title game: After all, the two franchises have been the conference's Super Bowl representative seven of the past 10 years.
While there is certainly a huge difference between the Patriots hosting Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship Game at Foxborough and the Patriots heading to Heinz Field for a regular-season game, in the end, the results will be the same: a Steelers win.
The Steelers' greatest vulnerability right now is defending the deep ball with their limited corners: see Torrey Smith twice being wide open in the end zone during Baltimore's game-winning drive three weeks ago.
Tom Brady may have three awesome pass catchers in
Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowski, and Aaron Hernandez, but none of them are true home-run threats like Brady had in
Randy Moss or
Ben Roethlisberger has in Mike Wallace.
And although that Patriots defense will continue to improve from now until mid-January, Roethlisberger's ability to escape pressure, create things out of the pocket, and throw on the run will cripple New England and frustrate Bill Belichick.
One or two improvised throws downfield to Wallace will be enough to return Pittsburgh to a ninth Super Bowl.
Prediction:
Steelers 26, Patriots 23 (OT)