Will the Patriots surpass the Steelers in total Super Bowl wins with seven?
The Steelers share the all-time Super Bowl wins record with the Patriots—who can win their seventh Lombardi Trophy tonight. After winning six with the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady combination, they can do so with a very new pair. Mike Vrabel is in his first season as their head coach, and QB Drake Maye is in Year 2.
The Steelers won their fifth Super Bowl with a second-year Ben Roethlisberger, and if Maye wins, he would break Roethlisberger’s record as the youngest starting quarterback to ever win the Super Bowl. While Vrabel is not new to head coaching, it’s hard to win the Super Bowl in your first year with a new team. The Steelers won the Super Bowl in Mike Tomlin’s second year; can the Patriots do it in Vrabel’s first?
The Patriots are the underdogs in this Super Bowl against the Seahawks, as were the Steelers 20 years ago. Opposite Maye is QB Sam Darnold, who has been through the NFL ringer and come out the other end. A rare example of a quarterback redeeming himself later in his career, he is one game away from NFL champion.
I don’t know how many Steelers might be rooting for the Patriots to lose the Super Bowl, but fans are. A lot of older Steelers players will hold a grudge against New England, of course, having suspected them of cheating. The Patriots knocked Pittsburgh out of the postseason multiple times in the early 2000s during the height of Spygate.
This is, of course, a very different Patriots team, and the funny part is that the Steelers even have a key member of that Spygate drama in their building now: Steve Scarnecchia. But there is a certain prestige in being the team with the most Super Bowls. The Steelers haven’t won the Super Bowl since 2008, the Patriots since 2018.
On the other side of the ball, the Seahawks have only won the Super Bowl once, previously losing to both the Steelers and the Patriots. Seattle continues to accuse Pittsburgh of benefitting from the officiating. The loss to New England centers on the interception at the goal line that ended the game. How will this one go down?
The Steelers are out of the playoffs, exiting in the first round yet again, a pattern going back to 2017. With seven consecutive postseason losses and no wins in nearly a decade, they are facing another long, long offseason. No doubt we will see many changes, but none will top Mike Tomlin’s resignation.
The playoffs are still going, but for us and the Steelers, we are transitioning to offseason mode. That’s what happens when the team you cover loses by the middle of January all the time, but you’ve been around, so you know that already. Enjoy the ride, even the turbulence, because it’s the only way we know how to travel anymore.