The Pittsburgh Steelers went two seasons in which they failed to make the playoffs in 2012 and 2013. From 2011 through 2014, they failed to win a playoff game. But that changed in 2015. The Steelers are the only team in the modern history of the NFL, since the merger, who have not gone five or more seasons without a playoff win.
At the moment, they are attempting to post their third consecutive postseason with at least one win, as they seek their ninth trip to the Super Bowl in franchise history—which would tie a record set by the New England Patriots a year ago—and their seventh Super Bowl victory—which would extend their own record to two more than anybody else.
When the Steelers play on Sunday, they will tie the Dallas Cowboys for the most playoff games played in NFL history, a statistic that includes the pre-merger years before the Super Bowl era. Frankly, I have more sorting to do before I piece together records of the Super Bowl era alone for all teams, but it is a project I plan on undertaking this week.
The Steelers’ Divisional Round playoff game, as host, will be the 61st playoff game in their history (and the 60th of the Super Bowl era), which will tie with the Cowboys. Given that Dallas missed the postseason, the Steelers have golden opportunity of overtaking them for the most playoff games played, should they advance to the AFC Championship game.
Pittsburgh already has the most postseason victories in NFL history thanks to their 2-1 record a year ago, posting 36 wins. The Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers are both tied with 34, though in the case of the latter, that includes more than half a dozen victories prior to the Super Bowl era.
Pittsburgh should consider itself fortunate to be able to bypass the Wildcard Round this season, because it has not necessarily been favorable to them. They only have a 6-5 all-time record in the round, and that includes a 2-0 record in the past two seasons.
Skipping right to the Divisional Round, however, is great news, because they own the fourth-best record in the Divisional Round in NFL history. All-time, they have won 16 of 25 games played in the Divisional Round, which is the fourth-best winning percentage, and tied for the most wins with the San Francisco 49ers at 16. The game will also tie with the Cowboys for the most games played in the Divisional Round in NFL history at 26.
Just as a quick precursor of all scenarios to come, their most likely opponent, the Jacksonville Jaguars, are 2-2 all-time in the Divisional Round. The Kansas City Chiefs, whom they defeated in the Divisional Round a year ago, a mere 2-8 all-time. the Tennessee Titans, including their pre-Titans history, are just 4-8.
