In the 2000s and 2010s, the New England Patriots were one of the biggest obstacles to the Pittsburgh Steelers winning more Super Bowls. Much of that was because of Tom Brady. However, those weren’t the first playoff matchups between the Steelers and Patriots. They actually met in the divisional round in 1997, shortly before Brady come along. The Steelers won that game 7-6, and the end of that contest still haunts former Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe.
“I can go back and look at individual plays that may have changed the whole trajectory of the franchise,” Bledsoe said recently on Gerard Michaels’ YouTube channel. “We’re playing the Steelers in the playoffs. We’re driving and I know we’re gonna go down and have this game-winning drive and we’re gonna keep rolling through.
“And then I get strip-sacked, fumble. The reason I fumbled was because I was just getting ready to release the ball to [Dave] Meggett, and it would’ve been a big play. If I get hit .1 second later, I throw that ball to Meggett and we march down, and all of a sudden, now we’re off and running.”
It was a defensive, low-scoring battle. Like Bledsoe says, the Patriots had an opportunity at a game-winning drive with less than two minutes left in the game. However, Steelers linebacker Mike Vrabel knocked the ball loose, allowing the Steelers to secure the win.
It’s ironic that it was Vrabel who ended the Patriots’ Super Bowl dreams that year. Several years later, he would join the Patriots, actually being Bledsoe’s teammate in 2001. That was also the year the Patriots won their first Super Bowl, which adds another interesting layer to that play against the Steelers.
In 1997, the Steelers and Patriots both won their respective divisions. The Patriots had made it to the Super Bowl the year before, and the Steelers were in the big game in 1995.
Both teams had championship aspirations, making that playoff game even more important. The Steelers went on to lose to the eventual Super Bowl-champion Denver Broncos in the next round, but it was still a tough loss for the Patriots.
Things could’ve been wildly different for the Patriots’ future had they won that game. That was the first year when Pete Carroll was their head coach. Unfortunately for Carroll, his next two years with them were less successful. That ultimately led to the Patriots firing him after the 1999 season.
As a result, the Patriots hired Bill Belichick, and the rest is history. Maybe if Bledsoe had completed the comeback, the Patriots wouldn’t have gotten Brady and Belichick. That would’ve saved the Steelers a lot of pain.
It’s impossible to say for sure, though. It’s just another fun, what-if in NFL history.
