The Patriots, who have a first-round bye, don't know whom they will play in their playoff opener at Gillette Stadium Jan. 12 at 8 p.m., but they do know it will be either the Steelers, Jaguars, or Titans, who squeaked into the playoffs as the second wild card with a 16-10 win over the uninterested Colts Sunday night.
As the top seed in the AFC, the Patriots will play the lowest remaining seed.
Fourth-seeded Pittsburgh, the AFC North champion, hosts the fifth-seeded Jaguars, the other AFC wild card, Saturday night at Heinz Field in a rematch of a regular-season game won by Jacksonville, 29-22, Dec. 16. The sixth-seeded Titans will travel to face No. 3 seed San Diego Sunday in another regular-season rematch. The Chargers pulled out a 23-17 overtime victory at LP Field in Nashville Dec. 9.
No matter what team comes into Gillette, it'll have a tough task. Not only are the Patriots 16-0 this season, they're 6-0 at home in the playoffs under Belichick.
How do the Patriots match up with their potential divisional-round opponents? Let's take a look.
Pittsburgh (10-6) - The Steelers were victim No. 13 in the Patriots' victory tour this season, getting blown out, 34-13. Tom Brady shredded Pitts burgh's top-rated defense to the tune of 399 yards and four touchdowns, making a liar out of safety Anthony Smith, who foolishly guaranteed a victory and then was victimized for two scores.
The Steelers finished the regular season first in the NFL in defense, allowing 266.4 yards per game, and second in points allowed (16.8 per game), but the Patriots scored 20 unanswered points to finish the game. However, Pittsburgh played without Pro Bowl safety Troy Polamalu, who had a knee sprain.
This time around, the Steelers have Polamalu but are without running back Willie Parker (1,316 yards), who broke his leg in Pittsburgh's penultimate game of the regular season. That would put pressure on Ben Roethlisberger, who threw a Steelers-record 32 touchdown passes this season and finished behind only Brady in passer rating (104.1), but was 19 of 32 for 187 yards and one score against New England.
