Two weeks ago, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin did what coaches aren't supposed to do: He looked ahead on the schedule, specifically to his team's Week 15 matchup with the Patriots. Following Sunday night's come-from-behind win over the Ravens, the Steelers remain the AFC's No. 1 seed though their hold on the top spot is a tenuous one. That's because New England has owned Pittsburgh for much of this century, mostly because the Steelers have had little-to-no success stopping Tom Brady.
This is no great secret. Pittsburgh is a zone-based defense; Brady can pick apart zone schemes in his sleep. None of this has been lost on the Steelers, who were twice beaten by the Patriots last season, including a 36-17 thumping in the AFC title game.
"This is the game everyone's been waiting to see," safety Mike Mitchell said, via ESPN.com. "I've been thinking about this game since we lost it last year. Very much look forward to playing them."
And this isn't some Anthony Smith next-level gum-flapping. Mitchell knows exactly where he and his teammates are in the pecking order. He conceded that Brady was the "GOAT" and added, "For us to be the champ, we have to beat the champ."
The good news is that whatever happens next Sunday, the Steelers have already won the AFC North and earned a spot in the postseason. The bad news is that if they have any chance to get back to the Super Bowl they'll need to earn homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. And to do that means they have to beat the Patriots. Which brings us back to Mitchell.
"I feel we can beat everyone in the NFL but the Patriots -- that's what it's been," he said. "Now we need to prove we can knock them off, and prove it to ourselves that we know we can do it, and do it."
Late last month, Tomlin was upbeat when talking about the matchup(s).
"I'm going to embrace the elephant in the room. There's going to be fireworks [in Week 15]," Tomlin told NBC's Tony Dungy. "But it's probably going to be part one. You know?"
The implication? The Steelers and Patriots will likely meet in the playoffs, too.
"You'll burn more fuel trying to pretend like that doesn't exist than just to acknowledge the elephant in the room," he continued. "Man, that's going to be a big game. But probably if we're both doing what we're supposed to do, the second one is really going to be big and what happens in the first is going to set up the second one. It's going to determine the location of the second one. You know?"
And that confidence is why Tomlin thinks the Steelers can return to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 2010 season.
"Oh, we can win it all," he said. "We should win it all. I think that's my mentality. I think that's their mentality. But I'm less concerned about that and more concerned about what are the things that we're going to do along the way to make that happen."
The early lines have the Patriots favored by three points in Heinz Field. If you're a Steelers fan and looking for a silver lining, CBSSports.com's John Breech has it: "The Patriots have lost every regular season game against the Steelers where they've been favored by one to three points (0-3). That's right, all three of Pittsburgh's wins came when they were an underdog of one to three points like they will be on Sunday. "