Bill Belichick might as well add Mayor of Pittburgh to his illustrious résumé.
During his time as head coach of the New England Patriots, Belichick has won 11 of 14 games against the Steelers and is 7-2 against current Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin.
The Patriots visit the Steelers on Sunday looking to bounce back from their last-second loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 14. Despite Belichick’s ownership of Pittsburgh, he doesn’t think it will play a factor during the 2018 edition of the AFC rivalry.
“Nope,” Belichick said Friday when asked if his record against the Steelers told him anything, via ProFootballTalk. “Zero.”
New England and Pittsburgh played an instant classic in 2017, as Dion Lewis scored with 56 seconds remaining to give the Patriots the lead. The Steelers responded by marching down the field quickly, courtesy of a JuJu Smith-Schuster 69-yard catch-and-run. Jesse James appeared to catch a 10-yard touchdown pass on the next play, but after a three-minute review, the pass was ruled incomplete. Two plays later, Ben Roethlisberger was picked off in the end zone by Duron Harmon to seal the win for the Patriots.
Tom Brady and Co. need a win Sunday to keep the No. 1 seed in the AFC in their sights, while the Steelers are looking to snap a three-game losing streak that has them in danger of falling out of the playoff picture.
While Belichick might not think his ownership of the Steelers matters, we have a feeling it’s in the mind of at least a few members of Steelers organization.
