Editing New England Patriots (section)

====Pittsburgh Steelers====
{{Main|Patriots–Steelers rivalry}}
The [[Pittsburgh Steelers]] emerged as a prominent rival in league circles when the Patriots upset the Steelers in the 2001 [[AFC Championship Game]] at [[Heinz Field]], though the two teams had met in the postseason twice before; the Patriots defeated the Steelers in 1996 28–3 while the Steelers won 7–6 in [[1997 Pittsburgh Steelers season|1997]]; both times, the Patriots fielded players with Pittsburgh-area roots in [[Ty Law]] and [[Curtis Martin]]. Martin's final game with the Patriots was in the 1997 playoffs before he departed to the rival [[1998 New York Jets season|New York Jets]]. Following the 2001 AFC title upset, the Patriots defeated the Steelers 30–14 at the start of the 2002 season. Pittsburgh did not exact revenge for the two losses until ending the Patriots' record-setting 21-game winning streak in week 6 of the [[2004 NFL season]].<ref name="t226">{{cite web | last=McDermott | first=Michael | title=Patriots beat up the Steelers after losing their 21-game win streak to them earlier in the season | website=Pats Pulpit | date=2019-06-06 | url=https://www.patspulpit.com/2019/6/6/18650229/new-england-patriots-beat-pittsburgh-steelers-21-game-win-streak-nfl-playoffs-revenge-week | access-date=2024-08-30}}</ref> Later that season, the Steelers lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Patriots in the AFC Championship game after a 15–1 regular season.

The Patriots won six of seven meetings over a ten-year period ({{nfly|1998}}–{{nfly|2007}}) before the Steelers broke through with a 33–10 victory at [[Gillette Stadium|Foxborough]] in {{nfly|2008}}, after [[Matt Cassel]] turned the ball over five times. The Patriots in [[2013 Pittsburgh Steelers season|2013]] then made history by becoming the first opponent to score 55 points on the Steelers, winning 55–31. The Patriots won again in 2015 (28–21) and 2016's regular season (27–16) and then won 36–17 in the 2016 [[AFC Championship Game]]. They also won in 2017 when a go-ahead touchdown reception by Steelers' tight end [[Jesse James (tight end)|Jesse James]] was controversially called back.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/jesse-james-overturned-touchdown-latest-example-of-why-fans-hate-nfls-catch-rule/|title = Jesse James' overturned touchdown latest example of why fans hate NFL's catch rule|first = Ryan|last = Wilson|work = CBS Sports|date = December 18, 2017|access-date = July 31, 2018|archive-date = July 31, 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180731184647/https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/jesse-james-overturned-touchdown-latest-example-of-why-fans-hate-nfls-catch-rule/|url-status = live}}</ref> Though they ultimately missed the playoffs, the Steelers defeated the Patriots by a score of 17–10 on December 16, 2018, in Pittsburgh.

In the postseason, the Patriots have outscored the Steelers 135–75, with the Patriots maintaining a 4–1 record. The only other franchises with winning AFC playoff records against Steelers include the [[Los Angeles Chargers]] (2–1), the [[2007 Jacksonville Jaguars season|Jacksonville Jaguars]] (2–0), and the Denver Broncos (5–3). The Steelers have an all-time regular-season record of 15–13 against the Patriots. In the [[Bill Belichick]] era, the main period of the rivalry, the Patriots have a 12–4 record against the Steelers. In their last matchup, the Patriots beat the Steelers 33–3 on [[NBC Sunday Night Football|Sunday Night Football]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Dockett |first=Eric |date=October 15, 2020 |title=Top 10 Pittsburgh Steelers Rivals of All Time |url=https://www.si.com/nfl/Top-Pittsburgh-Steelers-Rivals |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123040635/https://www.si.com/nfl/Top-Pittsburgh-Steelers-Rivals |archive-date=November 23, 2021 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |magazine=Sports Illustrated}}</ref> As of the 2023 season, the Patriots lead the all-time series 19–16.<ref>{{Cite web |title=All Matchups, Boston/New England Patriots vs. Pittsburgh Steelers |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/game_query.cgi?tm1=nwe&tm2=pit&yr=all |access-date=2024-08-30 |website=[[Pro Football Reference]] |language=en}}</ref>