Steelers have been perfect in rematches, despite Ben Roethlisberger’s struggles

Familiarity breeds contempt. If you’re Mike Tomlin and the Steelers, it also breeds winning streaks.

Pittsburgh’s last five games have all been rematches of early-season showdowns. All five have been Steelers wins, dispatching divisional rivals and playoff foes en route to a spot in the AFC Championship game.

That’s bad news for the Patriots, who saw a hobbled Pittsburgh team between those Miami and Baltimore losses back in Week 7. New England left Heinz Field after a comfortable win, but faced Landry Jones at quarterback. On Sunday, it will be familiar foe Ben Roethlisberger at the helm of a surging Steelers offense, but he could be the least of Bill Belichick’s worries.

Le’Veon Bell has been the team’s biggest weapon throughout Pittsburgh’s revenge tour. Over his last five games, he’s run for 788 yards and five touchdowns on an average of 5.6 yards per carry. The Patriots limited him to 81 yards on 21 touches the last time these teams met, but that was against a defense able to shrug off Jones as a passing threat.

Bell’s proficiency could take pressure off Roethlisberger, who has been a fairly pedestrian quarterback in the postseason. While the Steelers are 13-6 in the playoffs with Ben behind center, his 24:22 touchdown-to-interception ratio, 235 passing yards per game, and 84.3 passer rating are closer in line to Trevor Siemian’s 2016 than Tom Brady’s.

In four rematches this season — he sat out a meaningless Week 17 game against the Browns — Roethlisberger has just a 6:5 TD:INT ratio and a 91.2 rating, lower than the 25:11 and the 95.0 he posted over his first dozen games. Despite those relatively subpar numbers, his team has won each game by an average of six points per contest:

Two of those wins reversed the team’s earlier fortunes in high-pressure settings. An injured Ben Roethlisberger struggled in defeats to the Dolphins and Ravens. The veteran passer tore his meniscus against Miami and threw for just 189 yards in a 30-15 loss. Three weeks later, he returned to the huddle ahead of schedule to face his team’s biggest rival, but threw for fewer than six yards per pass in an inefficient showing that allowed Baltimore to take control of the AFC North.

With the season on the line in December and January rematches, the offense excelled despite lackluster performances from the healthy Pro Bowl quarterback. Roethlisberger tossed a total of four interceptions and threw just 51 passes in the two games, but Pittsburgh managed to hang 61 combined points on its AFC rivals. The win over the Ravens locked down the AFC North title in Week 16. Two weeks later, a rout over the Dolphins pushed the team into the Divisional round of the playoffs.

Winning key rematches down the stretch has been the hallmark of the league’s championship teams. Denver avenged a loss to Pittsburgh in the 2016 Divisional round, then completed a season sweep against New England en route to a Super Bowl 50 title. A meaningless Week 17 loss to the Bills was the only thing that kept the Patriots from going 4-0 in rematches in 2014.

The Steelers will have to go 6-0 to make it to the franchise’s ninth Super Bowl. The Pats, with a win Sunday, would be 5-0 with a date to the big game waiting. No matter Sunday’s outcome, one team will run through the AFC thanks to its ability to defeat the opponents it has seen the most.