I guess in comparison to Pats/Colts it might not be… Granted I don’t know if we will ever get a rival like that ever again. Packers (Favre)/Cowboys (Aikman) was right along those lines. However since the 07 season the Steelers and Pats have met a total of 11 times. The only times they didn’t play each other was 09, 11 and 2014. Otherwise they have met at least once in each season. Patriots have dominated the Steelers with a 8 and 3 record and outscoring them 316 to 226. However with that said as it stands right now would the Steelers be the Pats biggest rival outside the division now that Peyton is retired? They have played each other 5 straight years now so it seems the NFL is trying to build it to be a rival… However after the butt kicking this year I dunno lol.
In my opinion, they were always a lesser rival. They never really competed very well going all the way back to Kordell Stewart. It was never like Colts/Pats, though Steelers fans may feel differently. Schedules are predetermined, so how often they play is because they are both usually the division winners.
The closest thing now I think, and it is only in its beginning stages, is Chiefs.
Too me the Patriots went from laughingstock franchise to universally hated for their success so fast that the “rival” aesthetic with the Steelers never had time to coalesce. IMO there has to be some sort of long standing year in year out aspect to a rivalry.
Growing up in South Carolina in the 70’s the only Patriot games we ever got down here when they played the Dolphins. It may seem ludicrous now but to me the Dolphins will always be the Patriots biggest rival. As you can probably guess there weren’t a lot of Patriots fans around here back then. But there were plenty of Phins fans. I was 15 before I saw the Patriots win a game in Miami. Nineteen straight losses. And finally I got to go to school the next day and not get shit from my best friend the Dolphin fan.
That’s the kind of stuff a rivalry is based on.
Back a few years, S Carolina was 0-11 and Clemson was 1-10 when they played in the last game of both their seasons. Williams Brice stadium at the time held 75,000-ish people. They sold the game out.
Well said! I think that is what makes a rivalry so great… It can be so one sided at some point, and then eventually evens out where the team gets revenge at some point or another. Steelers winning 3 out of 11 games against the Pats isn’t enough in my opinion to make it a rival.
Colts (Manning) going 0-6 or 0-7 whatever it was sparked something amazing… Finally the Colts got 3 wins in a row over the Patriots from 05-06 and the rivalry was truly something special. The NFL tried to keep it a rival in the Luck era but it just wasn’t… The games were always one sided blow outs except for last year and 2016… But it just can’t be a rival in my opinion when one team is winning by 21 plus points. It’s just a massive beat down. At least the Steelers made the games close in 2017 and won in 2018… But were massively blown out this year.
It’s a shame Brees or Roders doesn’t play in the AFC… Would be fun to see Brady go against one of those guys every year. Granted Brady is 1-1 against Rodgers and I think 2-0 or 3-0 against Brees.