Pittsburgh Steelers: at Jacksonville Jaguars
The Steelers lost a total of four games last season, including two to the Jaguars. The regular season loss, 30-9 in Week 5, was a big surprise as Ben Roethlisberger threw five interceptions and the Jaguars hadn’t quite shown themselves yet. But the rematch in the AFC Divisional Round rematch was less of a shock by the time it came around, as the Jaguars won a shootout 45-42 and advanced to the AFC title game.
The Steelers inexplicably seemed to look past Jacksonville heading into the playoff game last year, with running back Le’Veon Bell guaranteeing a win via Twitter. Head coach Mike Tomlin even suggested the regular season game against the Patriots in December would determine where the playoff rematch would take place. But they were promptly humbled again by the Jaguars, and fittingly so.
Perhaps hitting the road this year will allow a fresh approach for the Steelers against the Jaguars. In any case, there should be no egotistical public declarations or social media boasting coming out of the building in the week leading up to the game in Jacksonville.