Divisional Round: New England Patriots at Pittsburgh Steelers (Three Rivers Stadium), with a Conference Championship spot at stake. Kickoff: Sat January 3, 1998 at 12:30pm. Winner advances to the Conference Championship. The losing team's season is over.[1][2]
The divisional round is where the bracket is supposed to take its real shape. New England Patriots traveling to Pittsburgh Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium, with the league watching to see whether the better team or the better matchup wins. Bye-week home favorites carry the weight of expectation; the visiting wild-card winner walks in with no one expecting them and nothing to lose.
The bracket has narrowed to the teams that survived the regular season. New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers are two of them; the rest of the league is in scouting mode for the offseason. What happens in Three Rivers Stadium shifts the rest of the tree: a road favorite winning rearranges seeding expectations; a home upset shows the bracket math underweights heart.
New England Patriots versus Pittsburgh Steelers in the Divisional Round. The teams who reach this round have already proven they survive a long schedule; the stats that matter most now are the ones that compress: scoring differential, red-zone efficiency, turnover margin. At this stage of the year, the simple math is that defenses tighten and the team that protects the ball wins more often than the team that scores the most. Whichever side of New England Patriots-Pittsburgh Steelers cleans up the careless plays first usually walks out with the result. Conservative-game expectations should not surprise the reader; both staffs know exactly what worked all season and will lean hard on what travels. The early answer is the kicking game, where any swing of field position compounds.
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 11-5 | W2 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 11-5 | L1 |
| Tennessee Oilers | 8-8 | W1 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 7-9 | W3 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 6-9-1 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| New England Patriots | 10-6 | W1 |
| Miami Dolphins | 9-7 | L2 |
| New York Jets | 9-7 | L1 |
| Buffalo Bills | 6-10 | L3 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 3-13 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Chiefs | 13-3 | W6 |
| Denver Broncos | 12-4 | W1 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 8-8 | W2 |
| Oakland Raiders | 4-12 | L5 |
| San Diego Chargers | 4-12 | L8 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco 49ers | 13-3 | L1 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 7-9 | L1 |
| Carolina Panthers | 7-9 | L2 |
| New Orleans Saints | 6-10 | L1 |
| St. Louis Rams | 5-11 | W1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Green Bay Packers | 13-3 | W5 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 10-6 | W1 |
| Detroit Lions | 9-7 | W2 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 9-7 | W1 |
| Chicago Bears | 4-12 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| New York Giants | 10-5-1 | W3 |
| Washington Redskins | 8-7-1 | W1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 6-9-1 | L3 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 6-10 | L5 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 4-12 | -- |
New England Patriots None, Pittsburgh Steelers None
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New England Patriots | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 03366 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 77777 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Steelers | Kordell Stewart 40 yard rush ( Norm Johnson kick) | 0-7 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Patriots | Adam Vinatieri 31 yard field goal | 3-7 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| No scoring this quarter. | ||
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Patriots | Adam Vinatieri 46 yard field goal | 6-7 |
Pittsburgh Steelers defeated New England Patriots 7-6 at Three Rivers Stadium in the Divisional Round. The final scoring play was Patriots: Adam Vinatieri 46 yard field goal. The result came down to the final possession; Pittsburgh Steelers won by 1. Top line of the day: Drew Bledsoe: 264 pass yards on 23-of-44, 0 TD, 2 INT. Pittsburgh Steelers move on to the conference final.[1][2]
Pittsburgh Steelers walked out of Three Rivers Stadium as the team that survived a Divisional Round New England Patriots will replay in its head for the entire offseason. The scoreboard says 7-6. The game stayed within 1 points throughout, the kind of contest where every drive felt like a referendum and every defensive stop carried twice its usual weight. The final scoring play came from Patriots: Adam Vinatieri 46 yard field goal. Whether it was the game-decider or just the period at the end of the sentence depends on what the camera caught earlier. Pittsburgh Steelers move on to a conference championship.
Pittsburgh Steelers 7, New England Patriots 6. Round: Divisional Round. Attendance: 61228. Q1: 1 scoring play. Q2: 1 scoring play. Q4: 1 scoring play. Top performers:
- Drew Bledsoe: 264 pass yards on 23-of-44, 0 TD, 2 INT
- Kordell Stewart: 68 rush yards on 11 carries
- Shawn Jefferson: 9 catches for 104 yards
Divisional Round, played at Three Rivers Stadium. Final: New England Patriots 6, Pittsburgh Steelers 7, with Pittsburgh Steelers taking the result by 1. **First quarter**
- Steelers: Kordell Stewart 40 yard rush ( Norm Johnson kick)
Second quarter
- Patriots: Adam Vinatieri 31 yard field goal
Fourth quarter
- Patriots: Adam Vinatieri 46 yard field goal
Top performers
- Drew Bledsoe: 264 pass yards on 23-of-44, 0 TD, 2 INT
- Kordell Stewart: 68 rush yards on 11 carries
- Shawn Jefferson: 9 catches for 104 yards
A 1-point margin in Divisional Round is the kind of result that defines reputations on both sidelines.
| Patriots | Steelers | |
|---|---|---|
| Team totals | ||
| First Downs | 15 | 16 |
| Total Yards | 280 | 279 |
| Turnovers | 4 | 1 |
| Passing | ||
| Comp/Att | 23/44 | 14/31 |
| Pass yards | 264 | 134 |
| Pass TD | 0 | 0 |
| Interceptions | 2 | 1 |
| Sacks taken | 2 | 2 |
| Sack yards lost | 20 | 0 |
| Net pass yards | 244 | 134 |
| Rushing | ||
| Rushes | 19 | 37 |
| Rush yards | 36 | 145 |
| Rush TD | 0 | 1 |
| Discipline | ||
| Fumbles | 2 | 0 |
| Fumbles lost | 2 | 0 |
| Penalties | 7 | 5 |
| Penalty yards | 68 | 41 |
| Player | C/A | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NWE | |||||
| Drew Bledsoe | 23/44 | 264 | 0 | 2 | |
| PIT | |||||
| Kordell Stewart | 14/31 | 134 | 0 | 1 | |
| Player | Att | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NWE | ||||
| Sedrick Shaw | 10 | 22 | 0 | 9 |
| Derrick Cullors | 7 | 18 | 0 | 8 |
| Drew Bledsoe | 2 | -4 | 0 | 3 |
| PIT | ||||
| Kordell Stewart | 11 | 68 | 1 | 40 |
| Jerome Bettis | 25 | 67 | 0 | 14 |
| Fred McAfee | 1 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| Player | Rec | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NWE | ||||
| Shawn Jefferson | 9 | 104 | 0 | 19 |
| Terry Glenn | 5 | 96 | 0 | 39 |
| Vincent Brisby | 3 | 37 | 0 | 20 |
| Sedrick Shaw | 1 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
| Troy Brown | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Sam Gash | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Derrick Cullors | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Keith Byars | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| PIT | ||||
| Yancey Thigpen | 3 | 54 | 0 | 28 |
| Courtney Hawkins | 4 | 28 | 0 | 9 |
| Charles Johnson | 3 | 28 | 0 | 10 |
| Will Blackwell | 1 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| Jerome Bettis | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Tim Lester | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
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