Former Steelers QB Sees Strong Similarities Of Current Team To Past Super Bowl Winner

The Pittsburgh Steelers are officially AFC North champions after defeating the Baltimore Ravens by a score of 26-24 in a game that featured explosive plays on both sides of the ball. Now with their sights on the playoffs, the Steelers will host the Houston Texans in the Wild Card Round on Monday night, as the team looks to win a playoff game for the first time since the 2016 season. The upcoming matchup against the Texans will be a tough game to win, but after the victory against the Ravens, there is a good level of optimism about the Steelers.

Some of this optimism about the current team has been provided from a unique perspective. Former Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch offered up a perspective on the Steelers that compares them to one of the old Steelers teams that won a Super Bowl, Super Bowl XL in particular.

On the latest episode of The Snap Count, the podcast Batch hosts alongside former Steelers offensive lineman Trai Essex, Batch went into detail describing the current Steelers team compared to the team that won Super Bowl XL, and the similarities between the two teams are striking.

"One of the things that you always want to do when you start getting to the end of the season, obviously you want to make sure you're injury free, but also, getting hot at the right time," Batch said. "Pittsburgh is doing that. And they have all the vibes that we had for that Super Bowl 40 [XL] run. Because they're hot, they've won four of their last five, and now they enter into January football, and these guys truly believe that they have a chance. They need to get into the tournament, which they did, but right now, nobody in the AFC scares this team, and that's what gets me excited about watching this team as they continue into playoff football."

Batch's comment about the team getting hot at the right time is still accurate, despite the Week 17 loss to the Cleveland Browns. Those four wins in their last five games were convincing in one way or another, whether it was a critical stop at the end of the game or a dominating performance throughout all 60 minutes. There's nothing better for a team entering the playoffs than to enter with momentum, and the Steelers certainly have that, especially with how the game against the Ravens ended on Sunday night.

They'll need to keep the momentum alive by defeating the Texans on Monday night if they want to continue the run that the Steelers went on to win Super Bowl XL. That Steelers team entered the playoffs as a sixth seed, and managed to win three straight road games on the way to winning Super Bowl XL, becoming the first sixth seed in NFL history to win the Super Bowl. The current Steelers team is currently a team no one expects to win a playoff game, much less get to and win the Super Bowl, which has prompted bold predictions from players on the team regarding getting to the big game, and it would truly be a storybook ending if the Steelers could win the Super Bowl this year.

Batch's comment about no one in the AFC scaring the Steelers is also true, considering the Steelers have shown they can defeat anyone when they play up to their potential.

Steelers Need To Build Momentum With Consistency Against Texans

The Steelers have been able to defeat strong teams by playing consistently on both sides of the ball, and they'll need more of this to defeat the Texans. Keeping the ball in the hands of the offense will be crucial, as it will keep the Texans' defense on the field for longer periods of time, ensuring they exhaust themselves quicker, leaving the door open for big plays on offense.

What did you think about Batch's comments regarding the similarities of the current and former Steelers teams? Let us know in the comments below.

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