Pittsburgh Steelers and Halloween success go hand-in-hand

Throughout their history, the Pittsburgh Steelers had memorable moments on Halloween.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the NFL’s most storied franchises, and Halloween is one of the more popular holidays across America. What’s interesting about the team and holiday is how the Steelers have had some of their most memorable moments on a day where they feasted on treats while their opponents were the subjects of losing tricks.

While the NFL has had multiple games throughout their history on the day known for candy and costumes, Pittsburgh has had a number of games in which they made history and treated themselves to sweet victory.

Ask a Steelers fan about Halloween and one of their first memories will refer back to 2004 against the eventual champion Patriots. Going into the spooky game, New England was riding an NFL-record 21-game winning streak and had won two of the last three Super Bowls. Pittsburgh meanwhile, was riding the magical carpet of rookie Ben Roethlisberger.

In a game that produced a shocking result and eventually determined playoff seeding, the Steelers routed the defending champions 34-20. Roethlisberger’s two touchdown passes to Plaxico Burress proved to be a difference-maker as the Steelers defense ran wild over Tom Brady with four sacks and two interceptions.

Though New England would go on to win against Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship, 41-27, it served as a launchpad for the 2005 season in which the Steelers would win Super Bowl XL and the franchise’s fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Also in 2005 was a Week 8 matchup with arch-rival Baltimore where Pittsburgh squeaked out a 20-19 victory. Despite the Ravens getting the better of Pittsburgh in their next meeting, 16-13, it’s fair to say the fans in Pittsburgh are far happier about how their season finished than a regular-season loss.

The Steelers are a team that tends to have a sweet tooth on a spooky day

Though Pittsburgh gets this year off on a year of tricks and scares, they do have to play against, as fate would have it, Baltimore in their next game on the day after Halloween.

Given how physical the AFC North has been, the Steelers cannot afford to have ghosts and ghouls clouding their quarterback’s mind as it did for Sam Darnold and the Jets against New England last season.

In addition, Lamar Jackson has been a boogeyman for defenses for most of his career. His first action in the league was against Pittsburgh was in relief of an injured Joe Flacco in a 23-16 loss. As a starter, his record against the Black and Gold is 2-0, a statistic that sounds more sour than it does sweet for the folks in the Steel City.

Though the matchup will be played after the ghouls and sweets make their appearance, if the Steelers want to make noise and send a clear message, they not only will require some of their Halloween magic that has worked in the past, but also effective play from both sides of the ball. Grab your popcorn, or rather your candy bag and enjoy the show. Trick or treat anyone?