Morning Sports Update
The two former AFC powerhouses are both in periods of transition, but the Patriots (unlike the Steelers) might end up with a top draft pick in 2024.
The future of the Patriots and Steelers: For much of the 21st century, the Patriots and Steelers dominated the AFC. The two teams each won multiple Super Bowls, faced each other in three conference championship games during that time, and enjoyed extended periods of stability at the quarterback position.
In 2023, the circumstances are very different. The Patriots are 2-10 and haven’t won a playoff game since Super Bowl LIII.
The Steelers are in a much better position in the current season — currently a fifth seed in the AFC playoff picture with a 7-5 record — but are 0-4 in the playoffs since reaching the 2016 AFC Championship Game (which ended with a loss to the Patriots).
Pittsburgh also has quarterback problems — another similarity with the Patriots — as 2022 first-round pick Kenny Pickett is sidelined for multiple weeks with an ankle injury, pressing backup Mitchell Trubisky into the lineup. Even when Pickett plays, results haven’t been great. Prior to getting hurt, he’d thrown just one touchdown pass in his previous seven starts. The Steelers’ offense has been almost as bad as the Patriots.
Examining the Thursday night matchup between the two teams, sports columnist Joe Starkey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette posed a question in a recent piece: In the current circumstances, would fans rather their team be on the “Trubisky Train to Nowhere” or the “Belichick Bus to 3-14”?
“Buy me a bus ticket,” wrote Starkey, who argued that New England’s path to the bottom could lead to a quicker return to greatness, even if it means Bill Belichick is gone.
Despite Steelers coach Mike Tomlin avoiding the drop-off season that Belichick is currently immersed in, Starkey noted that the margins between the two were closer than fans may have realized in 2022.
“It’s amazing, by the way, the difference in perception a single game in a mediocre, playoff-free season can make,” he explained. “Mike Tomlin went 9-8 with a minus-38 point differential last season and got NFL Coach of the Year votes. Belichick went 8-9 with a plus-17 and got torn to pieces.”
Still, the changes that could be coming next year for the Patriots — a new coach with a rookie quarterback selected using a top draft pick — are enviable from Starkey’s Pittsburgh perspective.
“Wouldn’t you rather be them?” he asked Steelers fans.
Of course, the Patriots are enduring a much worse season in the short term. New England is on a five-game losing streak, and holds by some distance the worst record in the AFC. Yet as Starkey noted, the long-term outlook could be worth it: The Patriots are currently projected to have the second pick in the 2024 draft.
Trivia: The most recent time the Steelers had the first overall pick in the draft was the first year of the AFL-NFL merger (1970). What player did they pick?
(Answer at the bottom.)
Hint: Louisiana Tech.
Scores and schedules:
Tonight, the Bruins host the Sabres at 7 p.m.
And in Pittsburgh, the Patriots will face the Steelers at 8:15 p.m.
More from Boston.com:
Former Red Sox pitcher set to sign with the Diamondbacks: Eduardo Rodriguez has reportedly agreed to a four-year deal with Arizona.
Can you believe it? Longtime Red Sox radio play-by-play announcer Joe Castiglione was named the 2024 Ford C. Frick Award winner on Wednesday by the Baseball Hall of Fame. He will be honored on the Hall of Fame’s annual induction weekend in Cooperstown, New York.
Here’s arguably Castiglione’s most famous call (among many others), when the 2004 Red Sox clinched the team’s first World Series win in 86 years:
On this day: In 1962, the Celtics ended the Lakers’ nine-game winning streak by defeating Los Angeles 126-112. Bill Russell dominated, posting a team-high 24 points and 31 rebounds.

Daily highlight: Codi Miller-McIntyre helped Spanish team Baskonia defeat Fenerbahce (of Turkey) 80-79 in a EuroLeague matchup on Wednesday with a thunderous put-back dunk.
Trivia answer: Terry Bradshaw
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