Ranking The Steelers' Super Bowl Appearances

PITTSBURGH, PA - In what has become an increasingly familiar an unpalatable occurrence, the Steelers are not in the Super Bowl this year - and the hated New England Patriots once again will play for the NFL championship.

Yuck.

There’s no way to wash that bitter taste out of your mouth if you’re a Steelers fan. But perhaps it could be nostalgically distracting to reflect on the Steelers’ eight previous appearances in the big game - six of them wins - and how they rate among all other Super Bowl games.

CBS News recently ranked the previous 52 Super Bowl games from worst to first, and it’s a good bet most Steelers fans won’t be happy that the team’s two losses were rated higher than two of its wins. But remember, these kind of rankings are subjective.

What follows are CBS rankings of the Steelers’ championship games in terms of the Super Bowl entirety. To see the entire list, click here.

• 31. Super Bowl XL: Steelers 21, Seattle 10, 2006

In what many would agree was the most poorly played game in the Steelers Super Bowl oeuvre, the team became the first sixth-seed to win the game — their fifth championship in franchise history.

• 30: Super Bowl IX: Steelers 16, Vikings 6, 1975

For long-suffering Steelers fans, this one was sweet. In their first Super Bowl appearance, the Steelers' Steel Curtain bested the Vikings' Purple People Eaters to capture the first of their six Lombardi Trophies.

• 26. Super Bowl XXX: Cowboys 27, Steelers 17, 1996

In the game that many Steelers fans insist to this day that Neil O’Donnell threw, the quarterback’s throwing did the team in. In the Cowboys' fifth Super Bowl win, former 12th-round pick Larry Brown grabbed two second-half interceptions - and never was heard from again.

• 21. Super Bowl XIV: Steelers 31, Rams 19, 1980

In a what was practically a home game for the Rams, fans were on edge until the Steelers scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to defeat Los Angeles.

• 19. Super Bowl X: Steelers 21, Cowboys 17, 1976

How close was the Steelers’ second straight championship? A late Dallas comeback was thwarted by safety Glenn Edwards' interception in the end zone as time expired. And CBS only ranks this 19th?

• 18. Super Bowl XIII: Steelers 35, Cowboys 31, 1979

In the first rematch in Super Bowl history, Terry Bradshaw threw four touchdowns, and the Steelers once again held off a late fourth-quarter Cowboys’ comeback attempt.

• 14. Super Bowl XLV:Packers 31, Steelers 25, 2011

In the Steelers’ most recent Super Bowl appearance, the team rallied from 18 points down but the Packers and quarterback Aaron Rodgers were too much to handle.

4. Super Bowl XLIII: Steelers 27, Cardinals 23 2009
How incredible was this game? An amazing 100-yard interception return for a touchdown by James Harrison to end the first half was only the game’s second-best play. The Steelers carved out a 10-point lead but Larry Fitzgerald's 64-yard touchdown put the Cardinals ahead - until Ben Roethlisberger hit Santonio Holmes for what arguably has been the best catch in Super Bowl history.

Photos: Getty Images.

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