ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Bills and Steelers have met before in the postseason. Three times, actually.
But Sunday's 1 p.m. wild card game at Highmark Stadium will be different in one very important way: It will mark the first time the Bills won't be visiting Pittsburgh for the postseason game.
If you're superstitious, the winner in each of the previous three playoff meetings advanced to the Super Bowl.
Here's a quick recap of how those three games went:
December 22, 1974: Steelers 32, Bills 14
This is where the Steelers started their first Super Bowl run. Franco Harris ran 24 times for 74 yards and three touchdowns, and Rocky Bleier scored on a 27-yard reception from Terry Bradshaw as Pittsburgh rolled. The Bills led 7-3 in the first quarter thanks to Paul Seymour's 22-yard TD reception from Joe Ferguson, but the Steelers outscored Buffalo 26-0 in the second quarter. O.J. Simpson ran 15 times for 49 yards and had a touchdown catch.
Pittsburgh went on to beat the Oakland Raiders 24-13 in the AFC Championship Game before beating the Minnesota Vikings 16-6 to claim its first of four Super Bowls that decade.
January 9, 1993: Bills 24, Steelers 3
Steelers quarterback Neil O'Donnell didn't stand a chance against the Bill's defense, which finished with two interceptions and seven sacks in the divisional-round matchup. Kenneth Davis led the Bills on the ground with 10 carries for 104 yards. Frank Reich completed 16 of 23 passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns, one covering 17 yards to James Lofton and the other 1 yard to Mitch Frerotte. Carwell Gardner added a 1-yard scoring plunge.
Buffalo went on to beat the Miami Dolphins 29-10 in the AFC Championship Game before losing 52-17 to the Dallas Cowboys in the Super Bowl.
January 6, 1996: Steelers 40, Bills 21
The Steelers caused problems for the Bills offense all day. Jim Kelly was intercepted three times and sacked twice in the divisional round game. He completed 14 of 29 passes for 135 yards and a 9-yard touchdown pass to Thurman Thomas (13 carries, 46 yards), which helped cut the deficit to 26-21 in the fourth quarter. The Steelers responded with two touchdown runs by Bam Morris (25 carries, 106 yards) to pull away. Alex Van Pelt also got in the game for Buffalo, completing 4 of 10 passes for 27 and a 2-yard touchdown to Tony Cline.
Pittsburgh followed that with a 20-16 victory against the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Game before losing 27-17 to the Dallas Cowboys in the Super Bowl.