New England and Pittsburgh have met twice this decade in AFC championship games. Their game in Foxborough on Sunday isn't as critical as those were, but it certainly has serious playoff implications, especially for the Patriots.

New England enters this game at 7-4, a game behind the Jets in the AFC East. If the season ended now, the Patriots would be just behind Indianapolis and Baltimore for a wild-card playoff spot. The season doesn't end now, of course, but with five games left, every game gets more important.

The Steelers are 8-3, a game ahead of the Ravens in the North. But they still have a game in Baltimore and a tough closing schedule that also includes the Cowboys and Titans.

In other words, nothing is secure for either team.

The Patriots are coming off a 48-28 win over Miami in which Matt Cassel passed for 415 yards, the second straight 400-yard game for the quarterback who hadn't started since high school until he replaced Tom Brady early in the opening game of the season. Cassel seems to be peaking, but is New England?

"I don't think we are going to know that until we play the next five games," coach Bill Belichick says. "You always want to play your best at this time of year and we will see if that is the case against Pittsburgh."

Don't look for another 400-yard game from Cassel against a defense that is first in the NFL and hasn't allowed 300 yards total in a game this season.

"Our secondary doesn't get the credit it deserves," cornerback Ike Taylor says. "It's usually all about our linebackers. That's two years in a row we've been No. 1 and we still don't get the credit."

The Steelers come into this game with 10 days rest; they beat Cincinnati 27-10 last Thursday night. The rest is a good thing for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who has been playing with a sore shoulder and other banged-up body parts after a series of physical games.

This is the seventh time these teams have met this decade, with New England winning five of the previous six, including those two title games.

"Teams like that, you have so much information on," Belichick says. "Three years ago they hurt you with this and four years ago they hurt you with that. They hurt us with this in the AFC championship game. So in some respects you have too much information and you have to boil it down to what you feel like you can present to the players."

Any way you approach it, one of these teams will get hurt in the standings this week.