Since 2008, the Steelers have been waiting for another Super Bowl win. According to former Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell, the problem was in their own camp.

“Injuries. I mean that football is one of those games that is rough, bro,” Bell said on Ball in the Family Podcast. “And you need depth, and we had depth. But I think when the kind of star players go down, like if AB [Antonio Brown] goes down, if he’s hurt, if I go down, I’m hurt. Then we lose a lot of our offense.

“… It’s just unfortunate it happened to us. You know what I’m saying? I think if we get healthy and we play the whole season, we’ll be talented-wise. I think we end up getting a ring. And obviously Tom Brady was no damn problem, right?”

Tom Brady and the Patriots rarely let the Steelers breathe easy when they played each other. Brady was 9-4 vs Pittsburgh. However, he was only one player; injuries at key moments have held the Steelers back from making a mark in the postseason.

That sure was the case. Le’Veon Bell first injured his groin against the Miami Dolphins on January 8, 2017, but he continued playing through the pain. He also played against the Kansas City Chiefs the following week while still dealing with the injury. Then, during the AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots on January 22, 2017, Bell aggravated his left groin injury early in the game, which forced him to leave the game.

Then there’s linebacker Ryan Shazier, who suffered a serious spinal injury against the Cincinnati Bengals on December 4, 2017. The injury ended his season, so he could not return for the playoffs. As a result, Shazier missed the Steelers’ AFC Divisional Round game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, where Pittsburgh lost and was eliminated from the playoffs.

DeAngelo Williams suffered a foot/ankle injury in the Steelers’ final regular-season game of the 2015 season against the Cleveland Browns. Because of the injury, he missed the team’s Wild Card and Divisional Round playoff games. However, he recovered in time to play in the AFC Championship Game against the Patriots.

His injury was another example of how injuries affected the Steelers’ depth and made their path to the Super Bowl harder. They were all star players at the time of the injuries.

Moreover, regardless of how competitive Pittsburgh was in the regular season, the Steelers always struggled in the postseason. Last year, their loss to the Texans in the wild card round marked the sixth-straight playoff game Pittsburgh trailed in the second half. After yet another year of the team being unable to snap their playoff losing slump, the locker room was sombre.

“I think every man in here really wanted it,” Cameron Heyward said after the game.

However, Brady has often steamrolled the Steelers, creating unsavory moments for fans. He had never been defeated by the team when they came to play New England at Gillette, and even won his last Steelers matchup at home 33-3. His passer rating is at an impressive 109.2 vs the Steelers, and he remains 3-0 in postseason clashes with the yellow and black. Brady had also never been intercepted by the Pittsburgh in the postseason.

Perhaps the most painful memory Brady left on the Steelers fanbase is the 2016 AFC Championship game. Brady spent the entire year trying to escape the shadow of the Deflategate controversy. But he and the Patriots left no stone unturned and won the game 36-17. The legendary quarterback proved why he is one: he set a franchise record of 384 yards and three touchdowns.

The Steelers had to end their run at 11-5 that season, while the Patriots went on to win the Super Bowl. Ironically, the Steelers named Le’Veon Bell the team MVP that season. He had a front-row seat to watch what Brady did to them.