1. The New England Patriots are heading to their seventh-straight AFC Championship game. That, quite simply, is astounding. They’ve been in the final four seven straight years.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have reached the postseason four years in a row, the second-longest streak in the NFL (behind the Patriots nine-year streak). To repeat: the second-longest playoff streak is four years. The Patriots have reached the conference title game three years in a row more than the Steelers have made the postseason.
In a league built for parity, the Patriots continue to break the model.