updated 5:51 p.m. ET Jan. 12, 2009

PITTSBURGH - Tom Brady. Tom Brady. John Elway.

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No NFL team has lost more conference championship games at home in less time than the Pittsburgh Steelers did during the 1994-2004 seasons — four of them in five tries, repeatedly costing them the opportunity to build an addition onto their already spacious Super Bowl trophy case.

The numerous January home-field losses defined former coach Bill Cowher’s career for a decade, and left Steelers fans constantly wringing their Terrible Towels amid cries of “Why can’t we win a big one here?”

There’s something to remember from all those defeats, though: The other team’s quarterback generally was pretty good.

And the opposing quarterback Sunday in the Steelers’ seventh AFC championship game in 15 seasons won’t be Brady or Elway, but Baltimore rookie Joe Flacco, who did little in two regular season games against them.

If any Steelers team of recent vintage appears equipped to cast aside the bad memories all of those January home-field losses, it may be this one — a team that, unlike those of the 1990s, has numerous players who have already won a Super Bowl in black and gold.

“To me this is the Super Bowl,” Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward said of the third Ravens-Steelers game in less than four months. “You don’t want to have a bad taste in your mouth by losing and watching that team go to the Super Bowl.”

Novacek's picks Cardinal rule In what should be a tight, exciting game, Arizona will find enough 4th-quarter offense to beat Pittsburgh NBCSports.com

When the Steelers finally won a fifth Super Bowl three years ago, they clearly thrived on playing every game away from home and dodging the constant questions of why they couldn’t win big playoff games at home.

Now, because many of them already own Steelers Super Bowl rings, there are no expectations inside their locker room there will be a letdown to match that of, for example, the January 1995 loss to San Diego in which defensive back Tim McKyer was so disoriented after allowing the game-winning touchdown catch that he was carried off the field.

Then there were all those interceptions Kordell Stewart threw into the Broncos’ arms in January 1998. The Patriots losing Brady to injury in January 2002 but still winning with Drew Bledsoe at quarterback in the second half. The Steelers squad with the best record in club history, the 15-1 team of 2004, losing to the Patriots again in a bitter-weather blowout.

Ancient history, these Steelers say. After all, they were the only home team to win during the divisional round last weekend, beating the Chargers 35-24 on Sunday.

How about that: the home-field advantage paying off for the Steelers in January.

“It’s big,” quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. “The last time we were here (for the AFC title game) my rookie year, I didn’t play so well, so I’ll be looking for a little redemption. It’s going to be a great battle.”

If anyone can relate to what Flacco is going through this week as a rookie quarterback about to play for the AFC championship, it’s Roethlisberger.

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No rookie came close to accomplishing what Roethlisberger did by going 13-0 during his rookie season, then beating the Jets in the divisional round. But in the AFC championship game rematch against the Patriots, who had lost earlier in Pittsburgh, Roethlisberger looked like an ordinary Joe while going 14-of-24 for 226 yards and three interceptions.

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