PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers are sitting where every NFL team wants to be this weekend, at home with a short path to the Super Bowl awaiting them.

The problem: this is a road the Steelers frequently travel, but with little success.

This is the seventh time in 16 years the Steelers have been first- or second-seeded with a bye in the AFC playoffs, and not once has the bye translated into a Super Bowl victory. They've made the Super Bowl only once under such a scenario, losing to Dallas to end the 1995 season.

In 1992, they didn't make it out of the divisional round as the AFC's top-seeded team, losing at home to Buffalo 24-3 in former coach Bill Cowher's first season. The next five times they were No. 1 or No. 2, they won their divisional game, only to lose four AFC title games at home and one Super Bowl.

Some reward, huh?

The memories remain painful for the fans who can't forget the twin defeats to New England in the AFC championship games during the 2001 and 2004 seasons. The inexplicable AFC title game loss to San Diego, a nine-point underdog, during the 1994 season. All the interceptions Kordell Stewart threw in a 24-21 loss to Denver that led to John Elway's first Super Bowl win, during the 1997 season.

The current-day Steelers' reaction to all this ancient history? Means nothing to them.

"I don't think there is an advantage in the bye week, mentally," safety Troy Polamalu said. "Physically, there is. In hindsight, we can all say we got our butts kicked by New England (during the 2004 season) when we were 15-1. But if we didn't have a bye week, who knows what would have happened? I don't know and, right now, I'm happy we have it."

Curiously, for all their wasted chances — most notably the four AFC championship game losses — the Steelers' lone Super Bowl victory since 1979 came three years ago when they were the lowest-seeded team in the AFC playoffs.

Away from the pressures of home, and all the talk of the frequent playoff disappointments there, they became the first sixth-seeded team to win three road games and the Super Bowl. Now, the Steelers (12-4) will leave Pittsburgh during the AFC playoffs only if they meet Tennessee (13-3) for the AFC championship.

"We're not going off what's happened in previous years or anything like that," defensive end Brett Keisel said. "We're excited about the team we have, we're excited for our opportunity. All you can do when you get an opportunity is either seize it or let it go and, hopefully, we can seize it."

Despite their recent failures, the Steelers understand the difficulties of trying to win three games in three weeks merely to reach the Super Bowl, the main reason why they welcome the bye. They had to play a wild-card game last season and were beaten at home by Jacksonville 31-29.

Of the first 30 Super Bowls played after teams began being seeded in 1975, 25 were won by a No. 1- or No. 2-seeded team. The Steelers themselves were top-seeded during the 1975 and 1978 seasons and second-seeded in 1979, and they won the Super Bowl all three times.

The Steelers are hoping another aberrant pattern holds when they move into the playoffs next week. Three times previously they were seeded second, only to wind up playing host to the AFC championship game after the top-seeded team lost.

It happened during the 1979 season, when the Chargers lost in the divisional round and Pittsburgh went on to beat Houston in the AFC title game for the second year in a row; during the 1995 season, when the Chiefs were stunned by Indianapolis, and two years after that when the Chefs were beaten by Denver.

The Steelers will stay at home for the AFC championship game this season only if the Titans lose on Jan. 10 and Pittsburgh wins the next day.

"But there's one thing about this team, we don't worry too much about other teams," safety Tyrone Carter said. "We keep an eye on ourselves. The Steelers beat the Steelers. That's the only thing we have to worry about."