With a six-game winning streak during which they've scored 228 points - more than even the Jim Kelly-led Super Bowl teams ever produced - the Buffalo Bills have become the team nobody wants to face in the NFL playoffs.

That's if they get there.

The Bills (9-6) play host to the Pittsburgh Steelers (14-1) on Sunday at sold-out Ralph Wilson Stadium on a day that's destined to leave Buffalo celebrating one of the great comeback seasons in NFL history, or dealing with powerful heartache.

A Bills victory, coupled with a loss by either the New York Jets (10-6) against St. Louis (7-8) or Denver (9-6) against Indianapolis (12-3) will qualify Buffalo for its first postseason since 1999. Only one previous team in NFL history, the 1992 San Diego Chargers, began the year 0-4 and made the playoffs.

"I don't know if anybody wants to play the Bills. We've been on a run," cornerback Troy Vincent said. "We've played well consistently over the past couple of weeks in all three phases, and that's what people are seeing. When you have all three phases playing well, that's a difficult team to beat."

That's exactly what the Steelers are thinking. Beat the Bills now or have to play them later.

Pittsburgh has wrapped up home-field advantage, earning the luxury of resting key players. Star rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (sore ribs) won't play and it's not likely workhorse running back Jerome Bettis will see the field either, even though he's only 59 yards shy of 1,000.

Still, coach Bill Cowher is a big believer in finishing strong and maintaining momentum. There's also the not-so-small detail that this game is a grudge match, pitting Cowher against Bills president and general manager Tom Donahoe, the former Steelers executive he feuded with during a celebrated power struggle five years ago.

If there's a chance to win the game and not jeopardize his personnel, within reason, Cowher is going to do it.

"I think we have to see how the game unfolds and we'll just take it from there," said Cowher, who five times in the past has been in similar situations where his team couldn't improve its playoff standing, yet the games were still very competitive.

"I told our players that there's a good chance that everybody who dresses will play. So when the game starts, don't even ask me how long you'll play because you have to prepare yourself to play. We're going up there with every intention of trying to win this football game and I'm approaching it as such."

Bills coach Mike Mularkey would be disappointed if Cowher approached it any other way.

Mularkey coached eight seasons under Cowher, the last three as his offensive coordinator, and knows how he thinks. The team Cowher fields will play hard, regardless of its makeup.

"No question," Mularkey said. "I have no doubts that he will have his team prepared, regardless of the situation."

Clearly, Pittsburgh's backups will be better than the front-liners the Bills faced in San Francisco (2-13) last week. Buffalo rolled to a 41-7 victory and had its backups in the game the entire fourth quarter.

The Bills continue to exude a high-degree of focus, saying their primary concern isn't about who suits up for the Steelers, but how they play as a team. It will be difficult not to scoreboard watch come Sunday - and they'll know the outcome of the Jets-Rams game, which starts at noon, an hour before their game.

"It sounds like their approach is to come in and do everything they can to win the game," QB Drew Bledsoe said of the Steelers. "To us it simply doesn't matter. We're in the same situation we've been in for a long time, we win or we're done. If they play all their guys we have to beat them, and if they rest some of their guys, then we have to beat the team they put on the field. It's as simple as that."

SERIES HISTORY - 18th meeting, Steelers lead all-time series 9-8 after a 20-3 victory in 2001 in Orchard Park. Before that game, the home team had won the previous 12 games in the series. This marks just the second time the clubs have met in a regular-season finale. The Steelers won 28-0 to close out the 1979 season. Pittsburgh holds a 2-1 edge in playoff games and each time the winner has gone on to the Super Bowl, including the Steelers' 40-21 victory on Jan. 6, 1996. Bills star defensive end Bruce Smith took ill on the eve of the game with a fever, and did not play.

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