Sunday’s 25-17 victory by the Pittsburgh Steelers over the New England Patriots was a huge lift for a team that was labeled old and slow at the start of the season.

Against the Patriots, the Steelers were anything but. They asserted themselves in a way they hadn’t all season, even going away from the usual zone defense they’ve come to use.

The Steelers were a little crafty against quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick and that put them back into the national spotlight.

That was not expected back in late September when the team was 2-2 with its wins against the overmatched Seattle Seahawks and Indianapolis Colts and then a tough loss at Houston, as the Texans and Arian Foster ran wild against the Steelers.

But four consecutive wins — including the capper against the Patriots — has renewed the buzz in Pittsburgh as a possible Super Bowl contender again.

My only concern right now is how will they react against the Baltimore Ravens — who slammed the Steelers in a 35-7 victory that started all the washed-up, over-the-hill talk about the Steelers.

As I said in an earlier column, the Ravens rode a wave of Steelers mistakes — seven turnovers — and that the game was an aberration.

Pittsburgh is playing at a high level right now and Baltimore has had major offensive woes in six of the past eight quarters of play.

Which Ravens team will show up? Hard to say, but the Ravens do enter with the upper hand. Having already defeated the Steelers, Baltimore (5-2) holds the tiebreaker so far in head-to-head matchups. So, a win Sunday night is imperative for the Steelers (6-2).

As of today, the Steelers have the AFC’s best record with the Patriots, Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills all joining the Ravens at 5-2 (the Steelers have yet to have their bye week).

That, of course, can quickly change, proof being what a four-game winning streak can do, even for a team like the Steelers.

This is definitely a team that has transformed itself from the start of the season, a team missing wide receiver Hines Ward, linebackers James Harrison and James Farrior, as well as a banged-up offensive line.

Still, the Steelers soldier on and have shown a steely resolve to keep on keeping on.

To be honest, I thought the Steelers would lose last week and knock off Baltimore to move to 6-3.

They won one of two games, so they’ve done well, but a win against Baltimore will give the Steelers their swagger back, especially against a Baltimore team that believes it has the Steelers’ number.

I’ll still stick with a Pittsburgh victory this week, but a trap game against the Bengals may await the following week, just before the team’s bye.

For the Steelers, though, first thing’s first. The Ravens await in what could give either team a stranglehold on the division, not so much record-wise, but on a psychological level.