We’ve looked back on the last four years to find the teams that tend to excel in the latter part of the season.

1. Pittsburgh Steelers

In the past four seasons, the Steelers have finished stronger than any other team in the league. They have gone 3-1 ATS in the final four games of each of the last four seasons.

Always being in playoff contention is one thing helping Pittsburgh stay motivated.

Last season, they won and covered against Cleveland, Carolina and Cincinnati in a late playoff push, but were ultimately unsuccessful. In the 2005 season, they finished with four straight wins and went all the way to the Super Bowl.

This season, the Steelers are once again leaving it late to clinch a playoff place. That’s good news for backers. Pittsburgh will play hard in its final game against Baltimore, and will be a tough proposition for any team if they do make the playoffs.

2. Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins like to spoil the party for other teams. While they haven’t made the playoffs since 2001, they have a strong recent history of beating playoff-bound teams at the end of the season.

The biggest victim of Miami’s late-season success is New England. The Patriots have lost to the Dolphins near the end of the regular season for three consecutive years, including a 21-0 loss at Dolphins Stadium last December.

Miami’s next game is, of course, against the undefeated Pats. At 1-13 this season even the most optimistic fan wouldn’t expect the Dolphins to win against the Patriots. But based on recent seasons, they could cover the 22-point spread.

Miami then closes out the season against Cincinnati.

3. Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals are ranked 13th in the league with a moderate 8-6 ATS mark. But it’s Arizona’s uncanny knack for perennially padding backers’ wallets late in the season that lands them among the best finishing teams in the NFL.

Arizona was the underdog in each of its final four tilts last season and was 3-1 ATS in that stretch. In fact, the Cardinals are a notable 11-5 ATS in their final four games in each of the last four seasons before this one.

Oddsmakers have a difficult task of setting the lines for the inconsistent Cardinals.

Veteran quarterback Warner leads the Cardinals against his former club, the St. Louis Rams, on Dec. 30. Arizona covered the spread as a 3 ½-point favorite versus the Rams on Oct. 30.

4. New England Patriots

There was much debate this season about how New England runs up the score on opponents, embarrassing them at times. The pattern extends to how the team plays out its season. The Pats rarely ease up toward the end of the year no matter how early they clinch a playoff spot.

They have closed out each of the last three seasons by winning and covering in three of their last four games.

This year New England has the added incentive of going for the “perfect” season. Its final two games are against Miami and the Giants, and neither of those two teams should expect any kind of let-up from the Pats.

5. New York Jets

The media constantly hounds the struggling Jets. Still, New York seems to always give backers hope at the end of each season that the next campaign will be better.

The follow-up success never comes, but that doesn’t mean bettors should dismiss how New York winds up seasons. They should embrace the Jets’ perennial ATS success (at least over the last four seasons) in December.

Quarterback’s Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens have led New York to a notable 7-2 ATS mark in its final four contests in each of the last two seasons. The Jets also covered the spread last Sunday against the Patriots.