Keystone caper
with 56 seconds to go, the Steelers quickly stormed downfield thanks to a 69-yard catch-and-run by Juju Smith-Schuster — leaving the Men of Steel with a first-andgoal from the 10 with 34 seconds left.
Roethlisberger then hit Jesse James for an apparent touchdown, only a replay reversed the call. James did not complete the catch even though he carried the ball over the plane of the goal line, so it was an incomplete pass.
Two plays later, Roethlisberger faked a spike and tried to force a pass into the end zone that was intended for Eli Rogers but was deflected by Eric Rowe and intercepted by Duron Harmon.
Game over.
“It was a heck of a roller coaster. You go from a complete high, thinking that you scored,” said the Steelers’ Cameron Heyward. “You see JuJu Smith-Schuster getting all the way down there. We just have to tip our hats to them.”
The Steelers, who came in a game up on the Patriots and could have coasted to the finish line as the top seed, pulled out all the stops to try and win this game. Ryan Shazier, their injured star who suffered a devastating spine injury playing against the Bengals three weeks ago, was in the building to provide an emotional lift — waving a Terrible Towel and cheering his teammates on.
While the Steelers did lose star receiver Antonio Brown in the first half to a calf injury, they still moved the ball quite well on offense, converting on 10-of-16 third down opportunities.
The last thing they wanted was to have the Road to the Super Bowl go through Gillette Stadium again.
But the Patriots defense stiffened at the end, getting the ball back to Brady, who wasn’t his usual dominant self against the Steelers. He didn’t pick them apart as he has in the past, but when it was money time — when he absolutely had to make plays — he delivered, finding Gronk (nine catches, 168 yards) time and again.
“Football is a crazy game,” said Brady. “You just keep fighting and fighting until the end.”
Brady said he wouldn’t be surprised to see the Steelers again, but didn’t want to jump ahead.
“We have to take care of a lot of business ourselves,” he said. “That’s a long time down the road. We will keep fighting and keep battling. I’m proud of our team. We can play better than we did today but that’s NFL football.”
It’s also Patriots football.
Just when you think you have them, they find a way to win. Just ask Seattle or Atlanta. Or now, the Steelers.