Patriots vs. Steelers: Game of the Millennium? Not quite
Shout it from the top of Mount Washington: It’s the Game of the Year!
Perhaps the Game of the Decade!! Maybe the Game of the Millennium!!!
Or, very possibly, a big dud.
Until their flop in Miami on Monday night, the New England Patriots were playing as many thought they would heading into the season: like a powerhouse. And the Pittsburgh Steelers were squeezing past inferior foes , bringing into question whether they could slow the Foxborough freight train.
The Dolphins did just that, one day after the Steelers needed another late rally to edge archrival Baltimore and clinch the AFC North.
So while Sunday’s contest at Heinz Field will almost certainly decide the top seed in the AFC, it’s not exactly Ali-Frazier, two undefeated heavyweights facing off.
“It’s good to be in big games than be in ones nobody’s watching,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin says. “We better be appreciative of this spot and not resist it in any way. This is what we’ve been fighting for since March. Why would you fight that? It’s an awesome thing.”
Forget their ‘A’ game, which the Steelers (11-2) seem to have misplaced for much of the past two months despite winning eight straight, with a halfdozen of them close (decided by one, three, three, three, five and six points.
They will need their ‘AAA game’ against New England (10-3), which knows a loss eliminates it from topping the conference heading into the postseason.
“It’s all about us being prepared to play Pittsburgh,” Patriots safety Devin McCourty says, mimicking his coach. “All the extra stuff comes with it, but it’s just if we worry about the playoffs, we’ll go down there and we’ll get killed, honestly.”
The action got started Thursday night in a game with no playoff implications, the Denver Broncos’ 25-13 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Brock Osweiler threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in relief of the injured Trevor Siemian, and C.J. Anderson rushed for 158 yards on 30 carries as Denver (5-9) won its second straight and handed the Colts (3-11) their fifth consecutive loss.