Steelers, Packers find road a cruel place
The Steelers were roused from their slumber in the wee hours by a prank fire alarm at their Boston-area hotel.
The Packers had to ride buses to Milwaukee to catch their flight to Atlanta because of dense fog in Green Bay.
Maybe these disruptions in routine had something to do with their stumbles in the conference championship games Sunday when the sleepy Steelers ignored Chris Hogan all day and the foggy Packers abandoned the run right from the start.
Now, instead of meeting up in Houston six years after they squared off in Super Bowl XLV, the Packers and Steelers are cleaning out their lockers while the Patriots and Falcons begin preparations for Feb. 5.
Hogan, a former college lacrosse player, found open spaces everywhere on the field against the Steelers’ sleep-walking secondary.
The fourth-year pro set c a r e e r h i g h s w i t h n i n e catches and two touchdowns and piled up a team play- off-record 180 yards receiving in New England’s 36-17 win.
“It’ll be something that definitely I’ll remember for the rest of my career, and probably for the rest of my life,” Hogan said.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin wasn’t playing the blame game on Hogan’s wide-open TD c a t c he s o f 1 6 a nd 3 4 yards, the latter on a fleaflicker when he easily beat safety Mike Mitchell.
“We weren’t tight enough on coverage, we didn’t apply enough consistent pressure on the quarterback,” Tomlin said.
Three things happened early on in Atlanta’s 44-21 rout that kept the injury-rid- dled Packers from making i t t he shoot o ut s o many expec te d i n t he Georgi a Dome.
Mason Crosby missed a field goal that snapped his playoff streak at 23, fullback Aaron Ripkowski fumbled as he was heading into the end zone, and Aaron Rodgers handed off just three times in the first half.
“We needed to keep pace with those guys and felt confident coming in here we could score points,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said.
“We fell behind and then we got into a game you just don’t want to play, especially in this stadium. The crowd was fantastic.”
It was 31- 0 by the time the Packers scored, and by then, Rodgers was getting hit, hammered or hurried on just about every snap.
“If this has taught us anything, it’s how important home-field advantage is,” Rodgers said after the Packe r s ’ e i g ht - g a me winning streak ended.
“Being able to sleep in your own bed and practice and not have to travel and have the fan support, it makes a big difference. We’ve played in three of these (NFC championships) now and all on the road. It’s tough to win on the road.”
Rodgers was even whistled for a 15-yard facemask penalty when he stiff-armed cornerback Robert Alford.
“That was my first non-delay of game penalty in my career except for in junior c o l l e g e , ” Ro d g e r s s a i d . “My thumb kind of slipped through his facemask and his helmet was on loosely, so the helmet came off.”
The Patriots held Antonio Brown in check a week after the Steelers star receiver got in trouble for live-streaming Tomlin’s postgame speech on Facebook. And Pittsburgh just couldn’t keep up with Tom Brady after losing running back Le’Veon Bell after the first quarter with a groin injury. The Steelers’ ninegame winning streak ended.