The New England Patriots faced the Pittsburgh Steelers in a rainy, miserable night in Foxboro with a ticket to the Super Bowl on the line. Curiously, both teams had won eight AFC Championships, that’s the all-time record. Whichever team won would hold the record for most Super Bowl appearances. When the dust settled, it was the New England Patriots that beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 36-17.
New England Patriots Win Record Ninth AFC Championship
First Drives
The New England Patriots started the game hot, effortlessly moving down the field. As the first minute expired, the Patriots already found themselves in the redzone. However, as the Patriots approached the endzone, the offense stalled out and they had to settle for a field goal. The Steelers failed to pressure Tom Brady on the drive. As a result, he was able to sit back, find the holes in the zone coverage.
On Pittsburgh’s first drive, they made it clear that their strategy included heavy doses of Le’Veon Bell. He was able to get nine yards, but the Steelers threw deep on third and one, and they couldn’t convert. Last week against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Steelers settled for nothing but field goals, and this week, it feels like they picked up where they left off.
The first drive is supposed to be the one that sets the tone for the whole game, and other than holding the Patriots to three, the Steelers looked pretty unremarkable on both sides of the ball. While the other conference championship game started with fireworks, this one took a while to get going.
The Patriot Way
Instead of going for the deep play early and often like they did against the Houston Texans, the Patriots were far more methodical in their approach. They went no-huddle, but they stuck to inside runs and short passes. It seemed like they were trying to exhaust the Pittsburgh defense, lulling them to sleep while they waited for the big play to appear.
It paid off with 2:27 left in the first half when Tom Brady found Chris Hogan for a 16 yard touchdown. Whether they were tired, confused, or just bad at football, Hogan was wide open and Brady found him easily to take a 10-0 lead.
On defense, the Patriots were dead set on pressuring Ben Roethlisberger and preventing Bell from making big plays. They were sending at least five guys on seemingly every defensive play and trusting their defensive backs to contain Antonio Brown. And to be fair, it worked early. Eventually however, Roethlisberger started targeting Eli Rogers for quick underneath passes.
However, after one quarter, the Patriots were up 10, Brown didn’t have a catch, and Bell had been held to 18 yards. Bill Belichick is never satisfied, but you’d have to think he was pleased with the results.
Second Quarter
When the second quarter started, a completely different Steelers team came out. DeAngelo Williams had a 15 yard run and then Antonio Brown got his first catch, an 11 yard scamper over the middle. The Pittsburgh offensive line started picking up the New England blitz and Roethlisberger was able to sit back and pick at the zone. They marched down the field and eventually Williams pounded in a five yard touchdown. Unfortunately, Chris Boswell missed the extra point, so the Patriots still led 10-6.
Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, the Patriots responded quickly, as Tom Brady found Chris Hogan for a touchdown on a 34 yard flea flicker, and extended the lead to 11 points. The biggest problem for Pittsburgh was a nagging groin injury to star back, Le’Veon Bell. However, DeAngelo Williams did fill in quite nicely, making most of the plays for the Steelers.
Just inside the two minute warning, Roethlisberger found Jesse James for what looked like a touchdown, but ultimately he was short. The Patriots backed Pittsburgh up to the five yard line, and after three quick plays, the Steelers had to settle for a field goal to make the score 17-9 with 1:39 left in the first half. The Patriots tried to move the ball down the field, but they couldn’t get it done and took the lead into the half.
Second Half
On the first drive on the second half, the Steelers couldn’t get past the 50 and they were forced to punt. The Patriots returned to their original strategy, running the ball up the middle and making short passes. Brady did find Chris Hogan for a 24 yard catch and run, but the offense stalled and they settled for a field goal, giving them a 20-9 lead.
With another methodical drive, the Patriots marched down the field. After a big catch by Chris Hogan and a punishing 18 yard run by LeGarrette Blount, the Patriots were on Pittsburgh’s one yard line. On the next play, Blount plowed through for a touchdown, extending New England’s lead to 18 points.
Game Over
On the first play of the next drive, Eli Rogers fumbled it and the New England Patriots recovered. The Patriots wasted no time going down the field, and eventually Brady found Julian Edelman for his third touchdown pass. Stephen Gostkowski missed the extra point, but the Patriots were still up 33-9.
Give it to Pittsburgh though, they didn’t roll over. They came out with an up-tempo aggressive offense. As the third quarter came to an end with Pittsburgh at New England’s 13 yard line.
The Final Quarter
For a moment, it looked like Ben Roethlisberger found Cobi Hamilton for a touchdown. Unfortunately, Hamilton had stepped out of bounds first, and it was brought back. The next play on fourth down, Roethlisberger threw a fade to Hamilton but Logan Ryan broke it up, forcing a turnover on downs.
The Steelers got a stop, but then Ben Roethlisberger promptly threw an interception. He hideously under-threw Darrius Heyward-Bey, and it was snagged by Eric Rowe. The Patriots moved the ball down the field, draining clock as they went. The Steelers managed to hold New England out of the endzone, but the Patriots did take several minutes off the clock, extending the lead with another field goal.
The Steelers tried to make it interesting late but Roethlisberger looked terrible, and the Patriots defense was relentless. The Patriots dominated the Steelers from the beginning of the game, and the Black and Gold looked absolutely outclassed. The Patriots went on to win 36-17.
Difference in the Game
The Pittsburgh Steelers just didn’t make enough big plays. There were too many points left off the board by the Steelers, and the problems that popped up against the Kansas City Chiefs reared their ugly heads. The Patriots won’t score every time they get the ball, but they will most times. The injury to Le’Veon Bell really hurt the offense, but it’s up to Mike Tomlin to make those big adjustments.
MVP- Chris Hogan
It’s unfair to compare anyone to Rob Gronkowski, but Chris Hogan came up huge for the Patriots. He had a monster game, catching nine passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns. For a long time, Julian Edelman was considered the “number one” receiver for the Patriots, but it looks like there might be a changing of the guard.
What’s Next?
For the New England Patriots, they’ll travel to their Super Bowl in the last sixteen years to face the red hot Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons eviscerated the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship game, and should be an interesting challenge for the Brady Bunch.
For Pittsburgh, they just have to wait until next year. Antonio Brown isn’t going anywhere, and the Black and Gold are expected to give Le’Veon Bell the franchise tag. The team should look into adding some meat on the defense, or at least a replacement for the aging James Harrison.
