Duron Harmon picked off a deflected Ben Roethlisberger pass with just seconds remaining Sunday evening, to give the New England Patriots a 27-24 come from behind win over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field. New England clinched their 14th AFC East title in 15 years.
New England (11-3), had regained their first lead since the opening quarter when Dion Lewis scored on a eight yard TD run with just 55 seconds left in the game. Pittsburgh (11-3), immediately responded when Roethlisberger hit JuJu Smith-Schuster on a 70 yard pitch and catch on the first play after the kickoff to the New England 10 yard line. The Steelers thought they had gone ahead when tight end Jesse James caught a pass over the middle and stretched over the goal line. After review the ruling was incomplete, as James lost control of the ball and didn’t complete the catch. Two plays later with the clock running under 15 seconds, Roethlisberger faked a spike and tried to find his receiver in the end zone, but the ball was tipped away by another Patriot defender, and Harmon was in the right spot to grab the ball for the interception to end the game.
Tom Brady finished 22-35 passing, 298 yards, with one touchdown, and one interception. Rob Gronkowski had nine catches and 168 yards. Brandin Cooks and Rex Burkhead scored the other Patriot touchdowns. Roethlisberger went 22-30, 281 yards, with two touchdowns, and one costly interception. Le’Veon Bell had 117 yards on 24 carries and a score, as the Steelers saw their win streak end at eight.
New England returns home to host Buffalo next Sunday at 1 p.m. The Patriots are now in control of the AFC #1 seed, and will lock it up with wins in their final two games at home over the Bills and NY Jets.
