The Pittsburgh Steelers held the New England Patriots out of the endzone on the final drive of the game to help preserve a 17-10 win at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh Sunday evening.
Pittsburgh (8-5-1) scored on their first possession when Ben Rothleisberger hit Vance McDonald for a five yard touchdown. New England (9-5) responded right away in only three plays, the third one being a Chris Hogan 63 yard touchdown catch from Tom Brady. The 63 yard play was the longest of the season. The Steelers held a 14-7 halftime lead on the strength of a 17 yard touchdown reception from Antonio Brown in the second quarter.
Both teams had chances in the second half, with the Steelers missing a 32 yard field goal by Chris Boswell, and the Patriots backed up at times because of penalties. New England had 14 penalties for 106 yards in the game, the most penalties in a game since 2014. Stephen Gostkowski got the visitors within four at 14-10 with a 33 yard field goal in the third quarter, and Boswell hit a 48 yarder with about 2:30 left in the game after Joe Haden had intercepted Brady in the redzone a few minutes prior to make it 17-10 setting up the final drive. The Patriots got a big passing play to Julian Edelman and pushed deep into Steeler territory at the 16 in the closing seconds. A false start penalty pushed New England back to the Pittsburgh 21, and three straight incompletions by Brady turned the ball over on downs and ended the game.
In the New England loss Brady went 25-36 passing, 279 yards, with one touchdown, and one interception. Sony Michel had 13 rushes for 59 yards. Edelman caught seven passes for 90 yards. Jason McCourty had nine total tackles, and Duron Harmon had two interceptions to anchor the defense. Rothleisberger was 22-34, 235 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions in the Pittsburgh win. Jaylen Samuels was huge filling in for James Connor for the second straight week, carrying 19 times for 142 yards. James Washington led a balanced receiving core with three catches for 65 yards. Haden made 12 total tackles to lead the defense.
New England is now a game behind Houston (10-4) for the second seed in the AFC. The Patriots return home next Sunday to try to clinch the AFC East for a third straight week when they host Buffalo at 1 pm.
