Steelers outplayed, outcoached, outclassed
FOXBORO, Ma. 鈥� Outplayed. Outcoached. Outclassed.
If the New England Patriots are nearing the end of a 15-year dynasty, they sure have a funny way of showing it.
Tom Brady picked apart the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night just as he has his entire life, this time with a postseason franchise-record 384 passing yards in a 36-17 win in the AFC Conference Championship Game.
Brady and the Patriots picked the Steelers apart without Rob Gronkowski, but the big tight end鈥檚 absence didn鈥檛 matter because Chris Hogan, an underrated and heretofore unknown fourth-year pro out of Monmouth, caught nine passes for a franchise-record 180 yards and touchdowns of 16 and 34 yards.
If Brady wasn鈥檛 finding Hogan, he was connecting with Julian Edelman, who caught eight passes for 118 yards and a 10-yard touchdown.
For the 39-year-old Brady, it was his 10th win in 12 meetings against the Steelers, who couldn鈥檛 penetrate a supposedly soft Patriots offensive line.
That line had been beaten badly the previous week by the Houston Texans, and Brady put heat on his group at practice last week. He was sacked twice by the Steelers but hit only three times.
鈥淵eah, he picked us apart,鈥� said a distraught Stephon Tuitt. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 get there and he picked us apart.鈥�
鈥淭hey did a great job of finding our blitzes,鈥� said Ryan Shazier. 鈥淚 guess they figured we were going to attack the middle because last week they didn鈥檛 do a good job of protecting him up the middle. This week they emphasized that in practice and they made sure they were ready.鈥�
Brady beat a fire-X blitz for his first touchdown pass, another blitz on the flea-flicker for his second touchdown pass, and his 39-yarder to Hogan, at 20-9, which set up the back-breaking touchdown, beat another blitz.
n The Steelers played most of the game without Le鈥橵eon Bell, who left in the first quarter with a groin injury and said he had been 鈥渕icro-managing鈥� the sore groin 鈥渢hroughout the whole thing, just kind of keeping it to myself, not really trying to scare anybody.鈥�
Bell didn鈥檛 provide specifics about how long it鈥檚 bothered him, but said 鈥渢oday it just kind of broke the camel鈥檚 back and I couldn鈥檛 go.鈥�
After breaking franchise postseason rushing records in each of the two previous playoff games, Bell rushed for only 20 yards on six carries (3.3) Sunday.
DeAngelo Williams replaced Bell and gained 34 yards on 14 carries with seven catches for 51 yards. Williams鈥� 5-yard touchdown run cut the Patriots鈥� early lead to 10-6 before Chris Boswell missed the extra point.
Mike Tomlin was asked if the loss of Bell caused him to change offensive philosophies.
鈥淣o question,鈥� he said.
n The Steelers defense is taking plenty of heat, but the offense鈥檚 failure to score a touchdown after a first-and-goal at the one-foot line late in the first half was critical. Williams carried twice for a loss of four yards, followed by an incompletion and a 23-yard field goal.
Tomlin said he鈥檚 not opposed to sneaking, even though Ben Roethlisberger rarely does it.
鈥淲e ran a play that worked all year,鈥� explained David DeCastro. 鈥淢aybe they were ready for it. Give them credit. They made a play that pushed us back. Second time they brought a funky blitz and we weren鈥檛 on the same page. Like I said, man, you had to be perfect (to beat them). We weren鈥檛. Give them credit.鈥�
Tomlin was asked if settling for a field goal and a 17-9 halftime deficit had a psychological effect on the team.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know about psychologically,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e would鈥檝e liked to have scored a touchdown there. We weren鈥檛 able to do it. It still would鈥檝e been a one-score game, but it would鈥檝e been significant right there to get the seven. We didn鈥檛.鈥�
n The Steelers were predominantly a cover-3 team under Dick LeBeau and have since incorporated more cover-2. Regardless, the last 15 years their zone defenses have never been a good matchup for Brady.
Tomlin was asked if he considered playing more press man Sunday night.
鈥淥bviously you weigh those options in preparation,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e stand by what we did in the game. We just didn鈥檛 do it well enough.鈥�
The aforementioned 39-yard Brady pass that set up a 27-9 lead 鈥� just before Eli Rogers鈥� fumble gave the Patriots another third-quarter touchdown 鈥� occurred against man-to-man defense with aging cornerback Will Gay beaten badly by Hogan.
n No one was in a good mood in the Steelers locker room, and James Harrison might have been the last person to ask if the Patriots had won the line of scrimmage. That鈥檚 what one reporter wanted to know.
鈥淣othing was won on the line of scrimmage,鈥� said Harrison. 鈥淭hey out-executed us. They did not out-physical us. They did not push us around. They did not got out there and just dog us. They out-executed us. They sped up the tempo and did what they had to do to get the win.鈥�
The Patriots rushed for 57 yards on 27 carries (2.1 avg.). LeGarrette Blount was 16-for-47 and Pitt鈥檚 Dion Lewis was 6-for-11. The Patriots are 16-0 when Lewis plays.
n The general feeling of exasperation in playing, and losing to, the Patriots was, the Steelers hoped, a thing of the past. But DeCastro just shook his head and said that 鈥減laying them is so weird.鈥�
Why?
鈥淭hey just make plays,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e always in the spot, never bust anything. You鈥檙e the ones making mistakes. But you鈥檝e got to give them credit because they force you into those situations. They鈥檙e a good team.鈥�
n Lawrence Timmons was the Steelers鈥� runaway tackles leader with 14, including two tackles-for-loss. His contract is up, but in summing up the loss he indicated his plan is to return.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just going to take it on the chin, learn from it and get ready for next year,鈥� Timmons said.
What did the Steelers want to do against the Patriots that they couldn鈥檛?
鈥淲e really wanted to go to the Super Bowl,鈥� he said.
The Patriots will instead go for a record ninth time.