Steelers Sinking Fast After Loss to Patriots
PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers looked dead in the water early in the first half against the New England Patriots and another ugly, embarrassing loss by multiple scores to a two-win team looked inevitable.
The Steelers rallied late but despite finding some momentum late following halftime, the offense was not able to aid a second half shutout from the defense and they lost, 21-18 to a two-win team for the second week in a row.
The Steelers won the coin toss but deferred their option to the second half, so Bailey Zappe and the Patriots' offense took the field first.
Ezekiel Elliot got New England started by shaking multiple defenders on a first down catch and run, then Juju Smith Schuster hauled in a 37-yard pass over Damonte Kazee to get his unit into Steeler territory. Zappe scrambled for a first down and two plays later, Elliot caught a swing pass and dove into the endzone for a game-opening touchdown.
The Steelers got off to an encouraging start with their first possession, with Mitch Trubisky scrambling for a first down, but the drive deteriorated from there. Trubisky threw an interception on his first pass attempt of the night but it was called back for pass interference and after the drive stalled out in New England territory, Chris Boswell trotted out to make a 56-yard field goal that made it 7-3 at the 6:44 mark of the first quarter.
Both sides traded punts at the end of each of their next drives. Zappe got the Patriots moving with a couple of first down passes to Tyquan Thorton and Smith-Schuester. They eventually had to punt as well but the game changed when Trubisky, under duress, threw a reckless pass into the teeth of the Patriots secondary.
Jabril Peppers returned the pick 32 yards to the Steelers' 11-yard line and Zappe finished the drive off with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Henry that put the visitors up 14-3 with 14:19 left in the first half as boos from the home fans rained down.
The boos got even louder as the Steelers offense turned in two more three-and-outs, one aided by an illegal formation penalty on Chukwuma Okorafor. Meanwhile, the Patriots began to pour it on. Zappe added his third touchdown pass of the night on a 24-yard strike to Henry to make it 21-3 with 7:43 to go until halftime.
But the Steelers responded to cut into the three-touchdown deficit just before halftime. It began with some hard running from Jaylen Warren and Calvin Austin. Then a pass interference call on Kyle Duggar moved the Steelers up to the New England 30-yard line before Trubiksy lofted a 25-yard touchdown pass over the right shoulder to Diontae Johnson, who made a difficult catch for a touchdown.
The Patriots couldn't turn their final drive into points but went into halftime still hanging on to a 21-10 lead.
The Steelers took the ball to open the second half and they leaned on Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren to move the ball. Conner Heyward also helped keep the drive alive with a hurdle and run for a first down after a short reception. But spirited efforts to keep the unit moving failed the Steelers around midfield and a sack of Trubisky by Christian Barmore and Dugger forced Pittsburgh to punt.
The next two drives for either side ended in punts.
The Patriots had begun to put together a promising drive, only for Roberts to fly up in coverage and deflect a pass intended for Smith-Schuester up in the air. Mykal Walker came down with the interception and returned it 30 yards to the New England 46-yard line with 1:09 left in the third quarter.
But the Steelers gained just seven yards with their first redzone plays of the evening. They opted to go for it on fourth down and two, but Trubisky's flip pass to Warren was stopped short of the line to gain and New England took back over on their own seven-yard line.
The Steelers defense did their job, holding New England to a three-and-out. Then Miles Killebrew blocked the ensuing punt and Pittsburgh got the ball back again on the Patriots 26-yard line.
The Steelers finally capitalized on the favorable field position. After a 12-yard reception from Darnell Washington brought them inside the redzone, pass interference on J.C. Jackson put the ball on the one-yard line. From there, Mitch Trubisky punched in a quarterback sneak for a touchdown. He then completed the two-point conversion pass to make it 21-18, Patriots with 11:47 to go in the fourth quarter.
After forcing another New England punt, their fourth in five possessions, the Steelers drove only 18 yards but ate up more than three minutes of the 8:24 left on the game clock. The Steelers thought they had a new set of downs when they got Jahlani Tavai to jump early on a punt. Instead, officials flagged long snapper Christian Kuntz for a false start because he snapped his head up.
New England took back over on their own 14 yard line with 4:58 left in regulation, leading 21-18, but they held the ball for just 2:14 before punting back to Pittsburgh.
Trubisky and company took back over needing to run a successful two-minute drill to at least tie the game. They picked up 14 yards on a pass up the middle to Harris and eight more on a short throw to Johnson. After an incompletion to Pickens, the Steelers faced fourth and two from their own 49-yard line and Trubisky missed Johnson, who was looking for a flag, deep down the field.
New England got the ball back over midfield, needing only to kill 2:01 and the Steelers had just one timeout and the two-minute warning to help them do that. The Patriots ran off 1:29 before being forced to punt after a failed quarterback sneak on third and one.
The Steelers got the ball back with 25 seconds left on their own 13 yard line and after a long completion to Johnson, last gasp attempt at a scoring pass fell short, securing the Steelers' sixth loss and New England's third win.
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