Steelers Dominate Patriots; Take Control of 2nd Seed
STEELERS 33Hey folks, I think the Steelers are healthy again. Now you know why I will never commit to saying that a team like the Jets or Titans are better than them. The Steelers not only beat up a good Patriots team, they blew them out in a rainy and cold Foxboro Stadium and let it be known that they are, indeed, the second best team in football behind the New York Giants.
Trailing 10-3 in the second quarter, the Steelers wasted no time in getting back into this game. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was picture perfect on the a game tying scoring drive. He was five for five on the drive for 42 yards and a touchdown. On the tenth play of the drive, Roethlisberger hit a wide open Santonio Holmes in the end zone from 19 yards out to tie the game at 10.
In the third quarter, the Steelers imposed their will on New England. With Pittsburgh up 13-10, the Patriots fumbled the kickoff, giving Pittsburgh the football at the New England 15. Two plays later, Roethlisberger hit Hienes Ward from 11 yards out for the touchdown to give Pittsburgh a 20-10 lead.
The Patriots could not protect quarterback Matt Cassel from the Steelers heavy blitz packages. First, he was sacked and stripped of the football by James Harrison. Lamar Woodley recovered it at the Patriots 29 yard line. The Steelers ended up kicking a field goal to take a 23-10 lead.
In the fourth, Cassel was picked off by Troy Polamalu, who returned the ball 23 yards to set the Steelers up at the Pats 34 yard line. The Steelers once again settled for a field goal to extend the lead to 26-10.
The Steelers finally put the nail in the coffin after Larry Timmons picked off Cassel and brought the ball all the way back for a 89 yard gain to the Patriots one yard line. Greg Russell took it in from there extending Pittsburgh's dominating lead to 33-10.
Pittsburgh improves to 9-3 on the year, keeping pace with the 8-4 Ravens in the AFC North and keeping the Jets (8-4) away from the number two seed.
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