Steelers fall to Patriots again in AFC Championship game
Steelers defenders chase Patriots wide receiver Chris Hogan Sunday night during the second half of the AFC championship game.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger looks at the sideline during the first half of the AFC championship game against the Patriots Sunday.
Patriots safety Patrick Chung tackles Steelers tight end Jesse James short of the goal line during the first half of the AFC championship game Sunday night.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Tom Brady didn’t have Rob Gronkowski with which to torture the Steelers.
Instead, he used Chris Hogan.
Hogan, a little-known fourth-year receiver from Monmouth College, had the game of a lifetime Sunday against the Steelers, catching nine passes for a New England-record 180 yards and two first-half touchdowns as the Patriots routed the Steelers, 36-17, in the AFC Championship game.
With the victory, New England’s third over Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship and first since the 2004 season, the Patriots became the first AFC team to advance to the Super Bowl nine times. The Patriots stopped the Steelers from accomplishing the same feat.
And it was Hogan catching passes from Brady that did most of the damage.
Hogan, who had 38 receptions for 680 yards and four touchdowns in the regular season, did his best to make like the injured Gronkowski, who had eight touchdowns in five career games against the Steelers.
Brady, who improved to 8-2 in his career against the Steelers, found Hogan and wide receiver Julian Edelman again and again. Edelman also had more than 100 receiving yards on eight catches, and Brady completed 32 of 42 passes for a team playoff record 384 yards and three touchdowns.
The Steelers couldn’t keep up, especially after losing running back Le’Veon Bell late in the first quarter to a groin injury. Bell, who had rushed for 337 yards in Pittsburgh’s first two playoff games, left this one with only 20 yards on six carries.
“I’m not even sure what happened,” said Bell, who admitted his groin had been tight in recent weeks. “I don’t know if it was the way that I was tackled or the turf, but I just couldn’t go. I couldn’t be myself. It was like I was running 50 percent out there. At that point, I knew I couldn’t go.”
The Patriots struck first on the opening drive, using a 41-yard catch-and-run by Edelman, who slipped a tackle attempt by rookie cornerback Artie Burns, to set up a 31-yard Stephen Gostkowski field goal for a 3-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.
After the teams traded punts, the Patriots put together another quick-strike drive with Brady completing four passes to Hogan, including a 16-yard TD that gave New England a 10-0 lead.
The Steelers answered with a touchdown drive of their own but lost Bell along the way.
Bell was stopped for no gain on the second play of the possession and was replaced by backup DeAngelo Williams.
Williams gave the Steelers a spark, gaining 25 yards on four carries and catching two passes for nine yards. He scored on a 5-yard TD run but Chris Boswell missed the PAT and the Steelers trailed 10-6 early in the second quarter.
Hogan hurt the Steelers again on the next possession, catching a 21-yard pass down the sideline and then hauling in a 34-yard touchdown on a flea flicker with safety Mike Mitchell trailing to make it 17-6 with 7:43 remaining in the second quarter.
The Steelers appeared to score a touchdown on their next possession after tight end Jesse James dove to get across the goal line on a 19-yard catch. But replay showed he was just short of the goal line. Williams was stopped twice for losses and Roethlisberger missed wide receiver Eli Rogers with a third-down pass and the Steelers settled for a Boswell field goal that trimmed New England’s lead to 17-9.
“We’d like to score a touchdown with the ball on the 1,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, who fell to 2-1 in AFC Championship games.
“We weren’t able to do it. It was still a one-possession game, but it would have been significant to get the seven. We didn’t.”
The Steelers got the ball to open the second half but failed to generate a first down. That proved costly as the Patriots tacked on another Gostkowski field goal, this one from 47 yards to take a 20-9 lead.
The Steelers drove to the New England 39 on their next possession but Roethlisberger missed Darrius Heyward-Bey on a deep pass into the end zone on second down and James couldn’t hold onto a third-down pass.
Brady again made the Steelers pay for their offensive failures, directing an 88-yard touchdown drive capped by a 1-yard LeGarrette Blount run to make it 27-9.
Things went from bad to worse on the next possession as Rogers fumbled on the first play from scrimmage and Rob Ninkovich recovered, giving the Patriots the ball at the Steelers’ 28.
Four plays later, Brady threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Edelman on third-and-goal. Though Gostkowski missed the PAT, the Patriots led 33-9 with 1:35 remaining in the third quarter.
The Steelers drove to the New England 2 early in the fourth quarter, but a Roethlisberger TD pass to Cobi Hamilton was negated because Hamilton had stepped out of bounds before catching the ball. Then, on fourth down, Hamilton could not come down with a fade pass.
The Patriots later turned a Roethlisberger interception by Eric Rowe into a 26-yard field goal by Gostkowski for a 36-9 lead.
Roethlisberger, who finished with 314 passing yards, came back to Hamilton for a touchdown pass with 3:36 remaining and threw a two-point conversion to Williams to make it 36-17, but it was too little, too late.
“Not a lot went our way, not only in terms of the final score, but how the game was played,” Tomlin said. “They’re to be complimented for that. We didn’t get the things done that we normally get done on offense, defense and special teams in consistent enough fashion for it to be competitive and close.”
Tight end Ladarius Green and wide receiver DeMarcus Ayers were among the Steelers’ inactives. … There were no penalties called in the first half of the game despite the teams combining to run 69 plays. … Antonio Brown, Rogers and Williams each caught seven passes for the Steelers. … The Steelers are 8-8 in AFC Championship games. … Lawrence Timmons had 14 tackles for the Steelers. … Brady and head coach Bill Belichick will be going to their seventh Super Bowl together. They are 4-2 in the Super Bowl.