Bledsoe, a three-time Pro Bowl selection who turns 30 next month, still did what few backups could do in a championship game -- enter with the experience and arm of one of the better starters in the NFL. I've been working hard and preparing for this exact scenario. The Steelers had their chances late in the game, but Kordell Stewart threw two interceptions in the final three minutes after Pittsburgh had cut into an point deficit and trailed only by a touchdown.
Pittsburgh running back Jerome Bettis , who returned after being out eight weeks with a groin injury, carried nine times for just 8 yards, forcing Stewart to try to carry the team. Bledsoe filled that role well for the Patriots late in the first half when Brady went down with an injured left leg. Nobody on our sideline was celebrating when Brady went out.
In addition to the TD pass, Bledsoe put the Patriots in position for Adam Vinatieri 's fourth-quarter field goal and allowed his team to hold the ball enough to avoid constant pressure late in the game as the Steelers tried to complete their comeback. New England, which went from in to this regular season, heads to its third Super Bowl, in New Orleans next Sunday. The Patriots also went in and , and both times they lost in New Orleans -- to the Chicago Bears , and to the Green Bay Packers with Bledsoe at quarterback.
Bledsoe got a lot of help Sunday from some old-timers, like linebackers Willie McGinest and Ted Johnson , who shut down Pittsburgh's running backs to just 19 total yards. What They're Saying: Buffalo Bills. How We Got Here: Patriots path to the playoffs As the Patriots prepare for a Wild Card Weekend matchup with the Buffalo Bills, take a look back at how the team got to the playoffs, from offseason acquisitions to pregame speeches, highlight plays and postgame celebrations.
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Kris Brown 30 yard field goal. Antwan Harris 49 yard blocked field goal return Adam Vinatieri kick. Jerome Bettis 1 yard rush Kris Brown kick. Amos Zereoue 11 yard rush Kris Brown kick. And for so many of them from both locker rooms, it was going to be a rematch of the AFC Championship Game. During that regular season, the Steelers and the Patriots were a combined , and based on what each had done to some of the other top competition around the league, this game would pit the two best teams in the NFL.
For the Steelers, the season had turned on the play of their rookie quarterback. A team coming off a record, a team that had been seen as a potential division contender when the season opened, had managed to put together a game winning streak. A significant factor in this run was Ben Roethlisberger, who became the first quarterback in NFL history to win his first 13 starts and did it while shattering Dan Marino's rookie records.
In head-to-head matchups during the regular season, Roethlisberger had outplayed Brady, Donovan McNabb, Carson Palmer, Jeff Garcia and Eli Manning, and come the postseason the praise was coming from everywhere. I'm very excited about the fact that it looks like the Steelers have someone they can depend on to lead the team for the next 14 years.
In his first year, Roethlisberger's completion percentage was That's something he has going for him that a lot of guys today don't have. The other thing that's impressive is that he's not turning the ball over. That's the biggest thing, as far as young quarterbacks are concerned, that you have to deal with and worry about.
As the regular season wore on, however, Roethlisberger's interception total grew. He finished the regular season with only 11 interceptions, but five of those came in his final three starts, and then he had thrown two more in the AFC Divisional Playoff win over the New York Jets. But still, the Steelers were favored to win this AFC Championship Game, with much of that sentiment stemming from the ease with which the Steelers had handled New England during the regular season.
In an Oct. Duce Staley and Jerome Bettis combined for yards rushing; Plaxico Burress caught two touchdown passes; Roethlisberger finished the day with a passer rating of Patriots running back Corey Dillon had been injured and missed the regular season game, and during that afternoon New England also had lost cornerback Ty Law and left tackle Matt Light.
Dillon would play in this game, but the Steelers historically had been able to contain a quality running back in a big game; Light was back, but Law's injury had been season-ending.
ESPN's Merril Hoge predicted a winning score in the low 20s, and he believed that for the Patriots to win their offense would have to be able to attack the Steelers defense deep down the field and hit some big plays. The day of the game brought a temperature of degrees with a wind chill of minus-1, and Roethlisberger started out as cold as the temperature.
A playoff game at Heinz Field always presents an electric atmosphere for the home team throughout the entire build-up to the opening kickoff. Then, it crescendos from there, which can serve to uplift the home team to a level where the visitor is left struggling to weather the emotional tidal wave. But that only happens if the home team is able to cooperate and not make critical, emotionally-draining mistakes early in the game.
The Steelers received the opening kickoff and on the first third-down situation of the game, Roethlisberger's pass for Antwaan Randle El was intercepted by safety Eugene Wilson.
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