Week 15 Live Blog: Patriots vs. Steelers

Welcome to Week 15  of the NFL regular season, and we have finally reached the day we’ve been waiting for since the NFL schedule was released. Patriots vs. Steelers, Week 15, winner most likely gets home-field throughout the playoffs. This is the Game of the Year in the AFC, and we promise to give you every update possible, and we won’t be shy with opinions either, good or bad. We’ll have inactives posted in 15 minutes.

Inactives

Patriots- DL Alan Branch, DB Brandon King, LB Kyle Van Noy, WR Chris Hogan, RB Mike Gillislee, DE Geneo Grissom, G Cole Croston

Steelers- QB Joshua Dobbs, T Matt Felier, DT Daniel McCullers, TE Vance McDonald, WR Justin Hunter, CB Joe Haden, S J.J. Wilcox

FIRST QUARTER

15:00- The Steelers will get the ball first, which is exactly what the Patriots want. 1st & 10, Steelers, from the Patriots 12.

14:30- Bell gain 17 on the first play. Not good. 1st & 10…

14:07- Bell picks up five more, this time on the ground. 2nd & 6…

13:29- Holding on DeCastro, 2nd & 16…

12:55- 7-yard run by Bell, 3rd & 8…

12:18- Chung with a nice pass breakup, forcing the Steelers to punt on their first series. New England will start at their own 20. Good job by the defense, with an assist on the holding penalty.

11:58- 14-yard gain by Lewis on the catch, 1st & 10 from the Patriots 36…

11:42- Dorsett for a gain of four on the catch, 2nd & 6…

10:58- Five-yard run by Lewis, big 3rd & 1…

10:20- Brady drew the Steelers defensive line into the neutral zone, giving the Patriots the 1st down. 1st & 10 from the 50.

10:09- Brandin Cooks picks up 43 on the play, 1st & Goal…

9:30- Five yard gain on the run by Lewis, 2nd & Goal from the Steelers two…

9:00- Touchdown, Patriots!! Rex Burkhead slams it in behind the James Develin block, and the Patriots do exactly what they want to do to open this game- make a stop, and then get a touchdown of their own. The loss of Shazier and Haden is hurting the Pittsburgh defense. Patriots 7, Steelers 0

8:54- Smith-Schuster takes the kickoff out to the Pittsburgh 31, a strong return when facing New England.

8:45- Bell makes another 13-yard catch to start the drive. 1st & 10…

8:11- Five yard catch & run by Brown, 2nd & 5…

7:48- Lawrence Guy with a strong play, makes the tackle on Bell after no gain. 3rd & 5…

7:08- Brown with the gain of 19 on the reception; Pittsburgh is putting together a strong drive. 1st & 10 from the Patriots 31.

6:21- 3rd & 10 after another incomplete pass, but Big Ben made a touch throw to Juju on 3rd to pick up the 1st down.

5:32- Touchdown, Steelers. The Steelers had ineligible men downfield, which was flagged, but the officials picked up the flag for some odd reason. Strong drive by Pittsburgh, and like I stated earlier in the week, this game has the makings of a shootout. Patriots 7, Steelers 7

5:21- Gronk picks up two on the catch, 2nd & 8…

4:49- Nine yard run by Lewis to pick up the 1st down. 1st & 10…

4:07- Brady sacked for a loss of eight; horrible blocking, and the Steelers man to man coverage is working on this series so far.

3:20- White picks up three on the catch, 3rd & 15…

2:44- The Patriots will punt after a five yard catch by Burkhead; New England needs to do a better job up front if they want to win this game. Steelers take over at their own 23.

1:40- 15-yard gain by Juju, 1st & 10…

:00- At the end of the first quarter, the Steelers and Patriots are tied at seven. Pittsburgh is facing a 3rd & 8. Both defenses had good and bad moments, same goes for the offenses, which is to be expected when the two best teams in the conference face-off. Patriots 7, Steelers 7

SECOND QUARTER

15:00- Terrible coverage by Gilmore on Bryant, who picks up 39 yards on the pass. That just can’t happen, Gilmore was brought in specifically to take guys like him away. 1st & 10, Steelers.

14:10- Steelers called for OPI, 1st & 20 from the Patriots 27.

13:43- Three yard gain by Bell, 2nd & 17.

13:00- Roethlisberger almost finds Brown for a touchdown, but he couldn’t hold on. Brown injured his calf on the play; if he is out, that is a HUGE loss. 3rd & 18 from the 25….

12:49- Sack by Wise for a loss of eight, 4th & 26….

12:15- 51-yard field goal gives the Steelers the lead, something that doesn’t happen often in this series. The Brown injury is obviously a huge development to keep an eye on. Steelers 10, Patriots 7

12:02- 12 yard catch by Amendola, 1st & 10 from the 36.

11:38- 31 yard catch by Gronk, 1st & 10 from the Steelers 33…

11:13- Incomplete pass to Cooks, 2nd & 10…

11:04- Kenny Britt with the seven yard gain, 3rd & 3…

10:24- Amendola gain 10 & a 1st down for New England; 1st & 10 from the Steelers 14…

9:53- No gain on 1st down for Lewis, 2nd & 10 from the 14…

9:18- Timeout, Patriots. Brady didn’t like what he saw, so he does the smart thing on a big possession. The Patriots need seven here.

9:13- Brady had Hollister, but he let it go to late, forcing Hollister to have to turn back for it. 3rd & 10…

9:08- Looked like miscommunication on that play, forcing the Patriots to attempt the field goal.

9:04- Field goal, Patriots. Good defense in the red zone by PIttsburgh, but that was as much the Patriots mistakes as it was the Steelers making plays. Patriots 10, Steelers 10

8:58- Steelers offense takes the field without Brown, who is getting X-rays in the locker room.

8:52- Ten yard run by Bell, 1st & 10…

8:15- One yard gain, 2nd & 9…

7:33- Bell picks up six on the run, 3rd & 3 from the Steelers 38…

6:56- Juju picks up six yards on the catch, giving the Steelers another 1st down.

6:22- Roethlisberger avoids a huge turnover, recovering his own fumble. 2nd & 12, and it is pouring in Pittsburgh.

5:37- Powell gains 10 on the run, making it just 3rd & 2. Bad run defense right there.

4:54- Bell picks up 13, which makes no sense because he was covered. It is one thing to get beat, but you have to at least try to recover. 1st & 10…

4:30- Sack, Patriots. Big Ben loses three on the play. 2nd & 13…

3:22- Five yard gain, strong pass rush by Flowers, 3rd & 8….

2:37- New England can’t stop Pittsburgh in this half, and it continues with that conversion on 3rd down. 1st & 10 from the Patriots 24.

1:56- Bell picks up four on the run, 2nd & 6 from the Patriots 17…

1:45- Bells picks up eight more on the run, 1st & Goal from the nine…

1:06- Bell gains two on the run, 2nd & Goal from the seven…

:30- Bell gains three more, 3rd & Goal from the four…

:25- Touchdown, Steelers. Gilmore should have stayed home because he sure as hell didn’t bring his game to Pittsburgh. Good pass rush, good defense by everyone, except for one guy- Gilmore, who was beat by Bryant again, this time for a huge touchdown. Gilmore has been excellent since the Tampa game, but he is awful tonight. Steelers 17, Patriots 10

:00- The Patriots take a knee, and this disappointing half, from a New England standpoint at least, comes to an end. The Patriots will have the ball to start the 2nd half, and that will be a HUGE possession because it doesn’t look like the Patriots defense can keep Pittsburgh from scoring, be it a touchdown or field goal.

END OF THE 1ST HALF: STEELERS 17, PATRIOTS 10

THIRD QUARTER

15:00- The Patriots offense takes over at the 25. This is a huge series.

14:53- Seven yard gain by Cooks, 2nd & 3…

14:22- Six yard run by Lewis, 1st & 10 from their own 37…

13:44- Allen with the 10 yard catch, 1st & 10 from their own 47…

13:09- Six yard run by Lewis; he is so damn quick. 2nd & 4 from the Steelers 48…

12:33- Gronk with an amazing catch for 22 yards, 1st & 10 from the 25…

11:55- Six yard run by Burkhead, 2nd & 4…

11:19- 3rd & 1 turns into 3rd & 6 on the false start….

10:15- Brady could only get 5 of the 6, 4th & 1….

9:50- Gronk with the 10 yard gain on 4th, huge play. 1st & Goal from the six…

9:11- Burkhead gains one and gets hurt in the process; 2nd & Goal from the five…

8:56- Great pass-breakup on the throw to Gronk, 3rd & Goal, HUGE play…

8:50- Touchdown, Patriots!! Brady hits Cooks on the crossing route as the Patriots run 12 plays and cover 75 yards, BUT, Gostkowski misses the extra point. That could be the difference in the game. WOW, what a huge mistake, and it didn’t appear to be Gostkowski’s fault. Bad snap, bad hold; that just can’t happen in that situation. Steelers 17, Patriots 16

8:43- Bell runs for 18, and the Patriots simply can’t stop him. 1st & 10 from the Steelers 43…

8:08- 15 more for Bell. This is just ugly run defense all over. 1st & 10 from the Patriots 42…

7:32- Flowers gets a pass rush, forcing the incomplete pass; 2nd & 10.

7:25- The d-line finally does their job, stopping Bell for no gain; 3rd & 10…

6:46- Incomplete pass, and the crowd gets all up-in-arms because Bell was tackled on the drop. Settle down, Steeler fans. Amendola made the fair catch at the Patriots 10. The offense will try to put together another long drive to give them the lead. If they score a touchdown, they will almost certainly go for two.

5:46- 1st down catch by Gronkowski, Patriots get out of the shadow of the end zone. 1st & 10 from the New England 15.

5:17- After an incomplete pass, the Patriots face 2nd & 10…

5:10- Eight yard run by Lewis, 3rd & 2…

4:31- Interception, Steelers. That is the first time the Steelers have picked off Brady since 2005, and that was an awful moment for it to happen. Steelers take over at the Patriots 22…

4:25- Five yard gain by Bell that NEVER should have happened. 2nd & 5 from the Patriots 17…

3:47- Bell picks up four more, 3rd & 1 from the 13. Huge play…

3:02- 1st down on a play action pass to Grimble; 1st & Goal, Steelers…

2:08- Bell almost bounced it outside after being bottled up, but the defense was stout. 2nd & Goal from the three…

1:33- Touchdown, Steelers. Elandon Roberts is awful. End of story. Bells runs it in when he should have been blown up in the backfield. Steelers 24, Patriots 16

1:25- 2nd & 10 after the incomplete pass…

1:17- Gronk picks up 16 as he continues to torch the Steelers defense. 1st & 10…

:18- Develin with the drop, makes it 3rd & 9…

:02- Brady gets drilled, nobody is open, and the Steelers are the better team today. Allen with a great punt pins the Steelers back at the three, but with the way Bell is running, it won’t matter. Steelers 24, Patriots 16

:00- And on cue, Bell runs for a gain of eight, a run that also pushes him over 100 yards before even reaching the 4th quarter. The defense needs to sell out to stop the run and trust the secondary to cover; with Brown out, they should be able to slow down this offense, but it simply isn’t happening. After three, the score is Steelers 24, Patriots 16.

FOURTH QUARTER

14:29- 1st & 10, Steelers, after another run by Bell.

14:05- One yard gain, 2nd & 9 from the Patriots 17…

13:33- Juju with a gain of six to make it 3rd & 3. Might as well hand it to Bell…

12:50- The Patriots get pressure, but they can’t cover. No matter what they do, some other area breaks down. This is ugly defense, but with all the injuries, it is not a surprise.

11:37- Bell runs for six more, and the Steelers face 3rd & 4…

10:46- If you can’t catch Big Ben, maybe it simply isn’t your day. 1st down run, makes the Steelers 10 of 13 on 3rd downs today, which is inexcusable.

10:13- Big holding call on Pittsburgh negates a strong run; 1st & 20…

9:41- Gain of two, Steelers facing 2nd & 18. Connors was hurt on the play.

9:30- False start, 2nd & 23…

9:00-Toussaint gains one, 3rd & 21…

8:12- Gain of seven forces the Steelers to punt; that series was doomed by two penalties, and now the Patriots offense has a chance to tie this up. Steelers 24, Patriots 16

7:32- Brady checks to a run which nets them three; 2nd & 7…

6:57- Forward progress looked like a 1st down, but a bad spot equals 3rd & 1…

6:20- Lewis takes it 12 yards to give the Patriots another 1st down. Strong run.

5:39- Lewis runs for seven more, 2nd & 3 from the Steelers 44…

5:02- A 37-yard pass play is wiped off the books because of illegal touching. Tough call, but it happened. 3rd & 3…

4:45- Such on obvious DPI, and the Steelers lose their minds over the call. It was blatant; 1st & 10 from the Steelers 21…

4:41- Incomplete pass to Amendola, 2nd & 10…

4:36- Cooks can’t make the catch on the comeback route, 3rd & 10, huge play….

4:30- Sacked. One of the biggest issues is the lack of protection, and it reared it’s head on that play.

3:56- Field goal, Patriots. Gostkowski comes in and drills a 46 yarder, cutting the lead to five. The defense has a chance to step up and get the ball back for the offense, but they’ll have to do something they haven’t done all night- stop Bell, and stop Big Ben on 3rd down. Here we go.

3:46- One yard gain by Bell on 1st down, 2nd & 9…

3:01- Two Patriots had him wrapped, and he escapes. Awful. 3rd & 4 instead of 3rd and 11…

2:16- The Patriots defense makes the stop! Pittsburgh comes up one yard short, and the Steelers are forced to punt. New England will have the two minute warning and two timeouts to work with.

2:06- Pass was tipped, but Sean Davis couldn’t make the easy pick that would have sealed the game. Wow, that was close. 2nd & 10…

1:55- Gronk gains 26 on the play, Patriots are now at the 50. 1st & 10, two-minute warning.

1:46- Gronk picks up another 26, 1st & 10 from the Steelers 25…

:59- Gronk makes an incredible catch at the Steelers eight yard line; the Patriots are in business, 1st & Goal…

:56- Touchdown, Patriots!! Lewis takes it in for six, and the Patriots will go for two.

:56- It’s good!! Two point conversion on the fade to Gronk, and the Patriots take the three point lead. Pittsburgh has time and one timeout, so this game is far from over. Smart timeout by Pittsburgh after the big play gives them a chance. Patriots 27, Steelers 24

:52- Steelers will start at the 21…

:34- Juju goes for 69, Patriots defense blows it. Pittsburgh has 34 seconds and three plays to score; unbelievable and inexcusable. Sickening.

:28- Steelers thought it was over, but the ball was moving on the catch. 2nd & Goal…

:05- Interception, Patriots!! Unbelievable. Duron Harmon makes the play on the deflection, and even after giving up the gross play to Juju, they made a play when it was there.

FINAL SCORE- NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 27, PITTSBURGH STEELERS 24

Thank you for joining us today in what was one of the best Patriots/Steelers game in a long time. New England is now in the drivers seat for home field, they’re AFC East Champs again, and if they can take care of business against the Bills and Jets, the road to the Super Bowl will go through Foxboro yet again. Can’t wait until next week, be sure to come back and check us out again. Have a great night, Patriots fans.