FOURTH QUARTER
PITT 15:00
101) FG - 49 yards GOOD
NEW ENGLAND 17, PITTSBURGH 12
NE 14:42
102) KOR - Enforced Touchback
103) Ashton -1 yard run (Holmes)
104) Ashton 2 yard run (Holmes)
105) Plunkett -10 yards sacked (Rowser)
106) Punt - 33 yards (PR - Edwards 0 yards) (Cunningham)
PITT 12:21
107) Pearson -7 yard run (Cash)
108) Pearson 13 yard catch from Bradshaw (Anderson)
109) Pearson -1 yard run (Kiner)
110) FG - 61 yards NO GOOD
NE 10:18
111) Cunningham 6 yard catch from Plunkett (Rowser)
112) Ashton 1 yard run (Edwards)
113) Plunkett inc.
114) Plunkett inc.
* Patriots go for it on 4th-and-3 from the Steelers 42 and come up empty.
PITT 8:32
115) Bleier 0 yard run (Adams)
116) Pearson -3 yard run (Cash)
117) Lewis 13 yard catch from Bradshaw (Boyd) FUMBLED/LOST
NE 7:04
118) Ashton -1 yard run (Blount)
119) Ashton 1 yard run (Toews)
120) Plunkett inc. + PITT 15 Penalty!
121) Ashton 1 yard run (Greenwood)
122) Plunkett inc.
123) Ashton 1 yard run
124) FG - 52 yards NO GOOD
PITT 4:07
125) Davis 16 yard catch from Bradshaw (Anderson)
126) Shanklin 37 yard catch from Bradshaw
127) PITT 5 Penalty
128) Pearson 10 yard catch from Bradshaw TOUCHDOWN (run failed)
* New England's DBs had been in shutdown mode all day, but on this drive, Bradshaw had 3/4 targets to choose from each play. New England pays for not adding to the lead earlier.
PITTSBURGH 18, NEW ENGLAND 17
NE 2:38
129) KOR - Ashton 52 yards (Toews)
130) Ashton -5 yard run (Dockery)
131) Plunkett inc.
132) Plunkett inc.
133) Plunkett INTERCEPTED (Edwards - 7 yard return)
* All looked lost for the Patriots here, but they still had 3 time outs.
PITT 1:36
134) Pearson 0 yard run (Chandler) (TIME OUT - NE)
135) Pearson -13 yard run (TIME OUT - NE)
* Pearson was centimeters from breaking this, but never got off his block and finally turned at the PITT 5.
136) Bradshaw inc.
* Terry throws it away, as he had just one eligible receiver, and that was by centimeters. Otherwise, he would have had to scramble out of the end zone to avoid a safety and coverage sack (which would have been a safety, too).
137) Punt - 47 yards (PR - Kiner 5 yards (Davis))
NE 0:24
138) Plunkett inc.
139) Plunkett inc.
140) Plunkett inc,
* It was hail mary time with 8 seconds left, and amazingly, Herron had managed to wind his way through the Steelers defense to the end zone. But he was nearly 65 yards away from Plunkett, and the pass, with plenty of zip, missed Herron to the right. Ironically, both Plunkett and Bradshaw had been missing passes to the left all day. The two earlier incompletions were as a result of the dice, as Plunkett missed on chances to hit open receivers around the Pittsburgh 30, which could have set up the winning field goal. It was go for broke on the final play, however, and Plunkett nearly fractured the Steelers - but not on this day.
Pittsburgh (1-0) 18, New England (0-1) 17.
PIT 6 3 0 9 - 18
NE 0 7 10 0 - 17
Time of Possession: NE 29:01; PITT 30:59
Rushing: NE 1; PITT 29
Passing: NE 95; PITT 196
Total Yards: NE 96; PITT 225
Total Plays: NE 57; PITT 57
First Downs: NE 6; PITT 10
Turnovers: NE 2; PITT 4
Penalties: NE 1-15; PITT 3-35
Individual Stats - New England:
Rushing: Plunkett 2-7; Cunningham 7-0; Tarver 3-(-16); Ashton 18-10.
Passing: Plunkett 8-of-26, 105 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT; 1 sack, -10 yards.
Receiving: Ashton 4-19 (1 TD); Cunningham 2-6; Herron 1-48; Windsor 1-32 (1 TD).
Tackles: Rucker 1; Mason 1; Cash 3; Herron 1; Rowe 2-1 PAT block; Chandler 5; Kiner 4; Boyd 9; Anderson 7; Acks 2-2 INT (13 & 0 yards); Bolton 1; Martin 1; Hamilton 3-1 FF-1 FR; Vataha 1; Adams 2; Hoey 1; Cunningham 1
Individual Stats - Pittsburgh:
Rushing: Harris 5-0; Bleier 2-1; P. Pearson 20-28 (1 TD).
Passing: Bradshaw 17-of-29, 198 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT; 1 sack, -2 yards.
Receiving: Lewis 4-45; Shanklin 2-46; P. Pearson 7-57 (1 TD); B. Pearson 1-(-7); Davis 1-16.
Tackles: Ham 6; Greenwood 4; Meyer 1; Holmes 7; White 3-1 INT (3 yards); Edwards 2-1 INT (7 yards); Toews 4; Wagner 1; Blount 2; Brown 1; Greene 1; Rowser 2-1 sack (10 yards); Dockery 1; Davis 1.
GAME NOTES:
* New England were held to just 10 yards in the second half, on 30 plays.
* The Patriots almost must win their last two to make Super Bowl I.
* The Patriots' defense was a team effort early. The first 9 tackles were made by 9 different players. But safeties Boyd and Anderson ended up combining for 16 stops.
* I have a hard time thinking the defenses I did up for Denver and San Francisco are going to be this good. If PITT and NE avoid incompletions and killer mistakes on offense, they could well meet again in Super Bowl I.
* The timing system might need tweaking. As much as I enjoyed the game and loved having an Alcoa Fantastic Finish, 140 plays was a bit much. I'll see what the DEN/SF game runs before making any decisions.
Roo
