The legend grows. Tom Brady completed his last 12 passes, never missing in the fourth quarter. The New England Patriots came from behind, and Adam Vinatieri kicked the winning field goal.
If the Pittsburgh Steelers or anybody else is going to stop the Patriots from winning their third Super Bowl in a row, somebody is going to have to change the script.
The Steelers thought they had done it Sunday, leading for most of the AFC title rematch until falling 23-20. Even after the Patriots had dominated the fourth quarter, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger rallied his team to a 20-20 tie and looked like he was going to avoid the first regular-season loss of his career.
There were 1 minute 21 seconds to play, and the Patriots had no timeouts. Steelers fans were screaming and the Patriots looked vulnerable.
“We’ve seen that before,” Brady said. “I looked up and said, `What more could you want?'”
Brady found Kevin Faulk for 17 yards and Patrick Pass for 14. Suddenly the Patriots were at the Steelers’ 31 with 57 seconds to play. They sent Corey Dillon up the middle for no gain and the Steelers called a timeout.
Brady found David Givens for 6 yards, and the Patriots let the clock run. It was only third down; Brady could have spiked it. But Vinatieri ran onto the field, and the game-winner went through from 43 yards with one second left. Ho-hum.
“The most clutch kicker in the history of football bangs it through,” Brady said.
Vinatieri, who has won the last two Super Bowls with kicks, said he wasn’t thinking about how close he had to get before he was in range.
“We were going to kick it no matter what the distance,” Vinatieri said. “We bled the clock. There was always overtime.”
Patriots tight end Christian Fauria said Brady ran into the locker room saying, “They hate us. They hate us here.”
“They do,” Brady confirmed. “It’s kind of fun.”
For most of three quarters, the Patriots were frustrated. Safety Rodney Harrison and tackle Matt Light were taken off in motorized carts with leg injuries and are out indefinitely.
In eight possessions after an opening touchdown drive, the Patriots had punted four times, fumbled twice, threw an interception and missed a field goal.
With rookie guard Logan Mankins and tackle Nick Kaczur protecting Brady’s backside against the blitzing Steelers, the Patriots went to multiple tight ends and maximum protection. Brady couldn’t exploit his usual number of receivers.
On one series, Givens ran a long pattern and Brady threw short. On the next series, Brady threw long and Super Bowl MVP Deion Branch cut his pattern short.
The Patriots had lost last week at Carolina and must play San Diego at home this week before traveling to Atlanta and Denver the next two weeks of their killer schedule. They didn’t want to be 1-2.
“We weren’t going to lose our poise,” Branch said.
“We lost last week,” linebacker Mike Vrabel said. “We had to bounce back. It so happened it was the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
“We were going to somehow win this game,” Givens said.
Behind 13-7 late in the third quarter, they scored on their last four possessions–a 48-yard field goal by Vinatieri, a 7-yard run by Dillon, and field goals of 35 and 43.
Brady was 12-for-12 for 168 yards in the fourth quarter and explained it this way: “My guys made some great plays. The only thing a quarterback wants is for guys to be open. If they get open, I’ll find them.”
It was left to coach Bill Belichick to give Brady some credit: “In the end, Tom made some good throws.”
Realizing home field for the playoffs could be on the line like it was last year when the Steelers beat the Patriots in Week 8 and hosted the AFC title game, this was an unusually intense game for Week 3.
Roethlisberger injured his left shoulder on a blitz and returned but had several balls sail high.
The Patriots started the game without injured cornerbacks Randall Gay and Tyrone Poole and then lost Harrison after the safety had been in on the first three plays of the game.
“He’s the guy who gets them going,” Roethlisberger said. “I think they probably played even more inspired when he went down. They started losing guys on offense and defense, and we didn’t take advantage.”
Roethlisberger answered the Patriots’ opening score with an 85-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward, then guided a 51-yard drive and hit Ward from 4 yards to tie it at the end. But the Steelers left too much time, 1:21.
“Brady has been there before,” Steelers coach Bill Cowher said. “Unfortunately, he did what he’s done many times before.”
Belichick seemed undaunted by the injuries to Harrison and Light.
“Rodney is one of our leaders,” Belichick said. “If he’s out, the next guy’s in. It’s what we’ve had to deal with.”
Counting playoffs, Roethlisberger is now 16-2, his only two losses to the Patriots.
“I told Tom [Brady] that if I was a coach, that’s who I’d want on the field,” Roethlisberger said. “I had all the confidence in the world in our defense, and I’d still take our defense next time.”
There is likely to be a next time.
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dpierson@tribune.com
