You're right, they did look like shit. Yet they still won by 18, put up 34 against ladies best defense (more than they showed all year) and only allowed 16,13 of which were direct results of turnovers. I'll take it.

Atlanta - New England is what Vegas is saying and I'd say they're right (Atlanta 32-28, NE 28-23)

HOW BOUT DEM STEELERS
#herewego
#wizardofBoz
#Juiceisloose
#buisnessisboomin

PIT should have won that game by a milestone, we dominated possession, offense etc, but our WRs could not get open in red zone, KC has good CBs, for the Pats, our defense needs to play like that, and hold that Pats to under 20 points hopefully, and our offense needs to play like they did against Miami

Boswell though, 2 games with 5+ FGs this season

Problem is, Alex Smith is no Tom Brady. I don't see Pitt being able to keep Brady and NE under 20. Only Denver managed that this season and Pitt D is a far cry from Denver. Pitt HAS to turn this field goals into touchdowns to stand a change against NE. They also can't be so reliant on Bell and Brown (75% of yards yesterday) since NE scheme will likely take one of them away.

If this were in Pittsburgh I'd give the Steelers good odds but Ben's home/road splits are so miserable I just don't see it happening

Very true on home/away split.

Pats and Steelers played back in week 7 @HeinzField, Pats won 27-16. That game was also with Landry Jones(PIts backup QB), and Pats had Gronk. Blount also went off for 2Tds and 130 yards, while Bell was held to only 81.

I think its gonna be closer then people think, and hope we get the W. gonna go out to see this one.

Fuck Green Bay, fuck Atlanta. My 2nd and 3rd favorite teams are in the AFC championship, so as long as the AFC wins the Super Bowl, idc

lol, Blackhawks88(PS Love Kaner, but Hjalmarsson is my favorite), is that cause your a desperate bears fan?

this season is a joke. steelers, patriots or falcons will win the super bowl? lol? i can't even root for one of them.

the Generally Awares I guess. just to piss off Goodell.

Sweet Jesus, Ben. You have officially passed your prime, I'd say. With his poor accuracy, Coates' and Brown's drops, and Referee pandering in large favor to the Pats, the Steelers stood no chance.

Personal foul. Touching Brady, defense. 15 yard penalty. Automatic Patriots win.

Gives me a break. Steelers got outclassed. Period. Officiating had absolutely nothing to do with it. The biggest call was an obvious helmet shot by Shazier on Edelman on a 2nd and 5. There were only 5 penalties called. Officials let them play.

Or did you expect the officials to hand Pittsburgh the game and are disappointed they didn't?

Gives me a break. Steelers got outclassed.

"Sweet Jesus, Ben. You have officially passed your prime, I'd say. With his poor accuracy, Coates' and Brown's drops..."

Officiating had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Bullshit. I'm not talking about penalties called, I'm talking about the penalties not called, and the bad rulings of plays. Pats were offsides offensively and defensively throughout the game without being called on it. There was some good defensive holding that was let go, as well. Brady's obvious fumble and the Steelers' visible recovery being disregarded was huge. Stop denying that the refs like to suck Patriot dick.

edit: That synchronized celebration right in front of the ref didn't get called, either. I can forego that one, because it's the playoffs, but it doesn't help your case.

Edited 1/23/2017 15:19:28

Hate to break it to you but Brady's forearm was clearly down:
https://twitter.com/mshamburger1/status/823346656192106497


If that qualifies as an 'obvious fumble' then I don't know what the hell qualifies as being down by contact... Certainly nowhere close to enough evidence to overrule the call on the field. If you're hitching your complaints to a borderline call like that then you have no real complaint at all.

And the lack of calls went both ways. The first Pitt scoring drive was extended by a 16yd completion on 3rd-10 to Rogers where James was blocking ten yards downfield before the pass was thrown. Blatant OPI that went uncalled, allowing Pitt to extend the drive.

Definitely some clutching going on (as there is every game) but you are the first I've heard complaining about offsides, including national and Pitt-centric media...

Edit - Don't know which celebration you're referencing. The Blount TD?

Edited 1/23/2017 15:27:32

did u see the TOTAL Holding against Harrison when Hogan had the TD...no...clearly refs didnt...GAHA i hate the patriots

Here is my reason why we lost
-Rain(WRs couldnt catch)
-No Lev(no run game(sorry Williams)
-Big Ben playing like crap
-Lack of sleep(thanks dunk boston man)
-In Foxbourough(always tough)
-Secondary.Played.Like.Shit.

refs sucked but not main reason why we lost

Strange... the NE receivers didn't seem to have any issue catching the ball... I guess it only rained hard during Pitt possessions

Losing Bell was a major setback.

I wouldn't blame secondary but the DC. Played the same zone scheme they always have against Brady and he always shreds it. Zero alteration from them. Also zero preparation - were stunned by flea flicker even though NE used it this season against Baltimore

Losing Bell was a blessing. He was injured from a previous game and wasn't getting any yards, himself. Williams came on and did a good job while NE was figuring out Pitt's moves.

But after that, the Steelers fell into the same stupid running plays, and when I say plays, I mean play. If the team would have tried running it anywhere other than up the middle, Pitt might have had some handoff yards.

Pittsburgh was outplayed no question. New England was better is a well oiled machine, Pittsburgh is a mess. They have the talent, but since the steel curtain broke several years ago, they have lacked any consistency. Why? When someone knows how to slow down your defense, and you have a lackluster defense at times, downright awful at others, you will eventually see them humiliated. That's what happened in Foxborough.

As a Patriots fan, I am very happy to see that the Patriots won, but I was disappointed that the game wasn't a good one. Big Ben vs. Brady in the AFC championship should be a game for the decade. Unfortunately, the Steelers didn't put a good enough defense to give him a chance and I have to hope the Falcons provide the competition the Seahawks provided for us two years ago.

P.S.
Blaming the refs is so cliched.

GO PATRIOTS

My favorite bit about that flea-flicker was Mike Mithcell's response to it...

Mike Mitchell said a flea-flicker wasn't on film study. "We were expecting some type of trick plays...like screen-and-gos and what not."

https://twitter.com/JFowlerESPN/status/823388560753627136

New England used the very same flea flicker with the ball going to Hogan against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 14. You'd THINK the Steelers would pay attention to a game played against a division rival. no? A well-coached team certainly would have done so...

P.S.
Blaming the refs is so cliched.

Okay, I pointed to more important factors than the refs pandering.

Never said you didn't, I'm just saying that fans blame the refs way too much. Living in Texas, all I heard was how the Cowboys were cheated. I didn't realize the refs scored 21 unanswered points to start the game.

That being said, this is so satisfying.

Refs should be treated like streakers by the cameras: they should not be wearing clothes.

The Refs should face fines of their own if they consistently suck in a game.