With AFC North clinched, Steelers turn sole focus to dethroning Patriots

Lorenzo Reyes | USA TODAY

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PITTSBURGH – They needed a play, so they looked to the man who has made them all season long.

Facing a two-point deficit in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s game against the Baltimore Ravens, the Pittsburgh Steelers again fed receiver Antonio Brown. His 34-yard catch against single coverage put Pittsburgh in field goal position.

Kicker Chris Boswell drained the game-winning 36-yard attempt that set up the 39-38 victory. A strip sack by linebacker T.J. Watt on the game’s final play sealed it.

With it, the Steelers (11-2) won their eighth game in a row, clinched the AFC North and maintained their hold of the conference’s top seed. Their focus, however, must now shift elsewhere, and quickly.

Awaiting them next is the nemesis New England Patriots (10-2), who play the Miami Dolphins on the road Monday night. The battle, which will also be here at Heinz Field, could determine home-field advantage throughout the postseason. It could be a preview of the AFC Championship Game.

“This is the game everyone has been waiting to see,” Steelers safety Mike Mitchell said. “We’re going to show up and fight. Obviously it’s got a lot of history to it. I’ve been thinking about this game since we lost it last year. Very much look forward to playing them. Tom Brady is the G.O.A.T. I tip my hat to him. He is the G.O.A.T.

“And for us to be the champs, we have to beat the champs.”

The problem for Pittsburgh is that to beat the defending Super Bowl champions and end a recent history of losing to New England, the group will need to play a lot better than it did against the Ravens.

After falling behind on a pair of Le'Veon Bell touchdowns, Baltimore started its surge. The Ravens, not counting a kickoff return that ended the first half, scored on their following five possessions in a row.

Spanning from the 9:07 mark in the second quarter through the 12:16 mark in the fourth, Baltimore outscored Pittsburgh 31-6.

After scoring on their first four possessions, the Steelers ran only 11 plays on their next three drives, gaining just 21 yards and punting every time.

Pittsburgh tackled poorly, gave up 5.8 yards per carry and got their only sack on Flacco on the last play of the game.

“It wasn’t pretty,” Steelers defensive end Stephon Tuitt told USA TODAY Sports. “But we got it done. We know what’s at stake next week. And we know that the pressure is not going to be easy. We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing and pick each other up.”

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Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completed 44 of 66 passes – setting single-game career highs for both marks – for 506 yards and two touchdowns. Bell scored three total touchdowns and gained 155 yards from scrimmage. Brown caught 11 passes for 213 yards.

Said Roethlisberger of all the yards: “We needed every one of them.”

That leads to the big question now confronting the Steelers, who have won their last three on game-winning field goals. Can they afford to fall behind against the Patriots?

Crazy as it might sound, the Steelers feel it doesn’t matter.

“We can win a shootout against anybody,” Bell said. “Our offense has a lot of playmakers. We have one of the best players in the league in Antonio Brown, making plays on the outside. We have an offensive line doing what they do upfront. I make my plays here and there. I feel like we can score points whenever we need to.

“We scored 39 today not playing our best. So, yeah, I think we can win a shootout against anybody.”

The celebration for the division title, however, will be short-lived.

Including the playoffs, Brady is 10-2 against Pittsburgh. Most recent are a pair of defeats last season: one in Week 9 and the other in the AFC title game.

The next is for supremacy in the AFC.

“Man, I feel like we’ve been able to beat every team in the NFL, but the Patriots,” Mitchell continued. “That’s what it has been. And now, we need to knock them off and prove it to ourselves that we know we can do it. And do it.”

Follow Lorenzo Reyes on Twitter @LorenzoGReyes.

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