Entering half time, the Steelers were down 24-3. But, they had doubled New England in time of possession. Furthermore, the Steelers had moved the ball on the Patriots' defense. Of course, any scoring opportunities were negated by three turnovers...the worst of which being the 87 yard interception return for a touchdown by Reggie Tongue, er, Rodney Harrison.
Still, the Steelers regrouped and came out on fire in the third quarter. On the first possession, Pittsburgh forced New England into a three-and-out, and the Steelers immediately drove the ball down for a touchdown.
Then, on the ensuing drive, the Pittsburgh defense once again rose to the occasion. They sacked Brady to set up a third-and-17. The Steelers had all of the momentum, and I swear that I saw Frank Reich warming up on the side-lines. When Bradys screen pass fell incomplete, the Steelers fans were going wild....but, then the game changing event occurred: Aaron Smith was called for holding. The 300 pound defensive end arrived a little too early in his coverage of Kevin Faulk, and New England once again had life.
Two plays later, Corey Dillon scored the game clinching touchdown.
While the Steelers scored a touchdown on their next possession, forced yet another New England three-and-out, and then were in position to score another touchdown, the game was essentially over after the aforementioned Dillon touchdown. The rest of the game was merely players going through the motions until time expired (or, at least that is the way it appeared to me) . In fact, the two final touchdowns (Deion Branch, Plaxico Burress) looked more like players running drills than actual plays from scrimmage.
To clarify, I am not blaming Aaron Smith for the change of momentum; he is a big guy trying to cover a smaller, faster player. Aaron did the best he could. But, that does not help the fact that the outcome of the game would mosty likely have been a whole lot different had that holding penalty never occurred and/or never been called. One thing is for sure: I know I would have slept a lot better.