New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick saw parallels to his team’s fourth Super Bowl victory in Sunday’s epic victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In the latter, the Patriots prevailed 27-24 at Heinz Field after safety Duron Harmon intercepted a Ben Roethlisberger pass in the end zone in the game’s final minute.
The thrilling finish brought back memories of New England’s Super Bowl XLIX win over the Seattle Seahawks, as both victories featured game-clinching interceptions (Malcolm Butler, of course, had the other) that were set up by unlikely big gains moments earlier.
In the Super Bowl, it was Jermaine Kearse catching a tipped pass while lying on his back. On Sunday, it was a 69-yard catch-and-run by JuJu Smith-Schuster that brought Pittsburgh down to New England’s 10-yard line with 34 seconds remaining.
Even the plays that preceded the interceptions had some similarities: Dont’a Hightower tackling Marshawn Lynch short of the goal line and Butler hauling Darrius Heyward-Bey down in bounds, forcing Roethlisberger to hurry the Steelers to the line and attempt his ill-fated fake spike.
The only glaring difference was that the Seahawks game did not feature an important refereeing decision that drastically changed the outcome, like when officials ruled that Steelers tight end Jesse James did not complete his catch on what would have been a go-ahead touchdown.
Belichick also noted that the difference in score between the two games changed the opponents’ offensive strategies. Seattle trailed by four and needed a touchdown. Pittsburgh could have sent the game to overtime with a field goal and would have been able to win the game with one had the Patriots not followed up their go-ahead touchdown on the previous drive with a successful two-point conversion.
“It was a similar ending to the Seattle game,” Belichick said Monday in a conference call. “But the difference in that game was (the Seahawks) had to score a touchdown. They were down by four. This one, a field goal changed it, which highlights the importance of the two-point play. Had we not hit that two-point play, then they would have just kneeled on the ball and kicked a field goal at the end.
“There were so many big plays in that game as you go back through the fourth quarter of the game, and really every play is a huge play. The difference in any of those plays in the fourth quarter — maybe, call it from the second half of the fourth quarter on, the last seven, eight minutes — a change in any one of those plays could have affected the outcome of the game. So that just, to me, showed how competitive the game was and how critical every single little thing is — each play, each player, each call, each situation.
“But it was a great football game. We were fortunate to make one play more than they did to win it, but it was a very highly competitive game against a good football team.”
