FOXBORO, Mass. — The Pittsburgh Steelers were not on the same page in the final moments of Sunday’s thriller at Heinz Field, and it wound up costing them the game.
Seeing that confusion made Duron Harmon thankful for the coaching he receives in New England.
“It just helps you appreciate what we have here,” Harmon said Thursday. “Our coaching staff, the amount of work they put in, how they grind to make sure that we’re prepared each and every week — it really just helps you appreciate it, appreciate the work that they do so that we’re prepared each and every week.”
Harmon came down with the interception of Ben Roethlisberger that sealed the Patriots’ wild 27-24 victory. That pick that came on a fake spike that only a few Pittsburgh players seemed to know was coming.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin wanted Roethlisberger to run a pass play in that situation, but the quarterback later said he should have defied his head coach and spiked the ball instead.
Multiple Patriots players, meanwhile, said they were prepared for a fake spike, which the Steelers had run in the past.
Harmon said Thursday the Patriots’ defense rarely is surprised by anything an opposing offense does.
“Hardly at all,” the safety said. “Our coaching staff does a great job of preparing us for every situation for the game. Whether it’s two-minute, trick plays — I’m trying to tell you, we go back 10 years before sometimes with an offensive coordinator — a trick play he might have run 10 years ago. Our coaching staff does a great job of preparing us for every situation so that we can go out there with the utmost confidence and comfort level to play as fast as we can.”
He added: “There aren’t situations at all or plays at all that come up where we’re at all surprised.”
