Team Toughness, Intelligence On Display And Other Leftover Patriots Thoughts

By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston

BOSTON (CBS) -- Through one half of football between the Steelers and Patriots, the game was tight. The Patriots looked good but not overwhelmingly great as the Steelers trailed by eight points and were set to receive the ball to open the second half. It was still very much a game, but there was a feeling that some mistakes and missed opportunities for the Steelers were perhaps adding up.

And after taking the midgame respite, the Patriots took the field in the second half and went into full-on championship mode, stealing any hope Pittsburgh had of reaching the Super Bowl and putting an early end to what turned out to be a one-sided conference title game.

Here's how the third quarter played out:

• Steelers go three-and-out.
• Patriots drive 55 yards for field goal, extend lead to 20-9.
• Steelers punt.
• Patriots drive 88 yards for touchdown, extend lead to 27-9.
• Steelers fumble on first play of drive.
• Patriots drive 28 yards for touchdown, extend lead to 33-9.
• Pittsburgh drives 73 yards but turns it over on downs when stopped four straight times from inside the 6-yard line.

And that was your ballgame.

That third quarter was arguably the best 15 minutes of the year for the Patriots, and the fact that it came at the most critical moment in the season is no coincidence. That's how this team is coached, and that's how this team expects to perform in such situations.

The difference in coaching, preparation and smarts was stark, and it showed numerous times throughout the night. We'll touch on a few of those areas along the way in all of these leftover thoughts from the Patriots' 36-17 AFC Championship Game win over the Steelers.

--It begins with Chris Hogan. Look, is Chris Hogan a good receiver? Yes. Does he belong in the NFL? Of course. Nothing I'm about to say is intended to take away from anything Chris Hogan did.

But Chris Hogan is not Jerry Rice, people. Chris Hogan is not Randy Moss, Lynn Swann or Terrell Owens. Heck, he's not even Antonio Brown.

He is a sure-handed receiver with top-level straight-line speed who can run routes and has fit in well with Tom Brady's offense. But nine catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns? Against a supposed top 10 defense? Clearly, something went wrong for Pittsburgh.

Let's examine.

Hogan's first big gain came late in the first quarter. On a first-and-10 from the New England 43-yard line, Julian Edelman motioned from wide left to the right side. After scanning the defense, Tom Brady called out "Jordan" with nine seconds left on the play clock. The formation quickly shifted from this:

To this:

Instead of being the lone receiver on the left side, Hogan was now flanked by LeGarrette Blount ... who is not an outside receiver by any means. Yet the Steelers were so confused that they flat-out did not cover Hogan. You can see him running uncovered up the seam en route to a 26-yard gain here:

Another look:

That was quite simply, pitiful defense. Brady had the ball out so fast, the Steelers had no idea what hit them.

Brady went right back to Hogan on the next play after hurrying to the line, and the receiver knew exactly where he'd be able to find a soft spot in the Steelers' zone ... because it was basically the same spot as the play before:

After getting tackled by Artie Burns on this play, it actually looked like Hogan was hurt. He grabbed at his groin/thigh area and was slow to get up. I thought he'd get subbed out. But he stayed in as the Patriots handed the ball to Blount for two straight plays, leading to a third-and-6 from the 16-yard line. It was at that point that the Steelers defense performed so badly that they should all feel great, deep shame.

I mean, what the hell is this?

That is so, so bad. That is bad even if you're up against Robert Griffin or Ryan Fitzpatrick. But against Tom Brady? You're cooked. Toast.

And the unforgivable part is that the Steelers never adjusted. Whether it was due to a lack of coaching acumen between Mike Tomlin and defensive coordinator Keith Butler, or whether the players were just getting caught in the moment, they could never properly adjust.

Here's a third-and-8 from near midfield in the middle of the second quarter:

Another look at how uncovered Hogan was:

Hogan scored on the next play, but that was on a flea-flicker. Losing track of him for a step on that play is understandable for the defense. But the rest of those large gains? That was clear evidence that the Steelers defense just isn't on the intellectual level of the Patriots defense. It was not a fair fight.

--It wasn't just Hogan, either. Look at how open Edelman was on his touchdown:

Where are the humans? Veteran cornerback William Gay, your thoughts?

Here's some more perspective on the lack of humanity near No. 11:

If you want to beat the Patriots, you have to actually present a degree of difficulty for Tom Brady. This is just pathetic.

--By the way, with Hogan going off, Edelman had perhaps the quietest eight-catch, 118-yard, one-touchdown performance in playoff history. He's now the Patriots all-time leader in postseason receptions (84) and receiving yards (937). If he catches 10 passes in the Super Bowl, he can move into second in all-time postseason receptions in NFL history. That's all pretty good for the seventh-round pick out of Kent State who caught one total pass in his collegiate career as a quarterback.

--Martellus Bennett obviously generates a lot of headlines for being different. He's different no matter which locker room he's a part of, because he speaks his mind and isn't shy about anything. But in the Patriots' locker room, where "it is what it is" rules the day, he stands out even more.

But for as much as Bennett provides the goofy quote -- he said Sunday night that he'd be going home to make himself a cake and write "You're Awesome" on it with icing -- he morphed into a serious tone in the midst of answering a question about his family.

"Aw, man. It's very special. I love my family more than anything else in the world. [My daughter is] a big reason … To play this game, you've got to have a why. And people ask me why I'm able to play through anything, and it's because of my family. I play for my family. I don't play for myself, and I play for my teammates. So, my daughter after the game, she always says, 'Daddy, you're tough. You fell down and you got up.' I was like, 'Daddy always get up.' And she's like, 'Tough Daddy.' And then she said, 'You go Super Bowl?' It's like, yeah! She's like, ' … We're going to the Super Bowl!' And then she was like, 'Oh, look at the confetti!' And, me and her, we're both kids, and I was like, 'Look at the confetti! It's so awesome!' So we both kind of do the same thing.

"But, man, I just can't wait to just … you know, my wife was crying. She's been with me since I was a rookie. We met my rookie year and she's seen my whole career and all the things I went through to get to where I am today, so it was a very special moment for her because she's been there every single step of the way in my life since I've been in the NFL. And she's been an awesome teammate to me too, like, helping me get better, whether it's like cooking or whatever it is, different things, my struggles. You know, there's times when it's hard for me to get out of bed and she has to help me get out of bed, and I fight through all those things and I think that she realizes that and … I think that's why it's very special for her, because she sees everything that I go through. My family sees it. There's times where I'm hurt so bad that I can't pick up my daughter and things like that, which really sucks, but you know, I just never give up for them."

That's good stuff.

--In keeping with the quotes theme, there's this from Eric Rowe, who looked like a kid making his first trip to Disneyland when he spoke in the victorious locker room:

"I mean, I'm just blessed to even be a part to contribute to the Super Bowl run they're having. I can't even explain it. I'm just like, really just to contribute to the defense, this team, this organization, it's just something else."

"Coming from last year as a rookie, I realized really how hard it is to win a game in the NFL. Even with the Patriots, I mean, the games don't come easy. We work hard as hell in the field. So for this to come by, it's ... man, it's crazy."

--I was also curious what it was like to play as a corner in a game like that where the officials simply were not calling anything. Logan Ryan did get flagged for holding, but as far as pass interference penalties went, there were none to speak of. It became obvious over the course of the game that the flags were not flying, so I asked Rowe if it's equally as evident on the field and if that changes the way he plays.

"I mean, they were letting us play," Rowe said. "Even the ref told me, like, 'I'll let you do this, this and that.' And I was like, 'Cool.' He told me that he would let me feel [the receiver], I could touch him, hit him, just don't grab. So I was like, 'All right, cool. That's the limits? Cool, I'm going to stay within the limits.' So I was just touching him, feeling him."

Hey, that sounds personal! Still, interesting to get that kind of insight into the relationship between the DBs and officials in a game of that magnitude.

--This dude loves football.

Just an FYI.

--You probably caught this, but just in case: The Patriots won the toss and elected to receive the ball for the second straight AFC Championship Game. They did it last year in Denver, and then promptly punted after a five-play drive and allowed a long touchdown drive by the Broncos. It was not an ideal way to break protocol.

But Bill, feeling emboldened by lucky charm Tedy Bruschi, opted to receive again this time.

After the game, Bill let us all in on his inner thought process for the big decision.

"Yeah," he said, "we took the ball because we thought that was the right thing to do."

Right-o!

Even Brady was taken by surprise by the decision to not defer to the second half.

"That surprised me too," he said. "I was sitting there saying, 'We won the toss, great.' I was going to sit down and he goes, 'We got the ball,' and I'm like, 'What? I thought we won the toss.' I wasn't sure how that all worked."

--The game wasn't even 30 seconds old when we all witnessed our first #FerociousJuke. This one came courtesy of the master, Julian Edelman.

Tough break for Lawrence Timmons, but he's not the first person to feel the ferocity of such a juke, and he won't be the last.

--Credit to the offensive line for handling Pittsburgh for the bulk of the game. Granted, Pittsburgh often sent just three or four rushers (and yet still couldn't cover receivers), but nevertheless, the line largely did a good job of doing what it needed to do in order to protect Brady. Compare and contrast it to last year's AFCCG in Denver, and "night and day" doesn't even do it justice. It was a very good job.

Stilllll, we're not going to move along without taking a quick glance at this one:

That's not how Joe Thuney wanted to look in the biggest game of his life. But, credit to him, the rookie was unfazed and did his job thereafter.

--High-fives from Dad:

--Dion Lewis is really something special. His talent in the open field and ability to make men miss is obvious, but I'm mostly floored by not only his willingness to run for tough yards but his ability to power through the middle of the field. The Patriots do not hesitate to have him run between the tackles, and it's not in that classic Danny Woodhead-stay-low-in-the-trees-and-find-daylight sort of way. It's in the "drop a shoulder and fall forward for the extra yard" type of way.

Here's Lewis on a screen pass finding himself in a mano-a-mano situation with Ryan Shazier, who's got five inches and 35 pounds on Lewis:

And here's how it ended:

A closer look:

The guy's tough as they come, and that's something that really stood out on Sunday. Hogan's playing hurt, Bennett's playing hurt, nobody's feeling great at this point of the year, but they're all thriving off each other and playing a more physical game than the Patriots have in a long time.

One example: In a 33-9 game with 10 minutes left, Edelman could have easily stepped out of bounds to preserve himself for the Super Bowl. Instead, he sought out contact:

He ended up barreling through two men and gaining an extra seven yards, because that's who he is at all times.

And that's who the Patriots are right now. They're tough as nails from top to bottom. It really stood out in this game.

--In case you missed it, the Colts fired GM Ryan Grigson for being an utter failure over the course of his five seasons running the team. Grigson is also the one who launched DeflateGate by complaining to the NFL about the Patriots using "small footballs." (He's not just bad at drafting; he's bad at physics, too.) That was in a game, mind you, when the Patriots used Cameron Fleming as an extra lineman and bowled their way to about 900 rushing yards and 100 touchdowns.

So, it was at the very least humorous when referee Terry McAulay made the announcement on Sunday night that Cameron Fleming was checking in as eligible. If Grigson was hate-watching, that announcement might have forced him to pull a Cowboys fan move and destroy his television.

--There's no cheering in the press box, but there sure is griping. There were some Pittsburgh folks behind me. I don't know if they were in the media or if they work for the team. In any event, this one guy really didn't like the penalty called on Shazier for hitting  a defenseless Edelman in the head. You know, this one:

It was fun to hear the opinion evolve in real time. It went from "he didn't even hit him" to "that's Edelman's fault for going down" to "yeah but that was incidental!" Classic.

--OK, folks, you have to give credit to LeGarrette Blount. He knew that when Bob Gronkowski was lost for the year, there'd be a real dearth of images of Patriots players carrying multiple men on their backs. It's just a reality of life. But The Garrette? He said, "Nay." He decided to carry that mantle.

I mean, first contact, at the 11-yard line:

The point where most runners would be down, at the 10-yard line:

The four fully grown adult males wrapping him up at the 7-yard line:

The crowd of seven fully grown men now surrounding him, at the 5-yard line:

The rest of the Patriots getting all JACKED UP by this push, now at the 3-yard line:

The fight continuing, across the 2-yard line:

And then finally going down after reaching the 1-yard line:

That was inspiring stuff. If you don't like that play, you don't like football. And if you don't see how valuable Blount has been for this team, then you should find another hobby.

--This is a cool photograph, if you ask me:

--All right, then. So, Super Bowl? Super Bowl. See you there. Bill's ready.

You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.

In:
• Bill Belichick
• NFL
• Julian Edelman
• Tom Brady
• New England Patriots