NFL: What loss in Cleveland?
You had a feeling that New England would bounce back in some way shape or form from their embarrassing 34-14 loss to the Browns, but to be honest, I didn't think it would be this quickly, this convincingly and against such a quality opponent [That's not to say I wasn't confident they'd win, I just thought the might outlast Pittsburgh and hang on to win by 3 or 4 points- NANESB!].
Tom Brady connected with TE and 2nd round 2010 draft pick Rob Gronkowski not one, not two, but three touchdown passes on Sunday night while the shaggy QB even managed to rush for one of his own. As an added bonus, the Pats D (and Pittsburgh O, now that I think about it) managed to keep the Steelers out of the end zone until the beginning of the 4th quarter.
New England was able to get a TD on their opening possession of the game and followed that up with a FG from freshly-signed kicker Shayne Graham. Aside from a 76-yard, five and a half minute drive that resulted in a FG, the Steelers hardly seemed able to move the ball in the first half. This was compounded by a number of dropped passes inside the end zone that would've brought Pittsburgh within striking distance. The Patriots ended up taking a 10-3 lead into halftime.
To start off the 2nd half, the Pats would march the ball 78 yards down the field for a TD to make it 17-3. After both teams went three-and-out on their subsequent possessions, the Steelers were able to sustain a long drive that started at their own 33 thanks to a pass interference penalty against Pats Safety Brandon Merriweather where the Steelers were able to move inside the New England 10 yard line- but that's as close as they would get after Pittsburgh's receiver's dropped short passes from QB Ben Rothlisberger. To make matters worse, Steelers kicker Jeff Reed would miss a FG from point-blank range and New England would march the ball back down for another TD (where Brady himself ran it in from the Steeler's 3) to make it a 23-3 game (although Graham would miss the point-after attempt).
Pittsburgh would put together a 71-yard drive of their own culminating in a TD to open up the 4th quarter, but on their next possession Rothlisberger would be picked off by Pats safety James Sanders, who would run it back 32 yards ro make it a 29-10 New England lead, and although Pittsburgh wasn't done scoring in the 4th, it was too little, too late. New England wins this one by a final of 39-26- and it wasn't even that close- to give them a 7-2 record.
Brady was outstanding, going 30-43 with 350 passing yards and 3 TD passes as well as a TD run of his own. Rob Gronkowski would have 5 receptions for 72 yards, including his 3 TD receptions. Deion Branch would get 7 receptions for 71 yards and Wes Welker 8 receptions for 89 yards. Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis had 18 carries for 87 yards on top of another 36 yards receiving on 4 receptions. In other words, firing on all cylinders. On top of that, the New England D was able to sack Rothlisberger 5 times on Sunday night.
Next week, the Patriots will host the Indianapolis Colts in Foxboro at 4:15 ET/1:15 PT.
NHL: Tim Thomas' unbeaten streak ended at 8 consecutive games on Saturday night at the the Garden. Sens goaltender Brian Elliot turned aside all 31 shots faced while Erik Karlsson and Daniel Alfredsson notched the only goals of the night in Ottawa's 2-0 win over Boston.
The loss gives Boston an 8-5-1 record as the Sens move past them for 2nd place in the division. The Bruins will next host the New Jersey Devils at the Garden on Monday night at 7 PM.
NCAA FOOTBALL: Try as they might to give away Saturday's game, the Duke Blue Devils weren't taking up Boston College on their generosity. Not 100%, at least.
Taking a 21-9 lead into the the start of the 4th quarter and looking for more, Boston College was knocking on the door inside Duke's 10 yard line. However, RB Montel Harris would fumble the ball at the Duke 5 and Blue Devils LB August Campbell would run it back 95 yards to make it a 21-16 contest.
With just under 5 minutes to go in the game and starting at their own 37, the Blue Devils were able to march it down as close as the 2 yard line, but BC was able to stop them on 4th and goal with 49 seconds left in the game to hang on and win by the 21-16 final.
Eagles QB Chase Rettig was 12-24 with 230 yards and two TDs while fumble notwithstanding, Montel Harris had a rushing TD of his own while racking up 109 yards on 23 carries.
BC's record is now 5-5 and they'll host the Virginia Cavaliers on Chestnut Hill next Saturday.
NBA: I was only marginally aware that the Celtics were playing on Saturday night, but they seemed to have survived a scare from the Memphis Grizzlies to go on and beat them 116-110 in OT. Kinda surprising Saturday's game was that close, given the way they jumped all over the Heat on Thursday.
The C's are idle until Wednesday night when they host the Washington Wizards at the Garden.
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