3 ways the final 2 minutes of Patriots-Steelers were as wild as it gets

The end of the Patriots-Steelers game in Pittsburgh was a wild one that showed why both teams are two of the AFC’s best.

The Patriots ended up coming away with a 27-24 win, but the end of the game was the most intense we have seen all season.

Here’s what happened between the AFC’s best.

The Patriots got the ball with 2:06 left in the game down 24-19. They went on a five-play, 77-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown, but Gronkowski was the star of the drive.

Brady clearly had his sights set on Gronk. The first play was an incompletion to him, with the second being this 26-yard reception:

After the two-minute warning, Brady hit Gronkowski for yet another 26-yard gain to get the Patriots to the Pittsburgh 25 with 1:55 left in the fourth quarter:

Gronkowski then came up with a Julian Edelman-like catch where he was somehow able to prevent the ball from hitting the ground to get the Patriots down to the Steelers’ eight-yard line with 1:09 left:

After a Steelers timeout, Dion Lewis went eight yards up the middle for a touchdown. Gronkowski — who dominated the drive — would also catch the two-point conversion.

The Steelers would start their drive with 56 seconds left in the game, and one timeout.

Antonio Brown suffered a calf injury earlier in the game, and had made a habit of big, late-game catches the past few weeks to save the Steelers.

This week, it was JuJu Smith-Schuster, who got the Steelers down to the Patriots’ 10 with this 69-yard gallop:

The Steelers took their timeout with 34 seconds left, and just 10 yards to go.

Roethlisberger threw a strike to his tight end James, who appeared to score what would have been the game-winning touchdown:

However, after review, the referees ruled that the football hit the ground, and the touchdown reception wouldn’t count.

Dean Blandino, the former NFL officiating chief, explained why the call was made:

Roethlisberger would complete a short pass to Darrius Heyward-Bey for three yards on the next play. Then, disaster hit after...

Roethlisberger looked for Eli Rogers on the play, and Duron Harmon was there to seal the game:

The victory put the Patriots at 11-3 on the season, and made the Steelers fall to the same record.

The game was one between two Super Bowl contenders, and they both played as such. The ending was just a bonus. It included an outburst from Gronkowski (who you could argue should still be suspended), a monster catch by Smith-Schuster, catch rule messiness, and an interception on a slant inside the five against the Patriots.

It certainly felt like a playoff game, and if we can get one like this, we wouldn’t be mad at all.