Patriots 27 - Steelers 24

Some thoughts on yesterday's "Game of the Century" (until, that is, the next "Game of the Century" takes place)....

• This should not be construed as sour grapes, because the Steelers had ample opportunities to win that game, but when some Suit from the NFL has to dominate the post-game pressers with a power point presentation to define what constitutes a "Catch", something is seriously wrong.
• As for those other ample opportunities, here are just two.  (1) If the Steelers make only one first down when they got the ball in the fourth quarter with around three minutes left, they probably win the game; instead they go three and out for the only time in the game, and (2) if Sean Davis holds onto that pass of Brady's for an interception, they definitely win the game.  If, if, if....
• Oh, and if Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski get into a car wreck on the way to the stadium and have to be hospitalized, then the Steelers probably win that game.
• How many more Super Bowls might the Steelers have won in this century had they not been playing in the same era as the Belichick-Brady-Patriots Era?  How many  more Majors would Phil Mickelson have won had he not been playing in the Tiger Woods Era?  Same kind of question.
• Just as the Tomlin-Roethlisberger Steelers are kryptonite to the Cincy Bengals, so too are the Belichick-Brady Patriots to the Steelers.  Hate to say it, but until the Steelers actually, you know, BEAT the Pats as they are currently constituted, it will be hard to predict that they will.  
• Still, should the two teams meet in Foxboro next month for the AFC Championship, as seems inevitable, I do have hope.  The Pats defense isn't what it used to be, so they can be beaten.  All you have to do is outscore Tom Brady and keep him off the field.  They came THIS CLOSE to doing it yesterday, so maybe they can do it if they get the chance next month. 
• Probably not the way to bet, though.