Steelers fall to Patriots on overturned TD, last-second interception

A sellout crowd that moments earlier jubilantly celebrated the most improbable of comebacks against the most unbeatable of opponents stood in stunned silence.

First, a touchdown catch was ripped from the Steelers grasp, as Jesse James' apparent go-ahead score was negated on a replay review with 28 seconds left in the game Sunday.

Now, someone named Duron Harmon was cradling the ball in the end zone for the New England Patriots.

Instead of one of the most fantastic finishes in Heinz Field history, the Steelers were recoiling from perhaps their most gut-wrenching regular-season home defeat.

Harmon's interception of Ben Roethlisberger's final pass attempt capped a game filled with more drama than a daytime soap opera and sent the Steelers to their first loss in nine games but fifth in a row to the Patriots, 27-24.

"I thought we had won the game," rookie wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster said.

He wasn't the only one who felt that way.

After the Patriots scored 11 points in a three-minute span to take a 27-24 lead with 56 seconds remaining, the Steelers seemed poised to win their fourth consecutive game in the final minute, but this time without All-Pro receiver Antonio Brown, who exited with a left calf injury in the first half.

Smith-Schuster took a short pass from Roethlisberger on a crossing route, turned up the sideline and then weaved across the field for a 69-yard completion that put the Steelers on the Patriots 10 with 34 ticks remaining.

Roethlisberger then spotted James across the middle. The 6-foot-7 tight end gathered the ball at the 1. As he knee touched the ground, James held the ball across the goal line, but it dislodged after hitting the ground.

Official signaled touchdown, and Heinz Field erupted.

"To have that kind of celebration, having Ben hugging Jesse, you know if we win that game that play is going to be shown …" said guard David DeCastro, his voice trailing off. "It would be a heroic figure between him and JuJu."

It wasn't to be. Replay officials took several minutes to review the call. They concluded the "catch" did not "survive" James' impact on the ground, making it an incompletion.

"He lost complete control of the football," referee Tony Corrente said.

The Steelers didn't agree.

"I felt good about it," James said.

"That's crazy to me," said wide receiver Eli Rogers, who would be a central figure in the outcome two plays later. "He caught the ball and was in motion and made an effort to pull the ball across the goal line. That's all a catch to me."

Faced with a second down, Roethlisberger threw a 3-yard completion to Darrius Heyward-Bey, who could not get out of bounds. With the clock running, Roethlisberger motioned as if he wanted to spike the ball. But that would have brought up fourth down.

Roethlisberger said he received the call in his headset from offensive coordinator Todd Haley to run another play.

Roethlisberger hurried to the line and took the snap under center with 9 seconds left. Rogers, lined up to the right, cut across into the end zone. Roethlisberger pump faked and threw the ball toward Rogers, who was blanketed by cornerback Eric Rowe.

The ball deflected off one of the players and into Harmon's arms.

"Maybe I should have clocked it," Roethlisberger said.

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By spiking the ball, the Steelers would have set up Chris Boswell for an easy field goal to force overtime.

"We were trying to make a play and win the game," James said. "It's worked for us before. It didn't go our way."

Three weeks earlier, coach Mike Tomlin promised "fireworks" and called the Steelers-Patriots matchup "part one" with the sequel, of course, coming in another AFC championship game showdown.

If there is a part two, it will be difficult to top this one in terms of excitement.

Roethlisberger completed 22 of 30 passes for 281 yards and two touchdown passes, most of his completions coming after Brown was helped off the field early in the second quarter. Smith-Schuster caught six passes for 114 yards, Rogers had his first TD catch of the year, and Martavis Bryant made a one-handed grab in the end zone to give the Steelers a 17-10 halftime lead.

A Vince Williams interception set up Le'Veon Bell's 3-yard touchdown run for a 24-16 lead with 1:33 left in the third quarter. Bell finished with 117 yards rushing on 24 attempts and caught five passes for 48 yards.

Tom Brady, however, directed two fourth-quarter scoring drives for the Patriots, flipping pass after pass to his favorite target, tight end Rob Gronkowski. Held to two catches for 33 yards in the first half, Gronkowski finished with nine receptions for 168 yards. He had three catches for 69 yards on the Patriots' go-ahead drive, capped by Dion Lewis' 8-yard run with less than a minute to play.

"It was just one of those days where you go back and forth, you play right to the end and the ball bounces some weird ways," Brady said. "I'm glad it bounced our way today."

If there is a rematch in the playoffs, it may not happen as Heinz Field. The Steelers lost their edge on home-field advantage in addition to the game Sunday.

"We'll definitely see them again," Rogers said. "And the outcome will be different."