2011 AFC Championship: New York Jets fight back, but unable to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers (Part 2)
The New York Jets were taking a beating in the first half of Sunday’s AFC Championship game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. By the second quarter, the Jets were trailing by 10 points. Their offence was struggling while the defence
was able to stop Pittsburgh’s top receivers, Mike Wallace and Hines Ward, despite seeming powerless against the rush.
The Steelers gained possession before the end of the second quarter. From the 34-yard line, on second and 10, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger passed 24 yards to Heath Miller. On the fourth play of the drive, he passed 20 yards to
Emanuel Sanders and on the sixth, he passed 14 yards to Rashard Mendenhall taking the Steelers to New York’s 2-yard line in six plays, without missing a single pass attempt.
Roethlisberger ended the drive with a 2-yard rush for touchdown. The quarterback pulled back looking for a receiver but the Jets had everyone covered. The coverage then opened up the right for Roethlisberger to rush through for
touchdown. The Steelers now led 17-0 and they still were not done with the Jets.
On the first play after Big Ben’s touchdown run, New York’s quarterback Mark Sanchez was sacked for seven yards by Pittsburgh’s linebacker LaMarr Woodley. A play later, Sanchez was sacked again, this time for 6 yards by Ike Taylor.
The cornerback pounced on Sanchez from his left while the quarterback was aiming for a receiver on the right. The hit knocked the football out of Sanchez’s hands and gold helmets converged on the loose ball. Pittsburgh’s William g*y recovered the ball on the
19-yard line and ran it into the end zone for touchdown.
Sanchez hurt his throwing arm in that play but returned to the field straightaway, with just one minute remaining in the quarter. Sanchez appeared to be the new man after the sack. He had passed just 24 yards in the first 29 minutes
of the game. In the final minute of the first half, Sanchez passed 39 yards and led the Jets to Pittsburgh’s 25-yard line. From the 25, Nick Folk attempted a 42-yard field goal. The attempt was good and put the first points on the board for New York.
The Jets started off the third quarter with the same energy with which they ended the second. Running back, Shonn Greene rushed 23 yards on the first play. LaDainian Tomlinson rushed 8 yards on the second and on the fourth, Sanchez
passed 16 yards to Santonio Holmes to take the Jets into Pittsburgh’s half. From the 45-yard line, Sanchez passed deep left to Holmes again. Pittsburgh’s free safety, Ryan Clark was the only defender anywhere near Holmes and he was not close enough to stop
Holmes from catching the ball or taking it into the end zone for touchdown.
With the extra point, the Jets came up to 10 points and they were mounting a solid comeback against the Steelers.
New York’s defence increased pressure on Roethlisberger. After the touchdown, Roethlisberger rallied the Steelers to New York’s 37-yard line before being intercepted by free safety Brodney Pool. Pittsburgh’s next offence ended
when Roethlisberger was sacked for seven yards on first and 10 by Calvin Pace, and again on the third and 20 for five yards by Trevor Pryce.
In the fourth quarter, Sanchez led the Jets from the 42-yard line to Pittsburgh’s 2-yard line in 11 plays. On first and two, Greene rushed one yard. Sanchez attempted to pass the ball on the next two plays but could not connect.
On fourth and one, Tomlinson tried to force his way through the middle, but the Steelers stopped him short of the end zone and regained possession.
The Steelers started on their one-yard line. Roethlisberger fumbled the ball and he was tackled at Pittsburgh’s -1 yard line resulting in a safety. Even with the two points, the Jets were trailing by 12. However, over seven minutes
were still left in the game and the Jets had enough time to get the two touchdowns they needed.
Four minutes after the scoring the safety, the Jets got their second touchdown. Sanchez started the drive with a 22 yards pass to Braylon Edwards from the 42-yard line. He targeted Dustin Keller for his next three passes and all
three connected for 9, 4 and 5 yards respectively. Sanchez ended the drive with a four yards touchdown pass to Jerricho Cotchery to bring the Jets total to 19 points.
New York were unable to take possession back from the Steelers after the touchdown. Roethlisberger advanced from Pittsburgh’s 41-yard line to New York’s 31 in two minutes and twenty-five seconds. With 29 seconds remaining, Roethlisberger
kneeled to run down the clock. As a result, the Steelers won 24-19.
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