At the end of it all, this wasn't so much about vanquishing the Patriots -- finally -- as it was about getting a much-needed victory.
That it came against the Patriots to end a three-game losing streak was icing on the cake. But that the victory came at all, well, that was something nobody in the Steelers locker room was taking for granted. Not after what had happened in the previous three games.
But, just like what happened in each of the past two games, there was the defense on the field late in a game trying to hold a lead. Where it had failed in losses to both the Chargers and Raiders, it held up in this instance.
The Steelers forced three consecutive incompletions from Tom Brady from their own 21 in the closing seconds, two of which were intended for notable nemesis Rob Gronkowski, as they held on to beat the Patriots, 17-10, Sunday at Heinz Field.
It was a necessary victory considering the Ravens had won earlier in the day, beating Tampa Bay, 20-12, to improve to 8-6. With the win, the Steelers (8-5-1) maintain a half-game lead in the AFC North standings with just two games remaining.
This victory wasn't any more sweet because of who it came against -- New England had won the past five meetings between these two teams -- but because the Steelers needed to simply right the ship.
"It just made it sweet because we hadn’t won in three weeks," Cam Heyward said. "They’re a heck of a team. They’ve got a Hall of Fame quarterback and a Hall of Fame tight end and great guys around them. I don’t take anything from it. We just wanted to get a W."
But Sunday's win was just the third against a team quarterbacked by Tom Brady in 14 chances. And they did so by stopping Brady and his favorite target, Gronkowski, time and again.
After an interception by Duron Harmon -- his second of the game -- on a tipped pass gave New England the ball with 13:29 remaining at midfield and the Steelers clinging to a 14-10 lead, Brady moved the Patriots into scoring range at the Steelers' 16.
But Stephon Tuitt got pressure in Brady's face and forced him to throw off his back foot toward Gronkowski and receiver Julian Edelman. Instead, it was Joe Haden who awaited. Haden leaped high into the air to record the interception, the Steelers' first since Haden had one in Week 7 against the Browns.
"I was trying to throw it away," Brady said after the game. "I didn't."
The Steelers took over at their own 4 and drove to the New England 30 with 2:41 remaining, forcing the Patriots to use their three timeouts to stop the clock.
The drive stalled there and Mike Tomlin elected to send out Chris Boswell for a 48-yard field goal. Boswell had missed earlier in the second half from 32 yards -- his seventh field goal miss this season -- but Tomlin had no reservations, despite his team leading by just four.
"I made the decision when I walked in the stadium with him that he was our kicker and I wasn't going to play that second-guessing game," Tomlin said. "I liked the way he came back and banged that next opportunity and that is what this thing is about. ... You are going to be tested, we are going to be tested. Sometimes, you are going to fail, but you had better pass enough of them."
That meant giving the ball back to Brady and company with a 17-10 lead and 2:30 remaining.
And, as he's done so often, Brady put his team in position to win it. Only this time, he failed.
Coming out of the two-minute warning, Brady connected with Edelman for a 34-yard gain down the crease to the Pittsburgh 31. Then he tossed passes for gains of 9 and 6 yards to James White to put the ball at the 16 with 44 seconds remaining.
A draw on first down netted five yards, but guard Shaq Mason was penalized -- New England's 14th in the game -- for holding T.J. Watt on second-and-5 from the 11, pushing the ball back to the 21. On second down, Brady went to Gronkowski, who had been limited to two catches for 21 yards to that point.
Terrell Edmunds was there with solid coverage. Brady went back to it again on third down in the deep middle. Once again. Edmunds was there to keep Gronkowski from breaking the Steelers' hearts again.
I asked Edmunds if he knew the Patriots were going to Gronkowski on those plays, even though he had only been targeted three times to that point.
"We knew it. You guys knew it. I think everybody in the stadium knew it because it’s Gronk," he told me. "Gronk is a playmaker. Gronk is All-Pro. You know they’re going to throw it to their playmakers. You’ve just got to go out and defend it."
The Steelers called timeout to set up their defense on fourth down. The message?
"They just told us to trust your brother. Trust your technique and go out and compete," Edmunds said. "We looked at each other and said we were going to ride with each other. You don’t want to let your guys down."
On the final play, Brady tried to throw the ball to Edelman, who finished with seven receptions for 90 yards. Morgan Burnett was there to do this:
That touched off a celebration, despite there still being 13 seconds remaining on the clock.
"It's a big win for us being that it's a playoff-caliber, Super Bowl-caliber team and winning at home," said Roethlisberger, who took a knee to run out the clock. "We haven't been very successful at home, so it's that time of year where every win is a big one. This is a big one for us."
Certainly. And it also means the Steelers still control their own destiny when it comes to the playoffs. They have games remaining at New Orleans next week and against Cincinnati at home in Week 17, while the Ravens travel to Los Angeles to face the Chargers before finishing things up at home against the suddenly hot Browns.
"It's about us and how we perform," said Tomlin. "We take that approach, that ownership approach, that we are not wishing and hoping. So, we played better today. The result was better today."
They also now know they've got what it takes to finish out a game after losing one-score games in each of the past three weeks. Now, they're 5-4-1 in such contests, with this one looming large.
"If we see them again, it will be later on in the playoffs," Ramon Foster said of the Patriots, who fell to 9-5. "We can’t dwell on one win when we’ve dropped some we shouldn’t have. Did it feel good to get this one? Abso-freaking-lutely. But we all know New Orleans is a very solid team at their place. We’ve got to play lights-out again."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE GAME BALLS
My top three performers:
1. Joe Haden
Steelers cornerback
Haden had a game-high 12 tackles while also recording two passes defended and a key fourth quarter interception of Brady to stop a potential go-ahead scoring drive.
2. Jaylen Samuels
Steelers running back
The rookie had a career day, carrying the ball a career-high 19 times (his most ever at any level according to him) for 142 yards and catching two passes for 30 yards.
3. Duron Harmon
Patriots safety
Harmon, who had the interception on Roethlisberger in last year's game to seal New England's victory, was nearly the hero once again, picking off the Steelers' quarterback twice in this one. The first came on an overthrow and the second on a deflection, but he was in the right place at the right time.
THE GOOD
Rookie running back Jaylen Samuels got the Steelers running game going early. And the offensive line, after struggling in Oakland last week, opened some massive holes.
The rookie had a career-game, rolling up 142 yards on 19 carries. It was the most he's had in his young career. Heck, it was the most he's had in a game at any level.
And it started early, including this 25-yard run in the first quarter.
"I thought his whole game was awesome," said Roethlisberger, who threw TD passes to Vance McDonald and Antonio Brown. "He caught the ball. He ran. There is still some room for improvement, as there is for all of us. They way he stepped up was special. And James Washington, as well. The plays he made were just huge for us and big plays for us."
Washington, another rookie, had his best game, catching three passes for 65 yards, two of which came early in the third quarter to help set up Boswell's missed field goal from 32 yards.
The Steelers ran that toss-counter run play — pitch to the outside and cut back to the inside — at least a half-dozen times. And it worked for positive yardage every time.
"It’s been in our arsenal since camp," Foster said. "I guess coach Randy (Fichtner) and coach (Mike Munchak) thought it would be significant doing it against a team like them. We’ll see. We only continue to call it if we’re successful with it."
THE BAD
The Steelers drove the length of the field on their opening possession to take a 7-0 lead on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to McDonald.
The Patriots, however, quickly answered three plays later, connecting on this 63-yard pass from Brady to Chris Hogan.
"The one touchdown we gave up early, that was a busted coverage on us," Haden said. "We can still do better. We did a good job of communicating, passing stuff off."
Except on that one play. While Artie Burns started and did not return to the game after that play, Tomlin exonerated him in this instance.
"That play wasn't even his fault," Tomlin said. "So I want to be clear in saying that. That play we gave up was not his fault. I accept responsibility that it was our fault. I was too busy arguing a sequence of events prior to that to make sure we had proper communication on that sequence. So we essentially spotted them seven (points)."
Tomlin was arguing a too many men on the field penalty that happened just prior to the touchdown on which he felt the officials did not give the Steelers time to make defensive substitutions. Brady snapped the ball quickly and got the penalty.
But Burns was replaced the rest of the way by Coty Sensabaugh.
"I thought Coty, with his veteran experience would be a little steadier," Tomlin said.
THE PLAY
Taking over from their own 4 following Haden's interception of Brady, Roethlisberger converted a third-down throw to McDonald to get the Steelers out of their own end.
Then, facing another third-and-long situation with just over three minutes remaining in the game, Roethlisberger scrambled to his right and drew coverage away from Samuels. Samuels alertly caught the pass and got down to the ground in bounds to keep the clock rolling.
"It was huge," said Samuels, who was subbing for injured James Conner. "It originally wasn't for me. I had a little chip on the end. And then I just got out. I saw Ben roll out and tried to make a play. ... Ben found me, made a great throw, I made a great catch and just tried to stay in bounds to keep the clock running."
That helped the Steelers force the Patriots to use all of their timeouts and also set up Boswell's field goal, which meant the Patriots needed a touchdown at the end just to tie the game.
"I just tried to waste as much time as I could," Samuels said.
THE OTHER SIDE
The Patriots have now lost two games in a row, and while their lead in the AFC East is secure, they fell out of the No. 2 spot in the AFC playoff race to No. 3 behind Kansas City and Houston with the loss.
New England has never advanced to the Super Bowl in the Brady era when they haven't had a first-round bye in the playoffs. They also fell to 3-5 on the road this season.
"All of these games are a little different," said Brady. "Obviously, we haven't played very well on the road. Obviously, what we're doing isn't good enough. It's a cumulative thing. We're out here as a team trying to compete. When you're on the road, you have to play well. Some things are a little bit more challenging on the road. We have to embrace those things. And we just haven't done a good job of that."
THE INJURY UPDATE
• James Conner, running back, did not dress for this game but is close to returning from a sprained ankle.
• Bud Dupree, linebacker, suffered a bone bruise in the fourth quarter and did not return, but it isn't considered serious.
THE SCHEDULE
The Steelers are off on Monday and won't return to the practice field until Wednesday to begin preparations for next Sunday's game at New Orleans. Up next will be the Mike Tomlin press conference on Tuesday at noon. I'll have coverage from there.
THE COVERAGE
Visit our Steelers team page for everything from this game.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Steelers vs. Patriots, Heinz Field, Dec. 16, 2018 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS