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MIXED RESULTS: Steelers lose but clinch playoffs
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez (6) scambles up the middle past Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Farrior (51) for 6-yards during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010. The Jets won 22-17.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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New York Jets' Brad Smith (16) returns the opening kickoff Pittsburgh Steelers safety Will Allen (26) for a touchdown) in the first quarter of the NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010 in Pittsburgh.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo
New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez, left, scrambles during the first quarter of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010. In pursuit is Steelers linebacker James Farrior (51).
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH
Mark Sanchez promised his Jets teammates he wasn’t losing this one.
Not to a team the Jets had never beaten on the road. Not even after successive demoralizing losses led to speculation they were collapsing.
Sanchez didn’t lose it. But before he could celebrate, he waited out two agonizing minutes as one of the NFL’s best last-gasp quarterbacks nearly stole a victory the Jets desperately needed.
Sanchez stood up to the pressure created by the Steelers’ defense and his team’s two-game losing streak, scrambling for the Jets’ first offensive touchdown in 12 quarters and leading a decisive field-goal drive as New York beat Pittsburgh 22-17 on Sunday.
“We wanted to get to 10 wins, that was our goal, and I’m really proud of the guys for rallying,” said Sanchez, who played terribly in losses to the Patriots (45-3) and Dolphins (10-6).
He’s also very, very relieved the Steelers didn’t rally. The Jets (10-4) held on to win even as Ben Roethlisberger drove the Steelers from their own 8 to New York’s 10 in the final 2:08, only to throw incomplete on the final two plays.
“This win might surprise a lot of people, but it didn’t surprise us,” said coach Rex Ryan, who showed his team’s toughness by going without a sideline jacket on a 25-degree day. “We needed it huge. There’s no question.”
Despite losing, the Steelers (10-4) were told by the NFL nearly an hour after the game ended that they secured a playoff spot via a series of complicated strength-of-schedule tiebreakers.
Pittsburgh also owns the division tiebreaker and will beat out Baltimore (10-4) for the AFC North title if it defeats Carolina on Thursday and Cleveland on Jan. 2.
“We’ve just got to win two more games, very winnable games, teams we match up well against,” safety Ryan Clark said. “We still can win this division.”
The Jets, nearing a playoff spot, won in Pittsburgh for the first time after going 0-7 there since the 1970 merger. Only two NFL teams have longer winless streaks in an opposing city during that span.
“It was a relief,” right tackle Wayne Hunter said. “It really was a relief, and a big burden off our shoulders.”
Especially Sanchez’s shoulders. He went 19 of 29 for 170 yards against a No. 4-ranked defense that was missing injured safety Troy Polamalu (Achilles’ tendon), with Braylon Edwards making eight catches for 100 yards. New York won in one of the NFL’s most difficult road venues despite being outgained 378-276.
Sanchez was sacked only once, and didn’t throw an interception for the first time in nine games.
Roethlisberger (23 of 44, 264 yards) repeatedly kept the final drive going, finding rookie Emmanuel Sanders for 29 yards on third-and-24, Mike Wallace for 18 on third-and-10 and Antonio Brown for 16 on third-and-10 before failing to connect with Sanders and tight end Matt Spaeth on the final two plays.
“I told the guys, ‘Let’s be great, let’s go down the field and score.’ We got close, but not close enough,” Roethlisberger said.