All the Pittsburgh Steelers had to do to remain in the thick of the playoff hunt was defeat a dismal New England Patriots, who entered Thursday Night Football 2-10 with five straight losses.
Instead, the Patriots jumped all over the Steelers early and hung on to a 21-18 road win at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Patriots' backup quarterback Bailey Zappe threw for 240 yards and three touchdowns as they snapped their skid in what has been a lost season.
What should have been the perfect opportunity to make strides in their postseason pursuit was dashed as the Patriots raced out to an early 21-3 lead behind a first-quarter touchdown pass from Zappe to Ezekiel Elliott and two touchdown drives ending in a Zappe pass to tight end Hunter Henry in the second quarter.
Though the Steelers would pull to within 21-10 at halftime with a 25-yard touchdown reception by Diontae Johnson, they were held scoreless in the third quarter.
Mitch Trubisky diving over the top of the pile for the touchdown in the fourth quarter followed by a successful 2-point conversion would bring the Steelers to within 21-18, but they'd fail to score over their next three drives, exiting their home field with a painful, disappointing loss and blown opportunity in a competitive AFC North.
With the defeat, the Steelers fall to 7-6 behind the Cleveland Browns (7-5) in the division with the Cincinnati Bengals (6-6) hot on their heels and the Baltimore Ravens (9-3) way out in front.
The Steelers will travel to clash with the Indianapolis Colts (7-5) next week.
Here's how the entire Steelers-Patriots game went.