THE NEW ENGLAND Patriots progressed to Super Bowl LI after overcoming the Pittsburgh Steelers last night.
Tom Brady and the Patriots were too good for the Steelers in Sunday’s AFC championship game, winning 36-17.
New England will now face the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI – a record-setting ninth Super Bowl appearance for the Patriots.
The Patriots outgained the Steelers 432 yards to 368 and Brady was nearly flawless. He threw for 384 yards and three touchdowns on 32-of-42 passing.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger went 31 of 47 for 314 yards with a touchdown and interception, but the Steelers offence was missing one of their top weapons.
Running back Le’Veon Bell left Sunday’s game late in the first quarter with a groin injury.
The Steelers said Bell, who was fifth in the NFL this season with 1,268 rushing yards despite missing four games, came back for one carry midway through the second quarter. But after his two-yard gain, he gingerly jogged to the sideline and did not return.
The Steelers were trailing 10-0 at the time of Bell’s injury, but DeAngelo Williams stepped in and scored from five yards out to cut into the lead.
Before last night, both the Steelers and Patriots had played in eight Super Bowls, but New England will break a tie with the Steelers, Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos by going to their ninth.
Seven of those have come since Bill Belichick took over as head coach in 2000. Brady will be appearing in his seventh Super Bowl and can become the first quarterback in NFL history to win five Super Bowl titles.
“It’s incredible,” Brady told CBS Sports. “I’m just happy for our team. We put a lot into it. I know we’ll be playing a great team in a couple of weeks, but it’ll be nice to finish it off.”
