The Patriots were faced with first and goal from the nine on the Steelers first drive of the third quarter and they survived, forcing Ben Roethlisberger to throw the ball away twice.
But that great series of three plays was trumped by rookie Matt Slater, who was replacing Ellis Hobbs as the deep man on the kickoff return, who bobbled the ball and lost the fumble on the Patriots 7.
Two plays later, touchdown and the Pats trailed 20-10.
Ouch.
I mean OUCH!
Let’s see if Matt Cassel’s magic is still around.
FYI … Kevin Faulk, the trusty one, replaced the rookie who went directly to the bench.
