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ESPN.com

AFC frozen moment: Brown's return
By Wayne Drehs
ESPN .com

PITTSBURGH -- All week, the New England Patriots hemmed and hawed that they belonged. Said the Pittsburgh Steelers didn't respect them. Said the national media didn't respect them. Wondered why they weren't included in the league's television promos. And pondered how come the Steelers were already making Super Bowl reservations.

So irritated were the men in silver and blue that on Friday, when a reporter asked safety Lawyer Milloy if he felt disrespected, Milloy actually counted to 10 -- aloud -- to compose himself before flying off the handle.

Troy Brown
Troy Brown returned this kick 55 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.

The poor-me pep talk was nice and all, but nobody really thought it would amount to much on the football field.

Until the 3:55 mark of the first quarter that is, when Troy Brown catapulted his way through the Pittsburgh defense for a 55-yard punt return. Brown's score not only gave the Patriots a 7-0 lead, not only silenced the frenzied Pittsburgh crowd, but perhaps most importantly, helped his team believe.

Sure there were other momentum-changing plays in the game, like New England's 60-yard return of a blocked Pittsburgh field goal or Drew Bledsoe's 11-yard touchdown pass to David Patten on a drive Tom Brady went down with an ankle injury.

But it was Brown's electrifying 55-yard punt return, in which he busted out of one tackle at the beginning and then later eluded five Steelers defenders, forcing the group to collide, that ignited the Patriots.

"It was huge for us and a back-breaker for them," Patriots center Damien Woody said. "You cannot overestimate how important that was to show them that we're for real. That we were here today with a purpose."

Interestingly enough, it was a play that almost never happened. Pittsburgh punter Josh Miller booted a net 60-yard punt on the play before, but Pittsburgh's Troy Edwards was penalized 5 yards for running out of bounds untouched during the coverage.

After the 5-yard penalty, the Steelers were forced to punt again. Only this time, the referee mistakenly spotted the ball on the right hash. It had been on the left the play before, which was significant, because with a wind from right to left, the Steelers were trying to kick the ball out of bounds on the left sideline.

With the wind and the change in spot, Miller's punt sailed right down the middle of the field, where Brown grabbed it and took off. During the television commercial break after the touchdown, Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher was livid with the referees for misplacing the ball.

"That, in my mind, is inexcusable," Cowher said after the game. "We were trying to tell the guy to re-place it, but they wouldn't listen and certainly we didn't want to take a delay of game penalty because of the field position. So we kicked it down the middle ... seven points."

Miller was just as frustrated.

"I was screaming at them the whole time until the snap came. But they kept telling me I was wrong," Miller said. "It was ridiculous. People don't understand how important that is. If it's on the right hash, you have to boot it about 15 more yards in distance to get it out of bounds. And with the wind, it was that much harder."

Brown said he noticed the mis-spot and actually told one of the officials about it, but they wouldn't listen to him either. However, he had a different take than Cowher or Miller on the role the blown spot played.

“ Ever since I've been here, he's been doing that. He's MVP of our team. He's what makes our team go. And now people are finally realizing that and giving him the credit he more than deserves. ”
— Lawyer Milloy on Troy Brown

"Really, it doesn't matter," Brown said. "You still have to make the tackle. Just make the tackle and we wouldn't be here talking about this."

Brown said the play actually was designed to go to the left, but the Steelers overplayed in their pursuit, which opened up a seam in the middle.

"I just hit it," he said. "I felt somebody grab my leg, but I just kicked him away. Then I saw Tebucky (Jones) in the end zone just mauling their gunner and I knew I was going to get in."

It was just the beginning. Brown later recovered a blocked field goal and returned it 11 yards, before tossing it to teammate Antwan Harris, who rumbled the remaining 49 yards for a touchdown.

Brown also caught eight passes for 121 yards, three of which came on third-and-long and gave the Patriots a first down. For Brown, a nine-year veteran who has spent much of his career in the shadow of Terry Glenn, it was a coming-out party, of sorts. At least on the national stage.

"Ever since I've been here, he's been doing that," Milloy said. "He's MVP of our team. He's what makes our team go. And now people are finally realizing that and giving him the credit he more than deserves."

Wayne Drehs is a staff writer for ESPN.com.

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