NFL: Patriots snatch win amid ‘touchdown’ controversy

Tom Brady piloted Super Bowl champions New England to the winning touchdown with 56 seconds left on Sunday as the Patriots clinched the AFC East with a gut-wrenching 27-24 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

On a day when the puzzle pieces of the NFL playoffs were dropping into place, the Patriots thwarted Pittsburgh’s bid to clinch a first-round bye and potentially homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.

Making matters worse, the Steelers’ star receiver Antonio Brown was transported to hospital for examination and treatment of a calf injury suffered in the first half. And in a final heartbreaker for the Steelers, a 10-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to Jesse James, which would have given Pittsburgh the lead, was overturned on review with less than 30 seconds remaining, as officials judged that the leaping James had not completed the catch. Roethlisberger scrambled to give Pittsburgh two more chances to win, but his final pass was intercepted by New England’s Duron Harmon with five seconds to play.