New England Patriots 2011 regular season Review: The search for the fourth ring continues – NFL Special Part III
Continued from part II
At Pittsburgh
New England Patriots have traditionally dominated over the Pittsburgh Steelers and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, but this time Brady got a taste of his own medicine as Roethlisberger delivered a wonderful performance to defeat the Patriots by 25-17.
Brady was harassed from the off and wide receiver Wes Welker was held to a gain of just 39-yards as the Steelers defence put in a wonderful shift for the entirety of the game.
Roethlisberger then got in on the action and the two time Super Bowl winner was on fire passing for two touchdowns and a gain of 365-yards to help the Steelers break New England’s dominance over them.
Brady was relatively quiet but still managed to pass for two touchdowns but was held to just 198-yards passing.
Pittsburgh linebacker LaMarr Woodley said after the game.
"It's been all Tom Brady versus the Pittsburgh Steelers and looking back on the past, how he's owned the Pittsburgh Steelers, and I think everybody forgot about our offense a little bit and the things they've been doing out there. I think they took that
a little personal."
Against New York Giants
Any game between the Patriots and Giants is sure to be feisty and this time it was no different.
Both teams played out a classic encounter and just like during the 2008 Super Bowl game, the Giants ran out winners after a close game.
The Patriots were up 20-17 as Brady thought he had made the game winner in the final two minutes with a 14-yard touchdown pass to tight-end Rob Gronkowski.
Once again though Giants quarterback Eli Manning crushed the Patriots hopes. Manning passed for the game winning touchdown with just 15 seconds remaining in the game with a 1-yard pass to Jake Ballard in the end-zone who made no mistake.
The Giants won 24-20 and New England had lost two games straight.
Brady was again harried and hampered being intercepted twice during the game while throwing for two touchdowns.
At New York Jets
With a big defeat at the hands of the Giants, New England looked to get their season on track against the Giants junior brothers the Jets.
They got the win in style.
Brady completely dominated the Jets defence as he covered 329-yards and passed for three touchdowns to send a big message to the rest of the league.
The Patriots ran out comprehensive 37-16 winners as they overran their opponents.
Brady was ecstatic to get back to winning ways and end New England’s two game skid with such a brilliant performance.
"Losing two straight, you have 14 days of just feeling crappy. Every day of practice is harder. It's hard to build on losses. It feels really good to win this one."
Against Chiefs
Next up for New England were the struggling Kansas City Chiefs and the Patriots put in their best performance of the season.
Comprehensively beating the Chiefs 34-3, Brady and tight-end Rob Gronkowski were in complete control and destroyed the Chiefs defence.
Early on though the Patriots faced a few problems but managed to keep Kansas City to a lead of just three points in the first quarter.
Brady then found his rhythm and once he was settled there was no stopping the three time Super Bowl winner.
The Patriots quarterback passed for two touchdowns both to Gronkowski and a gain of 234-yards.
New England, were back in the groove and looked unstoppable.
To be continued
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