Pittsburgh Steelers crushed by New England Patriots 26-39
Just beating Pittsburgh Steelers is a testament to a team’s strength, but New England Patriots did more. They embarrassed the Steelers on the field. Patriots' quarterback, Tom Brady had a flawless run with 350 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. He
threw all three passes to Rob Gronkowski and scored one himself for a total of four touchdowns.
Pittsburgh is a strong side at home but Brady has always been strong against the Steelers at home and away. He has won 6 of 7 games against Pittsburgh Steelers and 4 of 5 games in their home. Sunday night Brady threw 43 passes and completed 30 for his 350
yards. Steelers' coach, Mike Tomlin couldn’t but admire the Patriots and admit that they were defeated in all phases of the game.
Before the game, both Steelers and Patriots stood at 6-2 and the game would have put one of the two teams atop the AFC. After the win, Patriots and Jets are now tied at 7-2. Steelers with 6-3 are now tied with Baltimore Ravens and Indianapolis Colts.
Brady said that Patriots were able to make big plays when they needed to and it helped them win the game. “We're pretty good when we execute the right way,” said Brady. The defence and the offense both worked together to beat the Patriots. From the start
New England took control. Pittsburgh’s first drive was foiled after just 3 yards. Ben Roethlisberger bounced back later in the game and threw 3 touchdowns in 387 yards but he also conceded an interception.
Patriots scored their first touchdown within the first 5 minutes of the game after stopping Pittsburgh’s first drive. Brady mixed things up with passes to all of his wide receivers. Wes Walker led the Steelers with 89 yards but no touchdowns, followed with
72 yards from Rob Gronkowski. Deion Branch also received 71 yards and Brandon Tate covered 50 yards in just two receptions.
On the Pittsburgh side, Mike Wallace was the clear leader in receptions with 136 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Hines Wards did not play against New England due to a concussion. He said that he wanted to go on the field but wasn’t allowed to. Even
without Ward, Steelers had more yards in the air than the Patriots but 5 sacks for 38 yards on Pittsburgh levelled the playing field. In Roethlisberger defence, he didn’t have enough protection on his blind side with left tackle Max Starks and left guard Chris
Keomeatu both out due to injuries.
Patriots passed 350 net yards, Steelers passed 349 net yards with an interception. New England’s running backs then gave the Patriots an edge over Pittsburgh. BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran 87 yards in the game, the highest for a running back this season against
the Steelers. Brady ran just once but turned that one rush into a touchdown.
Pittsburgh quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger said that the Patriots didn’t do anything to confuse the Steelers. “They flat out beat us.”
Brady made big plays when New England needed them but for the most part, he went with short passes to keep Steelers confused and nullify their blitz. Brady averaged just over 11 yards per play to win the game. Both teams are strong contenders. Where Brady
leads all quarterbacks in the league with his win percentage, Roethlisberger is second.
While New England’s performance was almost flawless, the Steelers take some part of the blame for losing the game. In the third quarter, a 38 yard penalty gave Pittsburgh an opportunity. They were put on the 8 yard line with a new set of downs but couldn’t
make any gain at all. Losing down after down, the Steelers had to go for the field goal but that attempt was also unsuccessful as Jeff Reed missed the 26 yard field goal.
In the end, their mistakes and New England’s performance proved to be a lethal mix. Pittsburgh lost with 26 points against 39.
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