Pittsburgh Defense Has No Answer for Brady, Patriots Dominate Steelers 33-3 on SNF
The New England Patriots took their opening drive of the game 82 yards on 7 plays, capped off by a 20-yard TD pass from Brady to Josh Gordon.
The offense line for New England created lots of time for Brady to go to work and slice up the Steelers defense all night — Brady was sacked just once in the game.
QB Ben Roethlisberger struggled for Pittsburgh, and a lot of that had to do with their inability to get the ground game going early. The Steelers were playing from behind all game long. RB James Conner carried the ball just 10 times for a total of 21 yards.
Fantasy owners who were crazy but clever enough to start Phillip Dorsett at wide receiver tonight, definitely got the most out of his minutes. Dorsett recorded four catches for a team high 95 yards and 2 TD’s in the game.
Tom Brady was brilliant yet again, making the Patriots look like they were already in mid-season form. Brady finished the game going 24-36, 341 yards, 3 TD’s, and 0 INT’s.
New England took a 20-0 lead going into halftime and never looked back. The closest Pittsburgh came to creating any sort of comeback momentum was on their opening drive of the second half.
The Steelers had the ball inside the Patriots 10 yard line after a defensive holding call granted them first and goal. James Conner took the ball down to the 1 yard line, and after some thought about whether or not to go for it on 4th and goal, the Steelers opted to take the points on a chip shot FG to make it 3-20. The decision did not feel like the normal hard-nosed Steeler mentality we have been used to seeing in the past, and it cost them.
Tom Brady made the Steelers pay for playing it conservative, connecting with Dorsett on a 58-yard TD strike. The score was Dorsett’s second of the game, and it was Tom Brady’s 520th TD pass of his career (tied Drew Brees for 2nd most all time). Both Brady and Brees will need 20 more TD passes to surpass Peyton Manning for the most all time (539).
Pittsburgh will look to rebound next week in their home opener against the Seattle Seahawks. New England will look to continue their success on the road next in Miami when they take on the tanking Dolphins.
Final Score: 33-3 Patriots Win
Here are the highlights:
1st Quarter… Brady 20-yard TD pass to Josh Gordon, 7-0 Patriots
2nd Quarter… Brady 25-yard TD pass to Phillip Dorsett, 17-0 Patriots
3rd Quarter… Brady 58-yard TD pass to Phillip Dorsett, 27-3 Patriots
4th Quarter… Ben Roethlisberger intercepted by Devin McCourty, 33-3 Patriots