Patriots Breakfast Club: Week 1 Steelers vs. Patriots

“I’m the cult of personality, Like Joseph Stalin and Gandhi, oh, I’m the cult of personality”

Well, well, well. I don’t even know how to begin this. Last year I started writing these weekly columns on each of the New England Patriots opponents and honestly I didn’t know what would come of it. I had been with Chowder and Champions for a little bit of time, but hadn’t really found something to sink my teeth into until I developed two ideas. The Patriots Breakfast Club and the C&C Podcast. The Patriots Breakfast Club started in late 2014, and then the C&C Podcast came together in early 2015 (shout out to my co-host and fellow writer Matt Rewinski).

Since Super Bowl 49 ended there has been so much going on with the Patriots, Tom Brady and the NFL that recapping it here would be too much. I’m not Ted Wells or Richard Berman, I don’t have the time for a 20, 30, or 40-page report. We all know what happened with Deflategate and if you need to catch up just take a listen back to the C&C Podcast and you’ll get all the information you need.

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One more thing before we take a look ahead, as the new season approaches I’ve taken a last look back at the 2014 season and it is really remarkable how much adversity that team had to overcome to reach their ultimate goal. From the slow 2-2 start and every national and local sports personality writing off Brady and Bill Belichick after a Monday Night Football loss to the Chiefs, to the remarkable resurgence they had mid-season. This team had everything going against them after that Chiefs game and they were still able to come together and complete one of the more incredible turnarounds in NFL history.

Then they got to the playoffs where, if people remember, it was a very uneasy feeling in New England because Baltimore was coming to town. The Ravens had a successful recent history against the Patriots in the playoffs, but Brady and Julian Edelman were able to contain the Baltimore defense and came back from two 14-point deficits to beat the Ravens and meet the Colts in the AFC Championship. I was at the AFC Championship Game and it was an awesome atmosphere in Foxborough, even though it was a blow out. Just an great night being around tens of thousands of Patriot fans and seeing the obliteration of Andrew Luck and the Colts defense, even in the cold and rain I had a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

And then of course there was the Super Bowl, which was in my opinion the best Super Bowl ever played. I have my list of top Super Bowls that I’ve seen and maybe sometime soon when there isn’t much to write about I’ll give you that list, but for now Super Bowl 49 was the best I’ve ever seen. Back and forth by each team, and great plays made by Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, and of course Chris Matthews. Everyone knows how it ended though, and that’s all that matters, Malcolm Butler with the GREATEST play in NFL history. With his interception, the Patriots cemented themselves as one of the greatest franchises in NFL history, and Tom Brady cemented himself in the conversation of greatest quarterback of all-time.

But as they say, all good things must come to an end. (Even though much of the offseason was a pain in the ass with Deflategate taking up most of the headlines in New England).

As coach Belichick would say: “We’re on to 2015.”

Taking a look who isn’t with the team in 2015, the list is pretty eye-opening:

Taking a look at that list, every single player had an impact on the 2014 season, so the players stepping up and replacing them will have to do so in a major way. Obviously there were some guys that did decide to stay with New England, most notably Devin McCourty, who in all honesty was the guy I wanted to stay above every other free agent we had going into the offseason. He is still young in terms of football years, with limited injuries, so you know you can trust him out there every Sunday. I hate to say it, but signing McCourty, to me, was more important than bringing back Wilfork, Revis, and Browner.

The big name that will be in action on Thursday night will of course be Tom Brady, who had his suspension overturned by Judge Berman last week. Again we won’t go into the legal battles, but in terms of on-the-field impact, having Brady back gives the Patriots offense such a boost, not only with his knowledge of the game, but also his intensity in the huddle. You can be assured that this Thursday will be the most emotionally invested game of Brady’s career.

Taking a look at the Steelers, they are led by Ben Roethlisberger, who is entering his 12th season as the Pittsburgh quarterback. He will be without Le’Veon Bell and Martavis Bryant, who were each suspended for drugs, so he will have to rely heavily on Antonio Brown on the outside and possibly DeAngelo Williams in the back. Taking a look at the Steelers on the defensive side of the ball, there aren’t a lot of big names that stand out as compared to the Steelers of the 2000s. Troy Polamalu is gone, and James Harrison, who has already gone through a retirement and comeback, isn’t what he was during the middle 2000s.

Going back to Roethlisberger and Brown for a minute though, they could be a dangerous duo in 2015. Especially in the AFC North where the teams with a “good defense” are hard to find, Brown and Roethlisberger could have a field day when it comes to divisional games. Brown had 13 receiving touchdowns in 2014, and is looking to replicate that number in 2015. Without Bell and Bryant for the first four games, Brown may very well be getting even more touches because of the lack of options for Big Ben.

Back to the good guys (or bad guys if you’re from Bristol, or 345 Park Avenue, New York, NY). Having Brady starting obviously gives the Patriots a huge edge compared to having Jimmy Garoppolo out there. A lineup including Brady, Edelman, and Rob Gronkowski can’t be a lineup that any defensive coordinator looks forward to. And I hate to put stock into something that can’t be proved with stats or concrete evidence, but anybody who thinks Brady and the Patriots won’t take all the things that were said about them during the offseason and use that as motivation is legitimately insane.

For the Patriots to win this game, they need to spread the ball out to Edelman and Gronk because you know they’ll be the two guys that the Steelers will focus on. Obviously they can’t double team both guys or else they’ll leave a receiver like Danny Amendola open, and unless they feel that safe about an open Amendola I don’t see that happening.

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With Blount suspended for the opener, Brandon Bolden will be starting in the backfield and I’ll be interested to see how that plays out. He did well in the few spots we saw him last year. Although with the Patriots, a running back is as interchangeable as the next day’s underwear, so the only way that Bolden proves he can be used as the featured back going forward is to have a game like Jonas Gray had in Indianapolis last year. And have that type of game for the next month, so Belichick and the coaching staff have no choice but to start him.

In the end I believe the Patriots will win because right now I think they have the better lineup than the Steelers. Not taking any outside emotion into account, the Steelers defense and the Patriots defense are not even close. Devin McCourty, Chandler Jones, and Dont’a Hightower are all studs for the Patriots defense, while the Steelers don’t even have a player that could be comparable to the three I just mentioned. As far as the offensive side of the ball, it’s Belichick, Brady, Edelman, and Gronk versus Mike Tomlin, Big Ben, Brown, and the replacement for Bryant (Sammie Coates).

I’ll take the Patriots all day, especially at home, banner ceremony, and after the offseason they’ve had to endure.

Patriots by a 31.

55. Final. 45. 47. 14

Next: Tom Brady Getting All Kinds Of Love On Twitter

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