Thoughts & Reactions: New England Patriots Silence Steelers 27-16
The New England Patriots jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead and held on to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-16 at Heinz Field on Sunday.
It wasn’t pretty, but the New England Patriots did what they needed to do to collect their sixth victory of the season with a 27-16 victory over the Steelers.
The Patriots overcame a first-possession fumble by wide receiver Chris Hogan to take control of the game. LeGarrette Blount did it on the ground recording his 13th career 100-yard game and tight end Rob Gronkowski caught his 68th career touchdown reception to seal the deal.
Tom Brady didn’t have as dominant of a game as he did against Cleveland and Cincinnati, but he did start off the game completing his first nine passes. He finished the game 19-of-26 for 222 yards and threw for two touchdowns. The first touchdown drive was a nice 80-yard, 13-play drive that ended with a 19-yard screen pass to James White.
With the victory, the Patriots took a two-game lead over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East.
My Thoughts
The New England Patriots defense came up big when they had to, but still gave up too many big plays to Steelers backup quarterback Landry Jones. With a lack of pass rush, Jones was able to find open receivers when Pittsburgh finally got going. Although the defense did allow some passing yardage, they did a good job of limiting running back Le’Veon Bell.
Malcolm Butler did give up some plays to Antonio Brown, but this time around he took some plays away from Brown. The most important play was an interception in the end zone on Pittsburgh’s second drive of the game. The interception was a momentum changer and injected a little bit more confidence in the swagger of Butler.
On the offensive side of the ball, it was good seeing LeGarrette Blount run the ball with purpose. He carried the ball 24 times for 127 yards and two touchdowns. His second touchdown sealed the game and silenced his former team and the Heinz Field crowd.
Player/coaches reactions
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Tom Brady on team’s lack of execution during stretches of the game via WEEI:
"“We have a lot of veteran players that have been around for a long time. We shouldn’t be messing too many things up at the end of the day. We’ve practiced a lot together, played a lot of games together. We should take advantage of opportunities when we get them. There weren’t a ton out there today based on how they played us. We made some later in the game that helped us. We can play better than we played today.”"
Rob Gronkowski on tying all-time Patriots touchdown record via WEEI:
"“One more I have 69 touchdowns, if you know what I mean. Only you know what I mean, baby.”"
Bill Belichick on victory Patriots.com:
"“This is a tough place to play. I have a lot of respect for the Steelers. They’re tough. They compete really hard. They have a lot of good players. Gotta give our players a lot of credit. They battled for four quarters. It certainly wasn’t easy.We’ll take it.”"
Next: Quick Reactions To Patriots Beating The Steelers On The Road
The New England Patriots will look to avenge their Week 4 loss to Rex Ryan and the Bills next Sunday when they visit Buffalo.