New England Patriots: 5 observations from a putrid loss in Pittsburgh
The New England Patriots took one on the chin in a 17-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday afternoon at Heinz Field.
Whelp, it was redemption Sunday for Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers and they finally got the upper hand on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots with a 17-10 victory late Sunday afternoon.
That doesn’t mean the Steelers didn’t try to give the game away to the Patriots. With Brady and the offense struggling and the defense again weak against the run, it was a game Pittsburgh should’ve really put away in the first half.
But, despite all the self-inflicted wounds with penalty after penalty and a key, costly turnover in the red area, Brady and the Patriots still had the ball in the final seconds of the game with a chance to at least tie it up.
And so…the struggles on the road continue. The more desperate team in the Pittsburgh Steelers came out victorious. They schemed defensively to finally make Brady uncomfortable in the pocket. They took Rob Gronkowski out of the game and did enough offensively to come out on top.
How much of that was the New England Patriots lack of execution offensively? Well, there will be an entire week of second-guessing the play calling of Josh McDaniels and pronouncing the decline of Tom Brady. As of the day following the game, just have to give the Pittsburgh Steelers credit.
Following another uncharacteristic loss on the road, Bill Belichick and his team are now the desperate team. With two home games remaining, they have to get it together on both sides of the ball and take care of business to wrap up the AFC East for the 10th consecutive season. They also need to win out in hopes of recapturing the No. 2 seed in the AFC.
Most importantly, this team has two more weeks to find a consistent identity if they hope to shock the world just one more time.