New England Patriots: 5 observations from stampede of the Steelers

The New England Patriots raised their sixth Super Bowl banner and raised eyebrows in a dominant 33-3 Week 1 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday night.

Everything about the Sunday night season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers was magical for the New England Patriots. From the revealing of the sixth Super Bowl championship banner at Gillette Stadium to Tom Brady looking like a younger version of himself, the defending champs put the NFL on notice with a dominant 33-3 victory on Sunday Night Football.

With Antonio Brown waiting in the wings, the Patriots offense looked solid with the playmakers they did have on the field.  Brady moved the ball around like he does and again got the best of the Steelers defense throwing for 341 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Phillip Dorsett and one to Josh Gordon.

On the defensive side of the ball, the New England Patriots played as good as advertised.  The secondary was solid and overall, the defensive unit never allowed Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers offense get comfortable.

What did Bill Belichick think of his team’s performance?

Well, not everything was perfect, but the coach was overall thrilled with the performance.

"“I thought our guys really did a great job in preparing for a really good Pittsburgh team,” Belichick said.  “We just played well across the board – offense, defense, special teams.  We made plays in all three phases of the game, got good field position out of the kicking game and moved the ball and scored points on offense and held them to three points on defense.  Just give the players the credit.”"

To think, the New England Patriots looked this good this early without Antonio Brown, Demaryius Thomas, N’Keal Harry and Kyle Van Noy.  It’s only going to get better folks.

Here are five observations from the 33-3 stomping of the Pittsburgh Steelers.