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.
5. The offensive line will be okay
The biggest concern entering the Week 1 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers was the offensive line without David Andrews at center and Isaiah Wynn playing his first game at left tackle.
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But, with Dante Scarnecchia as the offensive line coach, was there really much concern?
Both Ted Karras at center and Wynn did a good job keeping Tom Brady upright and the offensive line as a whole did a good job overall. Right tackle Marcus Cannon did go down with a shoulder injury towards the end of the game, but the team’s ability to plug and play players along the offensive line will be a strength more than a weakness this season unless injuries overwhelm the unit.
As far as the Isaiah Wynn performance at left tackle. Playing in his first NFL regular season game, the physical former first-round pick was every bit the bulldog the team knew he was when they drafted him. He’ll be more than okay at the position, but Karras has some work to do as far as the snaps he floated to Tom Brady in shotgun situations.
Understandably, much of that may have been due to nerves.
"“I am always nervous for a game,” Karras said following the game. “It is Sunday Night Football and the stakes are high. It is our livelihood and I care very deeply and always want to do my best.”"
Those snaps are certainly something to watch going forward for the New England Patriots. Other than that, this offensive line will be okay.
4. Sonny Michel the only dud
Besides Ted Karras floating snaps to Tom Brady, the only other flaw in the 33-3 beatdown of the Pittsburgh Steelers was the lack of production from second-year running back Sony Michel.
After a solid rookie season and postseason showing, Michel couldn’t get the ball rolling against the Steelers.
The Georgia product didn’t do fantasy owners any favors by rushing for just 14 yards on 15 carries. That didn’t mean the running game didn’t have any success against the Steelers.
While Sony Michel struggled to find holes, Rex Burkhead rushed for 44 yards and eight carries and James White added 26 yards on four carries.
Keep in mind Michel is coming off an offseason knee procedure that may have him running a bit tentative mentally to start the season. Like his rookie year, expect for this to just be another slow start for him. Eventually, he will find the same success he did last season and may turn out to be better.
If he doesn’t, the New England Patriots showed they have the depth at the position to be just fine.
3. The secondary is solid
The New England Patriots secondary is one of the best defensive units in all the NFL and they showed it on Sunday night.
They didn’t have to worry about Antonio Brown playing for the other side, but they still had to contain JuJu Smith-Schuster and they did just that in limiting the wide receivers’ effectiveness throughout the game.
Why were they able to silence Smith-Schuster?
Well, they had left them stranded on “Gilmore’s Island.”
Following the game, Stephon Gilmore said his approach in defending Smith-Schuster was simply playing smart and aggressive.
"“Just play aggressive, get my hands on him,” The All-Pro cornerback said. “He lined up in the slot a lot, just try to be aggressive. He made some plays and I made sure to get him on the ground. But it was a fun matchup-up.”"
Besides a deep ball to James Washington, the entire secondary was stout against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Both Jason McCourty and Jonathan Jones had pass breakups and was solid in their coverages.
J.C. Jackson had a pass interference, but in all, the New England Patriots secondary is only going to get better. That’s a scary thing with the way the offense appears to be shaping up.
2. James White is going to be a problem
When the New England Patriots put a three-receiver set of Josh Gordon, Julian Edelman and Antonio Brown on the field, the underneath stuff to James White is going to be there all day.
With the Brown news and Gordon being reinstated, the forgotten playmaker is White who proved difficult to cover for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night.
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Not only did he rush for 24 yards, he caught five passes for 56 yards in James White fashion. While Rex Burkhead was also effective as a dual threat, the Wisconsin product got things flowing in the first quarter with a key third down conversion on the ground and a nice gain after a double pass from Julian Edelman.
In all, it was more evidence on how important White is to Tom Brady and why he is a captain on this team.
"“The first drive wasn’t all that, but the second drive we got it together,” White said. “We ran a little bit of no huddle offense and got them moving off balance. We put the ball in the end zone, so it was a good second drive for us.”"
The rest of the way, Brady went into GOAT mode by spreading the ball around and keeping the Steelers off-balance.
James White was a huge part of that once again.
1. Tom Brady is Tom Brady
While the league is salivating over young quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes III, Carson Wentz and Kyler Murray, a 42-year-old quarterback in a New England Patriots uniform continues to roll on and play like he is in his mid-twenties.
In passing for 341 yards and throwing three touchdowns, Tom Brady looked as good as ever and he even had the long ball going with a couple deep bombs to Phillip Dorsett and Josh Gordon.
With another offensive weapon making his way to Foxborough come Monday, Brady may be in store for a very special season as long as the offensive line holds up.
Most importantly, Brady looked like he was having fun and who wouldn’t have fun with the offensive weapons he suddenly has to throw to. From the versatility of the running backs to the elite talents of Josh Gordon, Julian Edelman and Antonio Brown, this is going to be a fun offense to watch as they will be able to win games in different ways.
Just think how special it will be when Tom Brady makes that call to Rob Gronkowski and he comes out of retirement to give the team a nice two tight end set along with Ben Watson.
Okay, that may be dreaming a bit, but anything is possible with defending Super Bowl champions.