New England Patriots: 3 quick takeaways from 33-3 victory over Pittsburgh
With an impressive Week 1 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, the New England Patriots are looking like a team on a mission to win back-to-back Super Bowl titles.
The New England Patriots, handled their business against AFC rival The Pittsburgh Steelers by pulling off a resounding 33-3 victory the same night they unveiled their 6th Super Bowl banner.
Here are three quick takaways from the Week 1 matchup:
Tom Brady is showing no signs of decline
Tom Brady has been the Franchise quarterback of the Patriots since he came in for Drew Bledsoe in 2001.
Since then, his accomplishments include six Super Bowl victories, four Super Bowl MVP awards, three regular season MVP awards, among many other things. There has been talk about his inevitable deterioration since he’s gotten older.
However, his play on the field has debunked this talk. Last night, he accumulated 341 yards passing and 3 touchdowns, finishing with a passer rating of 124.9. He also became the first quarterback ever to pass for over 300 -plus yards at the age of 42 or older. Tom Brady wants to continue to perform at a high level for years to come, and it appears that he will do so.
This defense is LEGIT
Despite not having lead tackler Kyle Van Noy active last night, the Patriots’ defense performed at the same level, if not better, than what we saw during Super Bowl LIII.
They held the Steelers to only three points, same as they did the Los Angeles Rams in the aforementioned Super Bowl, using a similar. Even though the Pats’ only tallied 1 sack and three quarterback hits, the pressure they were able to put on Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger made his throws not as accurate.
The Steelers were also held to only 3/12 (25 percent) on third-down attempts. Not to mention the fantastic job done by the secondary, with star corner Stephon Gilmore suffocating Steelers WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, while younger players like JC Jackson and Jonathan Jones shined as well.
The Steelers no longer have Antonio Brown, which may have made it harder for them, but the New England Patriots defense still put on a show.
The Patriots have yet to reach their peak
The New England Patriots performed at an elite level on both sides of the ball in the Sunday Night victory.
Next. New England Patriots: 5 observations from stampede of the Steelers. dark
However, this win came without LB Kyle Van Noy and newly-acquired star receiver Antonio Brown.
As the Pats move to face a Miami Dolphins team that suffered a 59-10 pummeling at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens, we must assume that this New England squad will only better and better as the season rolls along.