Steelers Host Patriots in Battle of AFC Elite

November 14, 2010

The New England Patriots were brought back down to Earth last week by a shocking 34-14 loss to the Cleveland Browns. There is no love lost between head coached Eric Mangini and Bill Belichick as they had a falling out when Mangini left the Pats to take the head coaching job in the same division with the New York Jets. With New England coming into last weeks match-up with just 1 loss on the season, it was very surprising that they lost at all nevertheless by 20. The question for the Patriots will be. “was last week’s loss a misstep or a sign that they are over-rated? They will soon find out as they take on the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday night in a battle between 2 of the best teams in the AFC.

Tom Brady created huge expectations following the 2007 season in which he threw an incredible 50 touchdown passes. He isn’t close to approaching those numbers this year, but it still having an excellent year despite the constant changes in his receiving group. Wes Welker has been Brady’s only steady target this year. Randy Moss was booted out of town, and Brandon Tate has shown promise as a new “go-to” weapon. After Moss left, New England brought back one of Brady’s old favorite targets with the signing of Deion Branch. Branch’s first game back was tremendous. He caught 9 passes for 98 yards and a touchdown, but has been forgotten over the last 3 games. He has caught just 7 passes for 81 yards over that span, and is more of a 3rd or 4th option in this clustered Patriots offense.

New England is leaning on the run slightly more this season as they finally have a steady situation in the backfield. BenJarvus Green-Ellis is their top rusher, but Danny Woodhead is starting to get more carries, and has become a large part of this offense. Both of these young backs will need to be on their game Sunday when they go against one of the stingiest defenses in the league.

The Steelers are giving up just 58 yards per game on the ground this year. This is a phenomenal feat considering the backs that they have faced in 2010. Their entire defense is filled with Pro-Bowl caliber talent. Lawrence Timmons leads the team in tackles with 78, but it’s James Harrison and Troy Polamalu that lead this unit. They will have their hands full against a Pats team eager to get back into the win column.

Ben Roethlisberger has been exceptionally efficient after sitting out for the first 4 games of the season. He is completing over 63% of his passes and has a QB rating of 97. Mike Wallace has become a legitimate number 1 receiver in this league, and has the ability to make big plays in key situations. Hines Ward is still Big Ben’s favorite target in critical 3rd down situations, and Heath Miller makes big plays as tight end. This offense had been a passing attack over the last few years as they didn’t have a running back worthy of being the focal point. Rashard Mendenhall has become that back! He isn’t averaging what the top rushers do per carry, but he’s a bull that wears down defenses as games go on. He has 702 yards this year, and is on pace for a over 1400 yards. His goal line running has made it easy for Pittsburgh to score in the red zone. Expect Pitt to use Mendenhall extensively Sunday as they try to shorten the game and keep the Patriots offense off of the field.

The sportbooks surprisingly have the Steelers listed as a solid 4.5 point favorite at home. Statistically, this line seems dead on, but the situation makes this one a little tricky. Coming off of a humiliating loss seems like a bad spot to go against New England. However, it is still uncertain whether or not this Pats squad is talented enough defensively to make a deep playoff run. Most NFL handicappers have been riding them to this point, but we will find out Sunday if they should be faded for the rest of the season. Check this one out Sunday night as the Pittsburgh defense and New England offense fight to maintain the lead in the AFC conference.

Written by Glenn Andrew · Filed Under NFL

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