FOXBORO — A storm is headed to Pittsburgh — and we’re not talking about this frigid New England weather.
Looking to bounce back after his worst performance of the season, Tom Brady hopes to right the ship in Sunday’s matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The quarterback has several reasons to be optimistic following the disastrous outing against the Miami Dolphins.
The biggest may be his health.
Brady is on pace to participate in every practice this week. That hasn’t happened since Week 11, which was four weeks ago. Since suffering his Achilles injury against Oakland on Nov. 19, Brady has looked un-Brady-like, throwing four interceptions in the past three games. Fortunately, for the Patriots, the quarterback says he is feeling the healthiest he has in the past month.
“Just feeling better. It’s a short week so try to get out there and practice,” Brady said. “Like I said, I take it week-to-week and I feel really good this week. I’m very happy about that.”
Over the past three weeks, Brady’s started each week of practice on the sideline. Prior to this week, he missed the last three Wednesday practices. Last week, he missed Thursday, too. His availability this week couldn't have come at a better time for the Patriots since the AFC's No. 1 seed could be on the line in Pittsburgh.
The Patriots offense also has history on its side. Unlike Brady’s sordid past in Miami, where his career record is 7-9, the quarterback has had no problem dispatching the men in black and gold. Overall, he’s 10-2 against Pittsburgh. Since 2007, he’s thrown 24 touchdowns and zero interceptions against the Steelers. His 114.2 regular-season quarterback rating against Pittsburgh is the second highest out of all NFL teams he’s faced.
“I think us just putting together a great game is going to be enough motivation for us,” Brady said. “We’re playing a good team on the road… Playing against the team that has the best [record] in the conference, you know that they’re playing well. They’ve played well all year. So in order to beat them you can’t just go out and play mediocre. We’re going to have to play well. Everyone is going to have to do it. Everyone is going to be called upon. You expect a 60-minute game. Hopefully, we can go out and get the job done.”
Last week, Brady threw two interceptions in one game for the first time this season. His 59.5 quarterback rating was his season low. But this time around, he’ll have Rob Gronkowski, who returns from a one-game suspension.
Like Brady, the Steelers defense has struggled to contain Gronk over the years. He has eight touchdowns in five games against Pittsburgh. The tight end has two games in which he caught three touchdowns against the Steelers. As expected, Brady’s excited to get his favorite target back in the fold.
“He’s a great player. So he’s a great matchup for us in the passing game,” Brady said. “He’s a great blocker in the run game. His size, speed is good. They’ve got to really factor him in. He’s obviously a big part of our offense and gets a lot of targets and he makes a lot of big plays. I think when he’s out there, he’s just tougher to defend. The better players you have on the field, the tougher it is to defend and Gronk’s been one of the best to ever play that position. So, it’s good for our offense.”
The last time Brady faced the Steelers, in the AFC Championship Game, he threw for 384 yards and three touchdowns. The performance sparked a debate in Pittsburgh about whether the Steelers should play less zone coverage and more man coverage against the Patriots.
This summer, Steelers defensive coordinator, Keith Butler, said that was more of an emphasis in training camp. Whether or not that comes to fruition remains to be seen.
Either way, Brady said he’ll be ready.
“Looks like the Steelers to me,” Brady said. “They’ve had the same defense for a long time. Whatever they decide to do, we’ll be prepared for everything. We’ll go out there and cut it loose Sunday.”