FOXBORO — Heading into opening night, it was fair to wonder if Tom Brady had enough offensive weapons. At this point, we thought the Patriots might be a team that leans on their loaded defense. After all, this team lost Rob Gronkowski and they had a laundry list of question marks at receiver.
With a snap of your fingers, that changed in a hurry.
On Sunday night’s regular-season opener, the Patriots completely outclassed the Pittsburgh Steelers in their 33-3 win. The [...]
FOXBORO — Heading into opening night, it was fair to wonder if Tom Brady had enough offensive weapons. At this point, we thought the Patriots might be a team that leans on their loaded defense. After all, this team lost Rob Gronkowski and they had a laundry list of question marks at receiver.
With a snap of your fingers, that changed in a hurry.
On Sunday night’s regular-season opener, the Patriots completely outclassed the Pittsburgh Steelers in their 33-3 win. The Pats showed they indeed have an elite defensive group. For the rest of the NFL, it only gets worse.
In its current state, the Patriots offense looked good enough to contend with anyone in the league. The problem for the rest of the NFL is that this group is about to insert Antonio Brown, who will be officially signed on Monday. The offense was also playing without Demaryius Thomas, who was out with a hamstring injury.
After raising banner No. 6 on Sunday night, the Patriots put on a show. It looks like it’s only going to get better from here.
Brady went 24/36 for 341 yards with three touchdowns while hitting seven different targets. The receivers were led by Phillip Dorsett (95 yards and two touchdowns), Josh Gordon (73 yards, touchdown) and Julian Edelman (83 yards). The defensive effort was also outstanding, keeping Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and his offense out of the end zone all night.
It didn’t take the offense to get rolling. After punting on the first series, the Pats were stuttering on the second series before all hell broke loose. Following an offensive pass interference penalty, the offense was looking at a first-and-20. Four plays later, Edelman was throwing a pass and the offense was rolling en route to taking a 7-0 first quarter lead.
The trick play, where Brady threw to Edelman, who threw the ball to James White, resulted in a 28-yard gain and the Gillette Stadium crowd was on their feet and didn’t soon sit down. On the next play, Brady hit Josh Gordon for the first time in 2019. The receiver took his first catch of the season, ran over and in between two Steelers defenders for a 20-yard touchdown at 4:46 of the first quarter.
The Patriots extended their lead to 10-0 on their next series.
Rookie Jakobi Meyers kicked off this drive with a 22-yard reception, which marked the first of his career. The Pats steadily marched down the field with a blend of pass and run plays. Edelman hauled in his 500th career reception along the way as Stephen Gostkowski capped off the drive with a 25-yard field goal at 11:52 of the second quarter.
In the event the Patriots offense did stall, they had some backup. The team’s defense played lights out football in the first half. The Steelers had trouble moving the ball whatsoever. On back-to-back drives in the second quarter, the defense held the Steelers to two impressive three-and-outs. Those drives included two stops on third-and-1, courtesy of a Danny Shelton and Jamie Collins run stuffs.
On this night, the Patriots played completely football. Following the Steelers second-straight three-and-out, Brady’s offense extended the Pats’ lead to 17-0.
This drive was a short one as the offense traveled 80 yards in six plays. Edelman caught back-to-back first downs for gains of 16 an 24 yards. At 3:49 of the second quarter, Dorsett split two Steelers defensive backs (Mike Hilton and Terrell Edmunds) to get wide open for a 25-yard touchdown reception.
Not to be outdone, the Patriots defense held strong on the ensuing series. When the Steelers attempted to go for it on fourth-and-1, Patrick Chung promptly swatted Roethlisberger’s pass out of Donte Moncrief’s hands for a turnover on downs. The offense took over at the 47-yard line and Gostkowski capped off the short drive with a 41-yard field goal with 17 seconds remaining in the first half.
The Patriots defense bent to open up the second half, but they didn’t break as the Steelers got on the scoreboard. Pittsburgh threatened for the first time this game in the third quarter after Roethlisberger hit James Washington for a 45-yard gain. The defense, however, held strong on the goal line, stopping the Steelers on a third-and-goal from the 1-yard line.
Pittsburgh settled for a 19-yard field goal and the Pats led, 20-3 at 10:17 of the third.
On the next series, Dorsett burnt the Steelers again, to give the Patriots a 27-3 lead. On this play, the receiver sprinted by Hilton and defensive back Kameron Kelly to get wide open for a 58-yard touchdown reception at 8:05 of the third quarter.
Following a 43-yard reception by Gordon, the Pats extended their lead to 30-3, thanks to a 35-yard Gostkowski boot with 13 seconds left in the third quarter. The kicker added a 39-yard field goal with 6:38 left in the game and the Pats led, 33-3.
To keep things balanced, Devin McCourty intercepted Roethlisberger in the end zone with 4:24 left.
The Patriots exited the 2018 season with another championship. They leave Week 1 of the 2019 regular season looking for another repeat. As they say, the football season is a marathon and the Patriots on the first leg, but Sunday night was a solid start.