Generally speaking, Steeler Nation is hard to satisfy. If the six-time Super Bowl champions aren’t blowing teams out, then they’re not living up to their potential. That’s after wins, mind you. And when the Steelers lose on any given Sunday? Well, the sky begins to fall quickly and panic begins to set in. And on those rare occasions when the black-and-gold gets blown out, like what happened in 2008 against the Philadelphia Eagles, last season against the Patriots, or in Week 1 against the Ravens this season, then it really gets ugly around the proverbial water cooler.
Steelers fans haven’t forgotten about the 39-26 thrashing Tom Brady and the Patriots administered to the Steelers last season. The final score made the game sound closer than it really was. But make no mistake about it, New England made Pittsburgh look silly on both sides of the ball for much of last year’s mid-season matchup. New England held a 23-3 lead in the fourth quarter before Pittsburgh scored three times in the final minutes to make the final score respectable.
Tom Brady finished with 350 yards passing and three touchdowns on 30-of-43 passing. Rookie tight end Rob Gronkowski was the primary beneficiary of Brady’s huge night. The sturdy tight end caught all three of Brady’s TD tosses and unequivocally abused the overmatched William Gay all evening.
Defensively, the Patriots sacked Ben Roethlisberger five times and intercepted him once. By the time Big Ben settled down, the score was out of reach and the Patriots had largely called off the dogs in terms of how they were attacking the Steelers’ offensive line.
Just to make a potential win this Sunday that much more gratifying, I’m providing a link to last year’s highlights. Take a gander and hope that we’re the ones dictating the tempo and enforcing our will on the Patriots this time around. God knows the Patriots did just that a year ago.