This weekend is the weekend that football fans around the country have been earnestly waiting for: the official kickoff of the 100th NFL season. Beginning on Thursday with the Green Bay Packers playing the Bears in Chicago, these next few days should prove to be as exciting as they come for football fanatics. The rest of the weekend is filled with rivalry and divisional matchups, such as the Washington Redskins at the Philadelphia Eagles, so no matter what team you follow, you should have an enjoyable game to watch. The Steelers open their season with one of their two primetime Sunday night games, facing off against the defending Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. This game stands as one of Pittsburgh’s greatest tests this season, and it comes at an unusually early time in the season. These two teams only met once last year, with the Steelers coming away 17-10 victors on a mid-December night in Pittsburgh. Since 1972, each team has won sixteen out of their thirty-two meetings, further demonstrating just how competitive and equal this matchup proves to be time and time again. A long history of back-and-forth, high-intensity football exists between these two teams, and this game should be no different.
Leading the charges of both teams’ high powered offenses are two seasoned veterans in Ben Roethlisberger and Tom Brady. Roethlisberger, now is his sixteenth year in the league, is coming off a standout 2018 season in which he led all NFL quarterbacks in total yards with 5,129, as well as ranked fourth in total quarter back rating (QBR) and fifth in touchdowns. Brady, now in his twentieth season, led a similarly impressive 2018 campaign, finishing seventh in total yards, sixth in QBR, and tied for tenth in touchdowns. However, Brady’s season ended quite a bit sweeter than that of Roethlisberger’s, as the Patriots won their sixth Super Bowl, while the Steelers failed to make the playoffs. Although many sports analysts consider Tom Brady to be the greatest quarterback to ever live, as he has won six Super Bowls during his time in the league, I believe that the Brady-Roethlisberger matchup will not fail to disappoint. Both have numerous years of experience and seem to improve year in and year out, and I believe that both this veteran leadership as well as dependable talent will greatly benefit both teams on Sunday night.
As the 2019 season kicks off for the Patriots, the team will be taking the field without a key member of the New England dynasty that has reigned over the NFL for nearly a decade: tight end Rob Gronkowski. Widely considered to be one of the greatest tight ends to ever play the game, Gronkowski was drafted in 2010 and grew to become one of Tom Brady’s favorite targets. After his retirement last spring, the void he left in the Patriots offense became one they desperately looked to fill. Offseason moves included the signing of tight ends Ben Watson and Lance Kendricks, both of whom will be serving suspensions to start off the season. As the tight end position is fairly unstable at the moment, and even more so with these recent suspensions, I feel that the Steelers should be able to capitalize in this hole in the Patriots offense. Although New England’s wide receiving core still includes standouts such as Julian Edelman and Josh Gordon, and Tom Brady has devastated teams without Gronkowski before, the offense should fail to live up to the powerhouse it used to be.
On the other side of the ball, the Patriots defense appears to be a fundamentally sound group who, some predict, may be even stronger than the defense that only allowed three points in last year’s Super Bowl. In addition to signing star defensive end Michael Bennett, the Patriots have multiple players returning from last year’s championship team, including veterans Patrick Chung and Duron Harmon, whose experience should continue to guide the younger players on the defense. Although the Patriots will be running under a new defensive coordinator this season, which may typically raise some red flags for how well the defense will perform, it is believed that head coach Bill Belichick will call a majority of the plays. Belichick began his coaching career in 1975, and since then has never stoped to look back, winning six Super Bowls as a head coach and an additional two as a defensive coordinator, as well a holds numerous other coaching records throughout the league. Often times referred to as a “coaching mastermind”, the defensive unit should have no problems under his watch.
As I stated in my first post, I believe that the Steelers will look strong on both offense and defense right out of the gate, and I except nothing less from the Patriots. While I can see this game swinging either way, as both teams’ competitiveness and talent exceed many other teams in the league, I feel that the Patriots will not be completely adjusted after the loss of Gronkowski, and I believe that this uncertainty at the tight end position will prevent New England from beating a team such as the Steelers. That being said, this game is in no way a given for either side, so once the clock strikes 8:20 on Sunday night, make sure you’re watching!