The Patriots will host the Pittsburgh Steelers next Sunday in the AFC Championship Game for a trip to Super Bowl LI in Houston. For the second time this post-season, the Patriots will be facing a team they faced earlier this season but, just as with the Texans, it will be a different Steelers team.
In their first meeting of the year back in week seven - Tom Brady's third game back from his suspension - the Patriots came out victorious eeking out a 27-16 win in the Steel City to improve to 6-1 on the season. But there were many differences from that week than you will not see next Sunday night at Gillette.
Let's begin with the obvious. It will be at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots won't have have to deal with Steeler fans and their terrible towels, so noise level should not be a problem on offense - that being if the offense can get on the field for more than 2:45 minutes in the first quarter but more on that in a future blog later in the week in my Three Keys to a Patriots victory.
This Sunday, the Patriots also will not be facing back-up quarterback Landry Jones. Jones made the start in week seven in replace of starter Ben Roethlisberger, who under went surgery to repair a torn meniscus that he suffered in a 30-15 loss to the Miami Dolphins in the week prior. The four-year back-up quarterback out of Oklahoma completed 29 out of 47 passes for 281 yards with one touch down and one interception.
However, this week, the more mobile, Roethlisberger, will be back under center for the Steelers. Like the 6-foot 8-inch quarterback the Patriots faced last week, Brock Osweiler, Roethlisberger is also a large and imposing figure but unlike Osweiler, Roethlisberger is a tough guy to bring down. He fights for every last inch.The front seven of the Patriot defensive line needs to be on their toes.
Another big difference Pats fans may not realize is Rob Gronkowski. In their first meeting against the Steelers, Gronkowski was the Patriots leading receiver in total yards running for 93 yards while scoring one of the Patriots four touchdowns in the game.
Last but certainly not least, you have to bring up the elephant in the room. The Steelers are coming off a huge, 18-16, upset of the second-seed Kansas City Chiefs on the road in one of the loudest NFL venues, Arrowhead Stadium. Pretty tough to do and what makes it more impressive is they won without scoring a touchdown. The Steelers scored six field goals in the entire game with Roethlisberger completing 20 of 31 attempts for 224 yards and one interception while LeVeon Bell ran for 103 yards on the ground.
The Patriots are coming off an un-Patriot-like performance in a 34-16 win over the Texans in their Divisional Game, Saturday night. Yes it was pretty cool Lewis completed the football hat-trick: running for a touchdown, catching a touchdown pass and scoring a touchdown on special teams but the game was not without a few stupid mistakes that had Belichick steaming.
It first started out with defensive back Eric Rowe's stupid 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when he tried to pull a Texan out of pile after the Patriots defense stifled the Houston offense on the third down. But the penalty gave the Texans new life as Osweiler marched the team down-field ultimately leading to a field goal.
The mistakes continued to mount for the Patriots. Brady threw two picks and the hero of the game, Lewis, fumbled in the second quarter and the Texans took advantage scoring 13 of their 16 points off turnovers.
It is something that can not happened against Roethlisberger and the Steelers next week. They have to be better at protecting the ball and avoiding the costly turnovers. And you know Belichick will be drilling into their heads all week in practice.
There are a lot of story lines going into this game. Can the Patriots rebound from a poor-showing against the Texans? Is this the cliff Max Kellerman was talking about? Do the Steelers really have the momentum? A lot of questions but it is going to be one fun game.
Stay tuned because on Friday I will offer my three keys to the game.
It is something that can not happened against Roethlisberger and the Steelers next week. They have to be better at protecting the ball and avoiding the costly turnovers. And you know Belichick will be drilling into their heads all week in practice.
There are a lot of story lines going into this game. Can the Patriots rebound from a poor-showing against the Texans? Is this the cliff Max Kellerman was talking about? Do the Steelers really have the momentum? A lot of questions but it is going to be one fun game.
Stay tuned because on Friday I will offer my three keys to the game.
Good summary
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