The New England Patriots on Saturday trolled the Pittsburgh Steelers and then on Sunday blew them away.
A day after the acquiring former Steelers malcontent Antonio Brown, the reigning Super Bowl champions showed they might not even need him, getting 341 yards and three touchdown passes from 42-year-old Tom Brady to beat Pittsburgh 33-3.
“Well, he’s the best in the world,” Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said of Brady. “There’s a reason he’s the best when he’s out there doing his thing.”
Photo: AFP
Phillip Dorsett caught two touchdown passes and Josh Gordon caught the other.
On the night New England unveiled their sixth championship banner, Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Julian Edelman caught six passes for 83 yards and also completed a throw to help the Patriots begin their title defense.
No other team have won back-to-back NFL titles since New England did it in 2003 and 2004.
“We were so locked in on the moment. We were locked in because we knew of the expectations,” Patriots defensive back Duron Harmon said. “We knew that when we had the opportunity to play the Steelers, on opening night, with the banner raising, we were going to do everything possible to prepare the right way.”
Facing the last team to beat them, the Patriots opened a 20-0 lead before Pittsburgh kicked a field goal on fourth-and-goal with 10 minutes, 17 seconds left in the third quarter. Brady responded with a 58-yard touchdown pass to Dorsett and a 27-3 lead.
Dorsett had four catches for 95 yards and the first multi-score game of his career. He will be moving down the depth chart when the Patriots were expected to make Brown’s signing official.
“He’s a playmaker,” Edelman said. “The more playmakers you have, the more dynamic we can be.”
The move would not be welcome in Pittsburgh. Unable to get Brown to behave, the Steelers refused to trade the disgruntled diva to New England, only to see him wind up with the team.
“Whatever,” Roethlisberger said.
“Didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about it or dwelling on it,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “I’m not specifically worried about anything relative to Antonio Brown.”
Roethlisberger completed 27 of 47 passes for 277 yards and an interception, though 116 of the yards came on non-scoring drives in the fourth quarter with the Steelers down four scores.
The offense showed the effects of losing two of its biggest playmakers: Brown, who talked and tweeted his way out of both Pittsburgh and Oakland in the off-season, and running back Le’Veon Bell, who sat out all of last season to avoid a franchise tag.
In their place, James Conner gained 21 yards on 10 carries — the Steelers gained only 32 yards rushing in all.
Top receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster caught six passes for 78 yards, 26 coming on one throw in the final six minutes with the Steelers already trailing 33-3.
The drive ended when Roethlisberger threw it into the end zone from the 41-yard line and was picked off by Devin McCourty.
The Steelers had five full possessions in the first half and punted on four of them, going three-and-out three times.
“We got our butts whooped,” Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward said.
Elsewhere, the Chiefs crushed the Jaguars 40-26, the Lions and the Cardinals drew 27-27 after overtime, the Titans beat the Browns 43-13, the Ravens 59 routed the Dolphins 59-10, the Rams edged the Panthers 30-27 and the Eagles 32 rallied past the Redskins 32-27.
The Vikings defeated the Falcons 28-12, the Bills 17 edged the Jets 17-16, the Chargers outlasted the Colts 30-24 in overtime, the Seahawks beat the Bengals 21-20, the Cowboys crushed the Giants 35-17 and the 49ers flayed the Buccaneers 31-17.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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