Haven’t we seen this movie before? The Steelers are taking on Tom Brady, and I’ve got a pretty good feeling how this one is going to end.
Pittsburgh seems to use the same defensive strategy against New England every time these teams meet, and it never works. He tends to get time to work against their defense, and he tends to find the open guys.
These have long been the two big powers in the AFC, but there’s long been a massive gap between them.
Brady is 6-1 against Pittsburgh over the last 11 years, and statistically he tends to make them look like the Cleveland Browns.
Brady in his last seven games against the Steelers has completed 72 percent of his passes, averaging 325 passing yards, with 22 touchdowns and no interceptions. He’s had a passer rating of at least 102 in all of those games.
| BRADY VERSUS PITTSBURGH | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Site | Score | Pct. | Yards | TD | Int |
| 2007 | N.E. | W 34-13 | 70% | 399 | 4 | 0 |
| 2010 | Pitt. | W 39-26 | 70% | 350 | 3 | 0 |
| 2011 | Pitt. | L 17-25 | 69% | 198 | 2 | 0 |
| 2013 | N.E. | W 55-31 | 70% | 432 | 4 | 0 |
| 2015 | N.E. | W 28-21 | 78% | 288 | 4 | 0 |
| 2016 | Pitt. | W 27-16 | 73% | 222 | 2 | 0 |
| 2016 | N.E.. | W 36-17 | 76% | 384 | 3 | 0 |
The Patriots had an off game on Monday night, but I’m not putting too much weight in that. The Gronkowski suspension, I think, was big – I think his presence helps to make everyone else in that offense better. And it might have simply been one of those nights – New England a little flat or off, and the Dolphins we’re playing well.
Steelers should probably be more concerned with keeping their own house in order. They’re defense has slipped recently, giving up way too many big plays on blown coverages. They’ve allowed 28 and 38 points in their last two games at Heinz Field.
Brady is 40. The game is in Pittsburgh. But chances are we’ll see something similar to what we’ve been seeing for a lot of years.
Not a lot of quarterbacks I would rather be starting than Brady in a fantasy league this week.
—Ian Allan
