1 – With the Patriots and Steelers facing off Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh, two of the NFL’s most stable, successful modern franchises will be on full display.
They each have an NFL-best six Lombardi Trophies to their resume. They have the two best records in the NFL since 2000. Though neither New England nor Pittsburgh is currently considered a top Super Bowl contender – each is in the process of figuring out life after a Hall of Fame quarterback – both very much remain competitive, respected organizations. That respect starts at the top, given the impressive leadership brought by the Kraft and Rooney families and obviously trickles through Super Bowl-winning coaches Bill Belichick and Mike Tomlin.
Even Belichick seems to be in somewhat awe of not only what the Pittsburgh franchise has been able to accomplish over the years, but also the way in which it’s gone about its business going back to legendary coach Chuck Noll.
“Then Bill [Cowher] came in, then Mike came in. The Steelers have a brand of football, and they've been very consistent in it through the years,” Belichick said this week. “I think they deserve a lot of credit as an organization for that type of consistency that they've put out there. Through their head coaches and just their general playing style, regardless of exactly what the scheme was, or who the quarterback was, or so forth. They've had pretty consistent style there. It probably does go back to Coach. I don't when did he start, late 60's? 70's? Whatever it was. Definitely there in the 70's. So I forget exactly what year it was, '67? '68? I don't know something like that. So three coaches over how many years is that -- 50. That's a lot. Pretty good. Mike's done a great job. Fifteen straight winning seasons, that's pretty impressive.”
2 – These days, though, the two teams are running in the same circles, seemingly more back in the pack of the highly competitive AFC.
Both made the playoffs last January, only to get blown out on Wild Card Weekend: the Patriots in Buffalo and the Steelers in Kansas City. Despite Pittsburgh’s fortunate upset of the Bengals on opening day, neither is a favorite to win its division. Both, at best, may be vying for a Wild Card spot in the conference. That means the result of Sunday’s battle at Acrisure Field – doesn’t quite have the same ring as Heinz Field – could come into play late in the season if the two teams claw their way into the playoff conversation.
3 – Matthew Slater is as respected a player as you’ll find in the New England locker room. But Slater’s lauded leadership and special teams abilities are appreciated well beyond the borders of Patriot Nation.
Talking about New England’s captain and kicking-game leader this week, Tomlin has admitted he’s had to reassess the level of his own praise and respect for Slater.
“Matt Slater is a legendary special teams player," Tomlin said. "I used to say legendary of this generation. I no longer include of this generation. He's just a legendary special teams player.”
4 – Mac Jones had quite an eventful first week-plus of the season, and not just because he’s running a new offense with new offensive coaches. Jones had to miss his post-game press conference after the season opening loss in Miami while getting X-rays on his back. He was on the practice field as a full participant on Wednesday, but missed Thursday’s practice due to an illness. He was then a full participant on Friday and did not require a game status designation on the final injury report of the week, meaning he’s good to go against Pittsburgh. Still, the injury, the illness and missing practice time are all less than ideal for a young quarterback looking to find his groove in order to secure his first win of the season.
Belichick said that “there’s things the he would need” to do for Jones to catch up with his game preparation heading to Pittsburgh after missing Thursday’s key day of practice, but the coach didn’t seem too concerned.
5 – Obviously Jones’ first challenge going against a Steelers’ defense that will bring the pressure is taking care of the football, even against a unit playing without star pass rusher T.J. Watt. The Patriots turned the ball over three times in the loss to Miami, including an interception and a fumble from Jones. The Steelers recorded five takeaways against the Bengals on opening day, including a Minkah Fitzpatrick interception returned for a touchdown on Joe Burrow’s first throw of the afternoon.
Jones knows the first priority for New England has to be keeping the ball away from the Steelers, including his former Alabama teammate Fitzpatrick.
“I think it’s a super talented defense,” Jones said. “Play a lot of different coverages, definitely fly to the ball. Obviously, Minkah does a great job. I had some experience, he was my former teammate at Alabama, and I have a lot of respect for him and all the guys on their defense. He makes a lot of plays out there. They’ve got play makers all over the field. It’s a really good defense to kind of go against. We don’t get to play against them a lot, but just got to be ready to go and correct the things we want to correct and focus on ourselves.
“We know that they’re a good defense, that’s obvious, it’s on tape.”
6 – Sunday certainly feels like a must-win game for the Patriots. New England looks to avoid starting a season 0-2 for the first time since 2001, the longest streak in the NFL. Since 2001, New England has lost the season opener only four other times. In the previous such scenarios under Belichick, his team has bounced back to win in Week 2 by an average margin of just under 20 points, all four wins coming on the road.
7 – Prediction Time: The Steelers easily could have and probably should have lost on opening day. But they are 1-0. The Patriots probably could have won on opening day if you eliminated a couple really bad big plays, at least that’s the picture that Belichick would like to paint of his 0-1 team. So this is a battle of two pretty evenly matched, middling AFC teams. Turnovers will obviously be the key to the game. The reality is that neither offense in this battle is really all that potent right now under the direction of Jones and first-year Steelers starter Mitchell Trubisky. Both defenses have the potential to continue to build some early season positive momentum. While anything can happen, this doesn’t seem like a game where a lot of points will be scored. In the end, the kicking game could be key and that’s an area where the Patriots should feel pretty good about things being left at the feet of Jake Bailey and Nick Folk. It might be ugly at times. It may not be the most entertaining affair. But it says here the Patriots will leave Pittsburgh with a 17-13 win and a .500 record when all is said and done on Sunday afternoon.
