Sunday night’s Steelers-Patriots game was billed as a matchup of two Super Bowl contenders. And for all the hype we see every week from the networks and talking heads that get paid to manufacture stories for these games, the Steelers and Patriots is about as close as you’ll get to a legitimate clash of titans at this point in the NFL season.
Patriots Vs. Steelers: New England Rebounds, Pittsburgh Takes A Step Backward
Both teams have been dominant for the majority of the season, and over the past month, they’ve looked better than ever. In a very tangible way, Sunday night’s game went a long way toward defining the pecking order in the AFC and the NFL, in general.
And coming off a loss the previous week, the Patriots may have been a notch below the Steelers on that scale. But after Sunday night’s performance, maybe they’re ahead of everyone? On Sunday night, Patriots fans could rest easy, and dream of things to come.
I just want to say that the way the Patriots rebounded this week shows us a lot about this team. They could have rolled over like the 2009 Patriots. This is a different team. This was an angry team. We’ve seen a lot of ups and downs this year, but if the team plays with the passion it had tonight, they can do anything. The Patriots went into Pittsburgh, against a Steelers team that nearly every prognosticator believed would stomp on the Patriots. The Steelers were too physical. So how do the Patriots respond? They respond by playing the Steelers with some physical football, and it showed. I’ll sleep well tonight.
On the other side, the Steelers fans at SB Nation’s Behind The Steel Curtain are reluctant to read too much into one game. As they write, “It was a tough night for the Steelers, plain and simple. Dropped passes, an early injury to Hines Ward to saw his streak of 186 consecutive games with a catch snapped, the obvious struggles of an offensive line that was working in two new starters this week, and last but not least, a short week to prepare after having played on Monday night in Week 9.”
So what’s next for Pittsburgh?
Back to the drawing board for Mike Tomlin and his team. No team goes an entire season without a clunker or two, so I personally am not reading too, too much into this one. If the Steelers aren’t angry and well-prepared next week when they host Oakland, than I’ll be legitimately concerned about whether or not this Steelers team can hang in there for a playoff spot this year. It’s going to be a tall order regardless due to all the injuries they’ve sustained. But they’re better than what they showed on Sunday night.
Indeed, Pittsburgh probably is better than what they showed Sunday. But as far as the rest of us are concerned, we can only go off what we saw. And in a matchup between two of the three or four best teams in football, only one came away looking dominant and destined for a bright future. So rest easy, Patriots fans. And sleep it off, Pittsburgh.
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