To beat the Patriots you need to hold the ball and you need to score a lot of points.
The Steelers held the ball for roughly 27 minutes last night and only put up three points. It's embarrassing. It's disgusting. It's all too common in New England.
Here's where the Steelers lost the game: Pittsburgh had just held the Pats to a field goal. It was the 2nd quarter and they were down 10-0. It was 3rd and one from the 30 yard line. James Conner got stuffed. Then, after the Steelers forced a New England three-and-out, James Conner lost four on another 3rd and one. The Patriots scored to make it 17-0. Ball game.
The offense was 3-13 on third and fourth downs. Ben wasn't sharp with the long ball (and they took too many shots.) Donte Moncrief couldn't catch polio in a swimming pool in 1952. Ryan Switzer played 67 percent of the snaps. They ran the ball to the tune of 2.5 yards per carry.
The play calling was putrid, and the execution was worse. Other than that Mrs. Lincoln...
Many have pointed out just how good Tom Brady is against the Steelers in New England. Spoiler alert: Very good.
Few, if any, have pointed out how bad Ben has been over that same stretch of games. While Brady has put up 21 touchdowns and zero interceptions, Ben has thrown just nine TD's with five picks in six games. Brady's passer rating in the six games at home against the Steelers is 129.9. In Roethlisberger's six games in New England, his average passer rating is 83.6. Not good enough.
Make no mistake, the defense wasn't good last night. The offense, though, didn't give the team a chance. It rarely does when these two teams meet up in New England.