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New England Patriots Schedule: Did The Patriots Record A Win In NFL Week 7 Against The Pittsburgh Steelers?

By Jason Fletcher
Published on: 14:47 PST, Oct 23, 2016

The New England Patriots got a little bit lucky with their schedule this week as they got to face the Pittsburgh Steelers without Ben Roethlisberger, who tore his meniscus against the Miami Dolphins last week and was required to have surgery. The Patriots instead got to face backup quarterback Landry Jones and were able to come away with a 27-16 road victory, as reported by ESPN.

Things started out poorly for the Patriots as wide receiver Chris Hogan fumbled on the team’s opening play of the game and the ball was recovered by Steelers’ linebacker Jarvis Jones. After a four-play 29-yard drive got Pittsburgh to the New England 16-yard line, Landry Jones made his biggest mistake of the day by throwing an interception in the end zone. The interception took three points off the board for the Steelers which could’ve changed the course of the game.

Following the interception, Tom Brady led the Patriots’ offense on a 13-play, 80-yard drive that took 7:23 off the clock and resulted in a 19-yard touchdown pass from Brady to running back James White. Brady went five-of-five on the drive for 45 yards and LeGarrette Blount carried the ball six times for 28 yards as New England took the 7-0 lead.

After the Patriots’ defense forced a three-and-out, Tom led the offense on an 11-play, 84-yard drive that took 4:46 off the clock and ended with a three-yard touchdown run by Blount. Blount carried the ball five times for 22 yards on the drive while Brady completed five-of-six passes for 52 yards.

Pittsburgh would finally respond with a five play, 71-yard drive that only took 1:56 off the clock and culminated in a 14-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Darrius Heyward-Bey. The biggest play of the drive was a 51-yard completion from Jones to star wide receiver Antonio Brown.

The Steelers would have two more opportunities to score in the first half, but kicker Chris Boswell would only convert 1-of-2 field goals and Pittsburgh would go into the half trailing the New England Patriots, 14-10.

Pittsburgh would draw first blood in the second half as Boswell converted a 46-yard field goal with 8:44 remaining in the third quarter to cut the lead to 14-13. The momentum didn’t last long as the Patriots responded with a five play, 75-yard drive that only took 2:25 off the clock and ended in a 36-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Rob Gronkowski to make the score 20-13 after New England missed the extra point.

The Steelers would respond with another field goal on the following drive to cut the lead to 20-16, but it would only take the Patriots three minutes to score yet another touchdown to make the score 27-16. Blount rumbled in from five yards out this time as he posted a huge day on the ground with 24 carries for 127 yards and two touchdowns.

Brady finished the day 19-of-26 for 222 yards and two touchdowns as the Patriots decided to lean more heavily on Blount than in recent weeks. This is exactly why New England is the best team in the NFL. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels makes opponents gameplan for Tom Brady and the high-flying passing offense, but then he’ll come out and pound the ball 25 times with Blount, and vice versa.

Just when opposing teams think they have the Patriots figured out, they add another wrinkle to the gameplan and completely throw a wrench in everything. Unless defenses can find a way to get pressure on Brady without blitzing and shut down the running game all at once, there’s very little chance of stopping the New England Patriots from running through the rest of their schedule.

[Featured Image by Joe Sargent/Getty Images]

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