New England Patriots: 3 Lesson learned vs. Steelers in Week 1 Win
Following the New England Patriots’ dominating Week 1 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, here are three lessons we learned from the victory.
The New England Patriots officially kicked off their 2019 NFL campaign on Sunday night taking on one of their biggest rivals in the Pittsburgh Steelers. On the national stage, the Patriots flexed their muscles against the Steelers to come away with an impressive early-season victory.
While welcoming in Pittsburgh to Foxborough on Sunday Night Football during a night when the defending Super Bowl champions celebrated its league title from a season ago, New England put on a show with the world tuning in.
In the Week 1 contest on their home field at Gillette Stadium, the Patriots cruised to an easy win in an AFC showdown against the Steelers, taking down Pittsburgh 33-3 to kick off the regular-season schedule. New England did a little bit of everything early and often in the game, finishing the blowout by tallying 366 passing yards while rushing for another 99 yards on the ground.
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady did what he does best, stepping up on the big stage and when his team needs him most, while New England displayed its ability to hurt the opposition all around the field.
The Patriots opened the game up by holding a 7-0 lead after the first quarter at home before taking a 20-0 advantage into halftime.
New England almost completely shut down Pittsburgh with the exception of the Steelers recording a field goal in the third quarter, as the Patriots went on to outscore their rivals 13-3 in the final two frames to grab the impressive 30-point win.
With the victory, New England showed everyone why it is and will continue to be favorites to win the Super Bowl for a second consecutive season this year, improving to an early-season record of 1-0 heading into a Week 2 matchup against the struggling Miami Dolphins on Sunday afternoon in Miami.
Pittsburgh, on the other hand, looked all out of sorts while trying to recover from losing both Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell within its offense. The Steelers never really threatened the Patriots in the game, ultimately opening up the season 0-1 prior to taking on the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2 at home.
With New England looking like it has not skipped a beat to kick off the fresh year following its Super Bowl title a year ago, let’s take a look at three lessons we learned from the Patriots’ win from Week 1 on Sunday night.