New England Patriots: 3 Lesson learned vs. Steelers in Week 1 Win
3. New England displayed its Super Bowl potential once again
The first lesson that we quickly learned in New England’s Week 1 win on Sunday night was the fact that it displayed its Super Bowl potential while the Patriots aim to repeat as league champions in 2019.
Basically, from the time the game kicked off against Pittsburgh, it seemed like New England had a handle on the game and controlled the flow of the matchup right out of the gate. The Patriots clearly looked like the superior team in the victory, finishing with a total of 465 yards on 10 drives on the offensive side of the ball.
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Defensively, New England held an always-potent Ben Roethlisberger-led offense to just 308 total yards on 11 drives, including allowing just 32 yards rushing against a running back group led by James Conner.
If we thought that the Patriots looked dangerous on Sunday night in Week 1 of the regular season and like a Super Bowl-caliber team once again this year, there will likely be much more where that came from for at least the first handful of weeks to start the regular season.
New England’s showdown against Pittsburgh in the opening week was initially viewed as one of its hardest tests for really the first half of the regular season schedule. After taking on the Steelers, the Patriots will play the awful Dolphins in Week 2, before facing the New York Jets in Week 3, Buffalo Bills in Week 4, Washington Redskins in Week 5, New York Giants in Week 6 and the Jets once again in Week 7.
By the time the midway point in the regular season arrives around the Week 8 and Week 9 mark, we could very well see New England as an undefeated team while looking to roll once again through the 16-game slate heading into the playoffs.
This Patriots team is a scary good team, which they certainly displayed on Sunday night in Foxborough, but they don’t look like they will slow down anytime soon moving forward.