Steelers keep rolling as they finally beat Brady, Pats

Entering week 8 as we are nearly smack-dab in the middle of this NFL season, this particular matchup was one of the more hyped contests in the entire year. The parallels ran deep between these two AFC powerhouses, centered around smart coaching, storied histories, and elitist gameplay. The many intriguing one-on-one and unit battles had insiders anxious to see which recently dominating team would keep their rolls going, and which would fall back to the tight pack in their respective division races. Brady has made a career on besting Pittsburgh, posing a 6-1 career record against the defending AFC champions, as the teams' two QB's host the two highest winning records and most titles of any QB's in the game today.

The Steelers came out in this game and did what has become their moniker in recent memory, holding the ball and establishing long, rhythmic drives, and getting on the board first. An eleven play drive (in which Roethlisberger was 7-9, hitting 5 different targets) did just that for the Steelers, as Big Ben hooked up with Mewelde Moore for a 5 yard TD toss. After a 1:24, 3-and-out drive for Brady's Pats, the Steelers would go on the hold the ball for the remainder of the entire 1st quarter. Without banged-up WR leader Hines Ward in the Pitt lineup, the Steelers seemed to run a newly designed offense, predicated upon a 'no-huddle' cadence and short, timed dump-offs and check-downs in fluid succession.

The Pats defense (who's been known to be slower in recent years) had no answer early on for the underrated Steeler pass attack, which was highlighted early by lion heart TE Heath Miller devouring the middle of the field. All the speedy athletes in the young Steeler receiving core got involved often as well, carving up the Patriot pass coverage with quick routes and broken tackles. A Shawn Suisham FG put the Steelers up 10-0 early in the second. But as their defense continued to supply the elite Brady with few chances, a Big Ben underthrown INT gave the Pats the ball back at the Steeler 25, resulting in a short TD catch for veteran Deion Branch. The Steelers would answer with another 10 play drive highlighted by the Pittsburgh youthful trio of quick WR's (Wallace, Saunders, and Brown), as Brown caught his first TD of the season.

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Brady emerged in a 10 play drive of his own, but the Steelers held the lead at the half 17-10, and they never really looked back. Although Roethlisberger is founded on being a play-extender and improvisational genius, the second half continued to show another side to Ben's story. Roethlisberger called the balk of his plays outside the huddle, changed more protections, and through more hot-reads than ever before, in what could easily be considered a breakout performance (365 yards and 2 TDs). Rashard Mendenhall had just 13 carries, but notched 70 yards as the older Pats defense was always on their heels. The Pitt offense converted on 63 percent of their third downs (10-16) with the 3 wideouts and standout TE mentioned earlier, all gaining over 65 yards receiving (season high's for 3 of them).

Brady did manage to throw a second-half touchdown to Aaron Hernandez, and he put together a few nice drives heavily featuring their other TE, Rob Gronkowski (who had 94 yards), but in the end it was too much control from Pittsburgh. Pro Bowl LB Lamarr Woodley again had 2 sacks (for his 4th consecutive week), and first CB Ike Taylor blanketed Pats star WR Wes Welker (held to a season low 39 yards receiving). Safety Troy Polamalu was ever-present, as he had 5 tackles, and posted the biggest play of the game as he punched a fumbled ball (caused by a Brett Kiesel strip) out of the endzone resulting in a Steelers safety, the games' final score. The daunting Pats offense still managed to keep it close, but couldn't overcome being outgained 427-213 (over 200 yards below their average), and losing the time of possession to the Steelers by nearly 20 minutes (39:22-20:38). The final score in this heated rivalry game was 25-17, in favor of the black and gold. Now the Patriots regroup and try to stay ahead of the Bills and Jets, as the Steelers use this high to ready themselves for a rematch with division foe Baltimore, who embarrassed them in week 1.

By Jason Burke
Pro Football Fans Pittsburgh Steelers Correspondent