Week 9 vs. Patriots – Well that was embarrassing…

Another week, another loss for the Black & Gold 😦

The game started with promise as the Steel Curtain put together a goal line stand to stop New England from scoring late in the 1st quarter. That incredible defensive effort made me believe that the Steelers had come to Foxboro to play a competitive game against one of their rivals! The next play proved just how foolish my hopes were.

Big Ben and the Steelers took over from their own 1 yard line after the defense’s huge stop. This offensive drive was short-lived as Roethlisberger wildly tossed up a lobbed pass with more air time than a Kardashian. It was easily intercepted by the Patriots and Brady quickly capitalized by throwing an absolute strike to hit his receiver in stride for the first of many TDs that they would score.

Coming out of halftime, the Patriots were leading the Steelers 24-10. Ben actually managed to tie the game up in the 3rd quarter. Then Tom Brady happened. The man who looked so inept last week against Miami decided to wake up from whatever fog he was in and returned to his legendary self as he lit the Steelers’ defense up with 432 passing yards and 4 touchdowns. The final score was 55-31 in New England’s favor, but it felt more like 100-2.

Coach Mike Tomlin is fed up as well. He will look to make more changes this week to try and right the ship. The last trick he used was taking away the recreational games in the team’s clubhouse. This led to a 2 game win streak. But it looks like some more serious changes are going to come soon from this quote:

“We are going to comb through this with a fine tooth comb,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said, “and those people who are lacking effort won’t be playing. It’s just that simple.”

The one bright spot of the day was Ben’s performance and his personal achievement. Roethlisberger threw for 400 yards and 4 touchdowns. He did throw 2 interceptions and fumbled the ball once but let’s just move past that. Big Ben’s beautiful touchdown pass to Antonio Brown marked the 200th touchdown pass of his career. This puts him 12 behind the franchise leader, Terry Bradshaw. With 8 games remaining, Ben could overtake the Blonde Bomber by the end of the season.

Hopefully the Steelers can make some adjustments and get a win when the Buffalo Bills come to Pittsburgh on Sunday.