Steelers at Patriots NFL Week One Capsule

PITTSBURGH STEELERS AT NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

 

	STEELERS	PATRIOTS
THURS. RECORD	10-14	8-5
SERIES LEADER	14-9
STREAKS		4 of past 6
COACHES VS. OPP.	Mike Tomlin: 2-3	Bill Belichick: 10-11
LAST GAME	11/3/13: Steelers 31 at Patriots 55. New England TE Rob Gronkowski has 143 receiving yards & TD. RB Stevan Ridley rushes for 2 TDs.
LAST GAME AT SITE	11/3/13
REFEREE	Carl Cheffers
BROADCAST	NBC (8:30 PM ET): Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Michele Tafoya (Field reporter). Westwood One: Kevin Harlan, Boomer Esiason, Ross Tucker (Field reporter). SIRIUS: 88 (WW1), 83 (Pit), 93 (NE). XM: 88 (WW1), 225 (Pit), 226 (NE).

2014 STATS

PASSING	Roethlisberger: 408-608-4952 (T1L)-32-9-103.3 (1C)	Brady: 373-582-4109-33 (3C)-9-97.4 (3C)
RUSHING	Williams (Car): 62-219-3.5-0	Bolden: 28-89-3.2-1
RECEIVING	Brown: 129 (1L)-1698 (1L)-13.2-13 (1C)	Edelman: 92-972-10.6-4
OFFENSE	411.1 (1C)	365.5
TAKE/GIVE	0	+12 (T1C)
DEFENSE	353.4	344.1
SACKS	Heyward: 7.5	Ninkovich: 8
INTs	Gay: 3	3 tied: 2
PUNTING	Berry (R) (Pre.): 49.8	Allen: 46.4
KICKING	Scobee (Jax.): 83 (23/23 PAT; 20/26 FG)	Gostkowski: 156 (1L) (51/51 PAT; 35/37 FG)

NOTES

GAME FEATURES 2 of 3 winningest teams over past 10 seasons (2005-2014) – NE (122-38, .763) has best regular-season win pct. during span; Pit. ranks 3rd (101-59, .631). Clubs combined for 15 playoff berths, 6 AFC Champ wins & 3 SB titles over past decade…STEELERS: QB BEN ROETHLISBERGER has led Pit to 5 division titles, 3 AFC Championships & 2 SB wins. In 2014, passed for single-season club record 4,952 yards & 32 TDs, which tied his own Steelers mark (2007). All-time franchise passing leader in yards (39,057), TDs (251), comp (3,157) & rating (93.9)…RB DE ANGELO WILLIAMS makes Pit debut. Played 9 seasons with Car. & is Panthers’ all-time leading rusher (6,846)…WR ANTONIO BROWN led NFL in catches (129) & rec. yards (1,698) in 2014, both single-season club records, & became 4th player in NFL history with back-to-back 110+ catch seasons…LB JAMES HARRISON (69.5) needs half sack to join JASON GILDON (77) as only Steelers with 70+ career. Has 5.5 sacks in past 7. LB LAWRENCE TIMMONS led team with 132 tackles in 2014…PATRIOTS: Have won 6 consec division titles, tied for 2nd-longest streak in NFL annals…QB TOM BRADY has 11-2 career record (.846) in season openers, highest win pct. among SB-era QBs (min. 10 starts). In 2014, guided NE to fourth SB title in 14 years & became 1st starting QB in NFL history to win 12 division championships… In 4 career starts, RB BRANDON BOLDEN averages 6.3 yards per rush & has 175 total scrimmage yards (119 rush, 56 receiving) with 2 rush TDs…In past 5 (incl. playoffs), WR JULIAN EDELMAN has 41 catches for 510 yards (102 per game) & 3 TD catches. In 2014, TE ROB GRONKOWSKI led Pats with 12 TD catches, tied for most among NFL TEs. 1 of 2 TEs in NFL history with 4 10-TD seasons (ANTONIO GATES). In 3 career meetings, has 21 catches for 309 yards & 4 TDs…LB JAMIE COLLINS has 4 sacks in past 5. S DEVIN MC COURTY had INT in last meeting.