The Patriots have gotten used to carving up opponents with their potent passing attack this year.
The Steelers sure turned the tables on that one today.
In a rare turn of events for a Tom Brady-led team, New England came out on the short end of the passing game in the 25-17 loss on the road. And it wasn’t even close.
Ben Roethlisberger completed 36 of 50 passes for 365 yards, two touchdowns, an interception and a 97.5 QB rating. Brady’s rating was better — 101.8 — but he was good for just 198 yards.
Pittsburgh was most effective at keeping Brady’s deep options in check — the Pats’ wide receivers made just 10 catches total, all by Wes Welker and Deion Branch. Meanwhile, Roethlisberger spread the ball to nine players, six of whom made two or more catches.
The Steelers came up with 28 first downs to the Pats’ 16, 22 of which came through the air. They were 10-for-16 on third down?(New England went 3-for-10), and more than doubled the Pats’ total net yardage total (427-213).
And behind it all was Roethlisberger, who calmly led a receiving corps that simply outmatched a suddenly troubling Pats secondary.
