The New England Patriots secured their sixth win of the season Sunday, beating a shorthanded Pittsburgh Steelers squad on the road at Heinz Field. But they sure didn’t make things easy for themselves.
The Patriots’ 27-16 victory was fraught with miscues, including two turnovers, two key drops and another missed extra point by Stephen Gostkowski, who now has misfired on five kicks (three field goals, two extra points) in seven games this season.
New England also put minimal pressure on Steelers fill-in quarterback Landry Jones and allowed Pittsburgh’s two biggest stars — running back Le’Veon Bell and wide receiver Antonio Brown — both to record impressive stat lines. Bell and Brown combined for 268 yards from scrimmage, including all 94 of the Steelers’ rushing yards.
“We can play better than we played (Sunday),” Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said in his postgame news conference.
The Patriots’ defense was stout when it counted, though, holding the home team to one touchdown in four red-zone trips and a lackluster 5-for-16 (31 percent) mark on third down. Couple that with an early interception by Malcolm Butler, a huge game from LeGarrette Blount and a steady dose of Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman, and the result was a performance strong enough to improve the Pats’ AFC-best record to 6-1.
“You have to give our players a lot of credit,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick told reporters. “They hung in there. It certainly wasn’t easy.”
Chris Hogan fumbled on the Patriots’ first offensive play, and Edelman also put the ball on the ground during a punt return early in the fourth quarter. Edelman otherwise enjoyed his most productive game of the season, catching nine passes for 60 yards on 10 targets, but his fumble gave the Steelers the ball in New England territory with more than enough time to erase their 11-point deficit.
Neither of those turnovers resulted in points, however, as Butler picked off Jones in the end zone following Hogan’s fumble and Steelers kicker Chris Boswell missed wide right on a 54-yard field-goal attempt four plays after Edelman’s.
“Obviously, Malcolm’s interception was a big play for us, at the start of the game to keep them from getting ahead,” Belichick told reporters. “Then we were able to drive it and take the lead.”
The Patriots followed up Butler’s first interception of the season with an 80-yard scoring drive that culminated in a 19-yard touchdown from Tom Brady to James White. New England never relinquished that early 7-0 lead, as additional touchdowns by Blount (two rushing) and Gronkowski (one receiving) kept Pittsburgh at arm’s length for the remainder of the contest.
Blount finished with a career-high 127 rushing yards in the win, while Gronkowski caught four passes for 93 yards and tied the Patriots’ franchise record with the 68th touchdown of his career.
Thumbnail photo via Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports Images
