In front of a national audience on Sunday night, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots proved that their disgusting loss to the lowly Browns in week 9 was indeed a fluke as the Pats stomped the Steelers 39-26 at Heinz Field.
Brady completed 30 of 43 passes for 350 yards and three touchdowns — all of which to rookie tight end Rob Gronkowski. Brady didn’t just spark the team on the field as the play-caller was spotted many times firing up his offense on the sideline and giving this teammates an earful when he didn’t like what he saw.
Wide receiver Wes Welker led the Pats with 89 receiving yards on eight receptions while BenJarvus Green-Ellis led the ground game with 87 yards on 18 carries.
The Pats were able to sack the usually un-sackable Ben Roethlisberger five times, with Mike Wright and Tully Banta-Cain adding 1.5 sacks apiece. James Sanders turned a fourth quarter interception into a touchdown to put the Pats up 29-10 while rookie cornerback Devin McCourty led the team in total tackles and added one pass defensed.
On special teams, newcomer Shayne Graham was a perfect 2-for-2 (31, 36) on field goals but missed a third quarter extra point. Punter Zoltan Mesko averaged just over 40 yards per punt and placed three of his five punts inside the Steelers’ 20-yard line.
Which phase of the game was key to the Patriots victory?online surveys
