Patriots Crush Steelers On SNF

September 9, 2019 3:07 am

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) – The New England Patriots trolled the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday and then blew them out Sunday night. A day after the acquiring former Steelers malcontent Antonio Brown, the defending Super Bowl champions showed they might not even need him, getting 341 yards and three touchdown passes from 42-year-old Tom Brady to beat Pittsburgh 33-3. Phillip Dorsett caught two touchdown passes, including a 58-yard score, and Josh Gordon – another disgruntled receiver who wore out his welcome elsewhere – caught one TD pass. On the night New England unveiled its sixth NFL championship banner, Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman caught six passes for 83 yards and also completed a throw to help the Patriots begin their quest for back-to-back titles. The last team to do that: New England in 2003 and ’04. Facing the last team to beat them, the Patriots opened a 20-0 lead before Pittsburgh kicked a field goal on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 10:17 left in the third quarter. Brady responded with a 58-yard touchdown pass to Dorsett and a 27-3 lead. Dorsett, who will be moving down the depth chart Monday when the Patriots make Brown’s signing official, had four catches for 95 yards and the first multi-score game of his career. Ben Roethlisberger completed 27 of 47 passes for 277 yards and an interception, with much of the production coming on non-scoring drives in garbage time. The offense showed the effects of losing two of its biggest playmakers: Brown, who talked and tweeted his way out of both Pittsburgh and Oakland in one offseason, and running back Le’Veon Bell, a two-time All-Pro who sat out all of last season to avoid a franchise tag.  In their place, James Conner gained 21 yards on 10 carries; the Steelers gained only 32 yards rushing in all. Top receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster caught six passes for 78 yards, 26 of it coming on one throw in the final six minutes with the Steelers already trailing 33-3. The drive ended when Roethlisberger threw it into the end zone from the 41-yard line and was picked off by Devin McCourty. The Steelers had five full possessions in the first half and punted on four of them, going three-and-out three times.