The Patriots are 3-4 on the road this year, including three losses by double digits against teams that currently aren’t making the playoffs (Jaguars, Lions, Titans). Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski have looked old at times. But tough to ignore history when New England shows up at Heinz Field today.
The Patriots have owned the Steelers in recent years, and Brady and Gronkowski have tended to play starring roles.
Brady is 11-2 against the Pittsburgh. In his last 10 starts against them, he’s averaged 315 passing yards, with 25 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions. He’s completed 71 percent of his passes in those games. Brady played well enough in Miami last week that I consider him to be a top-5 type quarterback prospect today.
| BRADY AGAINST PITTSBURGH | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Opp | Result | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int |
| 2001 | Pitt.* | W 24-17 | 67% | 115 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002 | N.E. | W 30-14 | 67% | 294 | 3 | 0 |
| 2004 | Pitt. | L 20-34 | 58% | 271 | 2 | 2 |
| 2004 | Pitt.* | W 41-27 | 67% | 207 | 2 | 0 |
| 2005 | Pitt. | W 23-20 | 76% | 372 | 0 | 1 |
| 2007 | N.E. | W 34-13 | 70% | 399 | 4 | 0 |
| 2010 | Pitt. | W 39-26 | 70% | 350 | 3 | 0 |
| 2011 | Pitt. | L 17-25 | 69% | 198 | 2 | 0 |
| 2013 | N.E. | W 55-31 | 70% | 432 | 4 | 0 |
| 2015 | N.E. | W 28-21 | 78% | 288 | 4 | 0 |
| 2016 | Pitt. | W 27-16 | 73% | 222 | 2 | 0 |
| 2016 | N.E.* | W 36-17 | 76% | 384 | 3 | 0 |
| 2017 | Pitt. | W 27-24 | 63% | 298 | 1 | 1 |
As for Gronkowski, he’s 29 and looks older. His body is breaking down. He can’t move anymore. He’s not going to be one of these Tony Gonzalez or Antonio Gates guys who plays for years and years. I’m not confident he’s playing in 2019.
But Gronk can’t still play. He had a good game last week in Miami, including a real nice touchdown catch. So I would expect him to play a big role in this game. Something about the way the Steelers play defense, apparently, because he tends to come up big against them.
Gronkowski has played six career games against Pittsburgh, and he’s played well in all of them.
| GRONKOWSKI AGAINST PITTSBURGH | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Site | Result | No | Yards | Avg | TD |
| 2010 | Pitt. | W 39-26 | 5 | 72 | 14.4 | 3 |
| 2011 | Pitt. | L 17-25 | 7 | 94 | 13.4 | 0 |
| 2013 | N.E. | W 55-31 | 9 | 143 | 15.9 | 1 |
| 2015 | N.E. | W 28-21 | 5 | 94 | 18.8 | 3 |
| 2016 | Pitt. | W 27-16 | 4 | 93 | 23.3 | 1 |
| 2017 | Pitt. | W 27-24 | 9 | 168 | 18.7 | 0 |
—Ian Allan