Pats Tear Down Steel Curtain

A good portion of the football population -- including myself -- had reasonable doubts going into last night's Sunday night clash between the Patriots and the Steelers. Coming off an embarrasing 34-14 loss to the once lowly Cleveland Browns, how would Bill Belichick's troops come out against a much more formidable Steelers opponent? If they couldn't move the ball against Cleveland, how would they move it against Pittsburgh? The answers to those questions came (as usual) in a phenomenal bounce-back performance by New England, who is now 23-2 following a loss in the past seven seasons.

"Today, REDEMPTION is spelled R-O-B."

Did you see what I did there? I took a famous anchorman quote, but I changed Ron to Rob. Because one of the major storylines of this game (and there were many) was the redemption that rookie tight end Rob Gronkowski achieved. Last week in Cleveland, Gronkowski made several massive mistakes that contributed to a shameful effort by the Patriots. Last night, Gronk rose to the occasion, hauling in all 3 of Tom Brady's touchdown passes. Despite the three big scores, though, Gronkowski was just another piece to the puzzle for Tom Brady and his newfound stellar passing attack.

In vintage Brady fashion, the three-time Super Bowl champ hit 8 different receivers and completed nearly 70% of his passes. He ended up tossing for 350 yards and had 4 total touchdowns (3 passing, 1 rushing). BenJarvus Green-Ellis rushed for 87 yards, the most that any running back has gone for against the Steelers this season. Wes Welker led the way in the receiving core receptions-wise, grabbing 8 catches for 89 yards. Brandon Tate was able to stretch the defense for a 45 yard play down field.

Speaking of stretching the defense, the Patriots executed on some very important factors that changed the game in their favor. You'll notice this any time you watch New England play. Everyone knows they excel with those short, intermediate routes and the screen-type dump-offs out of the backfield. But it's really the other parts of the offense -- downfield shots and running the football -- that open up those opportunities. The play immediately after Tate's 45-yard reception, Wes Welker ran up the gut uncovered and made a wide open first down catch. That play isn't available if the Pats aren't stretching the defense. It's the Randy Moss factor that everyone talks about. Brandon Tate was able to do it this week. It doesn't mean he needs to be hauling in 70-yard touchdowns every week. He just needs to be a threat downfield. He was last night. Green-Ellis ran the ball last night. Those two parts of the game are the biggest factors for New England. If they're doing those things well, it opens up the intermediate routes. And when that happens, you can kiss your chances of beating Bill Belichick and Tom Brady goodbye.

Brady boosted his record to 6-1 and he further solidified himself, in my eyes, as the greatest to play the game. I know people will tell me I'm stupid for saying that, but I believe it. And potentially, after winning a few more rings, people will just stop arguing against it. I'm obviously biased, and maybe you don't think Brady's an all-time great. But you can't argue with his ability and how fun he is to watch. The guy has picture-perfect mechanics on every throw. There probably isn't a prettier form in the NFL from a pocket quarterback. And when he's on the same page with everyone with a team clicking in unison, it feels like an honor just to watch him play. As I said last night -- man-crushes are officially permitted if we're talking about Tom Brady.

So now it's ESPN's turn to pull another string and start calling the Pats the best team in the NFL (just one week after coming down hard on them for their 34-14 loss to Cleveland). If you ask me about that issue, I won't really care much. And neither will any guy in that locker room. Hell, Tom Brady has gone 18-0. What does 7-2 mean to these guys? What would 14-2 mean? Absolutely nothing, that's what. A ring is the only thing that matters to them. After last night's performance, Pats fans can feel a little more confident that our hometown squad is in shape to compete for that accolade once again.