Twice, Tom Brady has lead the Pats on long drives. Twice inside the red zone, though, those drives have been killed by turnovers. First, Kevin Faulk’s fumble killed a drive, then a tipped pass at the line resulted in a Steeler interception, which all but ended the half.
Ben Roethlisberger hurt his left shoulder on that 3rd down play earlier, but he was back on the field to take a knee after the interception.
Interception aside, Brady is having a hell of a game so far, which it not the preferred outcome to most of the patrons here at Sammy’s. Big Ben is getting a lot of pressure from the Pats D, which isn’t helping. Willie Parker started to get it going toward the end of the half, but he hasn’t been a huge factor so far.
Most troubling stat? Time of possession. The Pats have dominated that stat, holding the ball 18:05 to the Steelers’ 11:55 so far. Pats’ penalties, 5 of ‘em for 60 yards, are hurting them a bit, especially on D.
Pittsburgh could use a couple of long, drawn-out scoring drives in the second half. Hopefully, Big Ben isn’t hurt so bad that he can’t get a few passes off…
