Ups & Downs From Patriots' Occasionally Sloppy Win Over Steelers
BOSTON (CBS) -- It wasn't easy and it wasn't pretty, but the Patriots are now 6-1 on the season following a 27-16 win over the Steelers in Pittsburgh.
The win loses a bit of its luster as the Steelers were without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, but the Pats overcame some mental mistakes to leave Heinz Field with a hard-fought win. It was frustrating at times, with some uncharacteristic mistakes by the Patriots, but it's a game that will give Bill Belichick plenty of teaching points for his team.
Let's get right to the Ups & Downs from Sunday's victory:
Ups
Butler Holds Own Against Brown
It's not easy going against one of the best playmakers in the league, but Malcolm Butler did a fine job against Antonio Brown. Yes, Brown had a 51-yard catch-and-run that led to Pittsburgh's first touchdown, but overall, No. 84 was held in check thanks to Butler's stellar coverage.
Butler picked off Landry Jones in the end zone on Pittsburgh's second drive of the game, which led to the Patriots' first touchdown, he finished the game with two other passes defended in addition to his first pick of the season.
He's had a strong season so far, and Butler was more than up to the challenge of keeping Antonio Brown from making big plays on Sunday.
Blount Carries Load
On offense, it was The LeGarrette Blount Show against his former team. The big back finished with 127 yards on 24 carries (good for 5.3 yards per carry) and a pair of touchdowns, giving him eight for the season and four in his last three games. It's also his third 100-yard game of the season, and he's up to 566 yards for the year.
On Gronk's touchdown drive, a drive that woke up New England's offense, Blount picked up 36 yards on two carries. Of his 127 yards on the ground, 74 came after halftime, helping the New England offense get out of their funk.
Edelman Gets Back Into The Mix
Julian Edelman had a quiet start to the season (missing his best friend Tom Brady probably didn't help), but he looked like himself again on Sunday, breaking out with a season-high nine receptions for 60 yards.
He wasn't without his mistakes, but it was good to see Edelman back in the mix on the offensive side.
Gronk Does Gronk Things
Rob Gronkowski has a knack for torching the Steelers. It took him a little while to get going on Sunday, but he was a big part of the offense's success in the second half.
Gronk hauled in a 36-yard touchdown grab to extend the Pats' lead to 20-13 in the third quarter (which came on 3rd-and-7), his eighth touchdown against five career games against the Steelers. It was also his 68th score of his career, tying Stanley Morgan for the most in Patriots team history.
Gronkowski also had a 37-yard connection with Brady to set up Blount's five-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, and finished the afternoon with four receptions for 93 yards.
Bonus: Bills Lose!
The Bills' four-game win streak was snapped earlier Sunday, as Buffalo returned back to earth with a 28-25 loss to the Dolphins. The Bills are now 4-3 on the season, which makes their showdown with the Pats in Buffalo next Sunday as close to a must-win as it gets if they want to compete in the division.
Downs
No Pass Rush
The New England pass rush was non-existent, and Landry Jones had plenty of time to think about what he wanted to do after the snap. The Pats didn't sack the quarterback at all, and when Jabaal Sheard had a chance to take him down at the end of the game, he whiffed.
This didn't hurt as much because the defensive backs did their job, but the New England pass rush has been missing for most of the season so far.
Dropped Passes and Fumbles
Tom Brady called them "self-inflicted wounds," but the Patriots survived their own mistakes and were able to capitalize on a few made by the Steelers.
A pair of dropped passes really turned the complexion of the game in the second quarter, as both Julian Edelman and Brandon Bolden couldn't hold on to third-down passes from Tom Brady. Bolden's especially hurt, as he could have walked backwards to the first-down marker and continued the drive.
Edelman also fumbled away a punt late that, luckily, didn't turn into any points for Pittsburgh. Chris Hogan had a fumble on New England's first offensive play of the game, which also didn't come back to hurt the Patriots thanks to Butler's pick.
There were sloppy moments throughout the win, but those four plays could have turned things in a bad direction for the Patriots.
Sloppy 2nd Quarter
Both the offense and defense struggled in the second quarter, which is when the Steelers made things close.
The Patriots started the second quarter by continuing a lengthy drive that ended with Blount in the end zone. But they seemed to take their foot off the gas after that, as they got just 21 yards off of nine plays in their following two drives of the quarter. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, scored 10 points to make things close at halftime. Their touchdown came on a quick drive that covered 71 yards on just five plays, while the field goal was a 10-play drive that covered 66 yards in less than two minutes.
The Steelers had another missed attempt in the second quarter that could have made things even tighter at halftime. The Bolden drop could have really come back to bite the Pats had Chris Boswell not missed his 42-yard attempt.
Another Missed Extra Point By Gostkowski
For the second straight week, Stephen Gostkowski missed an extra point, making his "yips" very, very real. He's now missed five kicks this season, which is very un-Gostkowski-like.
This will only make the Gostkowski doubters get louder and louder. But after another missed extra point, it's hard to blame them.
