Tom Brady became the first 42 year old quarterback to throw for 300 yards or more in a game, tossing a pair of scores to Phillip Dorsett as the New England Patriots began their title defense with a 33-3 destruction of the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts Sunday night.
New England (1-0) took alot of drama out this opening contest early against Pittsburgh, who has been talked about as one of the AFC challengers in this 2019 season. A pair of Brady touchdowns, one to Dorsett (25 yards) and one to Josh Gordon (20yards) along with a pair of Stephen Gostkowski field goals had the hosts up 20-0 at the half. After Pittsburgh (0-1) had gotten on the board with a short field goal after driving to the Patriots 1 yard line early in the third quarter, Dorsett got behind the defense and was wide open for a 58 yard touchdown. It is the first multi-TD of his career for Dorsett. Gostkowski would add a pair of field goals to end the scoring. New England is now 62-0 all-time when leading a game by 20 or more points at the half.
Brady finished 24-36 passing, 341 yards, and three touchdowns. Dorsett caught four of those for 95 yards and the two scores. Julian Edelman had six catches for 83 yards, Josh Gordon added three for 73 and a touchdown, while James White also caught five passes for 56 yards. Rex Burkhead led the rushing game with eight carries for 44 yards. 2018 leading rusher and second year man Sony Michel only had 14 yards on 15 carries. Jamie Collins, Jason McCourty, and Don’ta Hightower all had six tackles a piece to spearhead the defense. Ben Rothleisberger led the Steelers going 27-47 passing, 276 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception. JuJu Smith-Schuster had six catches for 78 yards. James Connor only managed 21 yards on 10 carries out of the Pittsburgh backfield, as the visitors were held to a total of 32 rushing yards. Rookie Devin Bush led the defense with seven tackles.
New England hits the road next Sunday for the first time in the early going of the 2019 season when they visit the Miami Dolphins at 1 p.m. Newly acquired wide receiver Antonio Brown is expected to make his season debut. Miami lost their opener at home on Sunday to the Baltimore Ravens 59-10.
