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STEELERS VS. PATRIOTS

Steelers vs. Patriots

Best of the best
This weekend's matchup between Pittsburgh (9-3) and New England (12-0) pits the Patriots' top-ranked offense against the Steelers' top-ranked defense.


Category Patriots offense Steelers defense
Points: 39.1 (1st) 12.9 (1st)
Totals yards 425.3 (1st) 230.8 (1st)
Pass yards: 304.0 (1st) 154.0 (1st)
Touchdowns 61 (1st) 17 (1st)


Pittsburgh Steelers (9-3) at New England Patriots (12-0)
Date: Sunday, Dec. 9, 2007
Kickoff: 4:15 p.m., ET
Site: Gillette Stadium (68,759) • Foxborough, Mass.
Playing Surface: FieldTurf
TV Coverage: CBS-TV (locally KDKA-TV, Channel 2)
Announcers: Jim Nantz (play-by-play) Phil Simms (color analyst)
Local Radio: Steelers Radio Network WDVE-FM (102.5)/WBGG-AM (970)
Announcers: Bill Hillgrove (play-by-play) Tunch Ilkin (color analyst) Craig Wolfley (sideline)

A Look at the Coaches

Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin
Overall Regular-season Record: 9-3 (.750)/first season
Regular-season Record at Pittsburgh: 9-3 (.750)/first season
Playoff Record/Years: n/a

New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick
Overall Regular-season Record: 123-81 (.603)/12th season
Regular-season Record at New England: 87-37 (.702)/eighth season
Playoff Record/Years: 13-3/six years

Series History

Series History: Series began in 1972
Overall: Pittsburgh leads 13-9
At Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh leads 9-8
At New England: Pittsburgh leads 3-2
Neutral Sites: n/a
Last Meeting: Sept. 25, 2005 (in Pittsburgh)
New England 23, Pittsburgh 20
Postseason Series: New England leads 3-1

Pittsburgh owns a 13-9 all-time record against the New England Patriots, including the postseason...the Steelers are 12-6 in the regular season, including a 3-2 mark in New England...Pittsburgh has not won in New England since a 24-21 overtime victory in 1997...the Steelers snapped the Patriots’ NFL-record 18-game regular-season winning streak in 2004 with a 34-20 victory at Heinz Field on Oct. 31...however, New England has won five of the past six games in the series, including victories in the 2001 and 2004 AFC Championship games, both in Pittsburgh...the Steelers are 9-8 overall against the Patriots at home...Pittsburgh and New England have met four times in the postseason and the Steelers are 1-3 in those games, including a 1-2 record at home...the Steelers defeated the Patriots, 7-6, on Jan. 3, 1998, in the AFC Divisional Playoffs...however, Pittsburgh lost, 24-17, to the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game Jan. 27, 2002, and 41-27 in the 2004 AFC Championship Game.

Steelers-Patriots Connections

Steelers-Patriots Connections: Several Steelers have ties to New England and the Patriots.
Steelers assistant head coach/defensive line John Mitchell coached with the Cleveland Browns (1991-93) under Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who was Cleveland’s head coach (1991-95) at the time. LB James Harrison played under Patriots linebackers coach Dean Pees (head coach) at Kent State. QB Brian St. Pierre played at Boston College and is from Salem, Mass.

Patriots with connections to the Steelers and Western Pennsylvania include LB Mike Vrabel, who played with the Steelers from 1997-00. TE Kyle Brady played at Penn State.

What To Look For

PITTSBURGH TEAM NOTES

• The Steelers look to improve to 14-9 all-time (including the postseason) against the Patriots.
• The Steelers look for their first win on the road against the Patriots since a 24-21 victory in overtime in 1997.
• The Steelers are looking to snap a two-game losing streak against New England.
• The Steelers look to improve to 3-3 on the road this year.
• The Steelers look to improve to 8-2 against AFC opponents this year.

PITTSBURGH INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Head Coach Mike Tomlin
• Needs three more victories to become the first rookie coach in team history to win 12 games in his first season (Bill Cowher posted an 11-5 record in 1992). Tomlin is 9-3 in his first season.

WR Hines Ward
• Needs one 100-yard receiving game to move into sole possession of second place on the team’s all-time receiving list. He currently has 16, which is tied with Louis Lipps (1984-91).
• Needs 122 receiving yards to become the Steelers’ all-time receiving yardage leader. He currently has 8,612 and trails only John Stallworth (8,723).

RB Willie Parker
• Needs 15 rushing yards to move into fourth place on the team’s all-time rushing list ahead of Frank Pollard (3,989). Parker currently has 3,975 career rushing yards.
• Needs 402 yards to surpass his previous career high for rushing yards in a season. He currently has 1,093 yards rushing this year and had 1,494 in 2006.
• Needs 15 rushing attempts this season to give him 300 for the year, marking the second straight season he has posted at least 300 rushing attempts (337 in 2006).
• Needs two 100-yard rushing games to move into third place on the team’s all-time list ahead of Barry Foster (20). Parker currently has 19 career 100-yard rushing games.
• Needs three rushing touchdowns to move into the team’s all-time Top 10 for rushing touchdowns. He currently has 18 rushing touchdowns.

QB Ben Roethlisberger
• Needs one touchdown pass this season to move into a tie for second place on the team’s single-season passing touchdowns list with Terry Bradshaw (1979). He currently has a career-high 25 touchdown passes on the season and is just four touchdowns shy of breaking the team record of 28 in a single season (Bradshaw -1978).
• Needs 23 passing attempts to move into sixth place on the team’s all-time list ahead of Mark Malone (1,374). Roethlisberger currently has 1,352 career passing attempts.
• Needs one 300-yard passing game to move into a tie for second place on the team’s all-time list with Neil O’Donnell. Roethlisberger currently has four and is tied with Terry Bradshaw.

TE Heath Miller
• Needs one touchdown catch to surpass his previous career best of six touchdowns in a single-season. Following his two-yard touchdown reception in Week 10 against Cleveland, Miller has tied his career high with his sixth touchdown catch of the year.

K Jeff Reed
• Needs seven points to reach 600 career points.



Steelers-Patriots Match-ups
Friday, December 7, 2007
By BOB LABRIOLA
Steelers.com

The following are some of the interesting matchups to watch when the Steelers visit Foxborough for a game against the undefeated New England Patriots:

STEELERS OFFENSE VS. PATRIOTS QB TOM BRADY: It’s not exactly avant-garde thinking to figure out the best way to deal with Tom Brady’s multiple skills is to keep him on the sideline. That’s an impossibility for the entire game, but there are times when it’s more important. One of those times is at the end of the game. Some will look at the close games the Patriots had against the Eagles and the Ravens and claim those serve as a blueprint for how to end an undefeated season. But actually, those two teams offered a blueprint on how to lose to New England. Brady’s fourth-quarter comebacks in both of those games never happen if the Eagles and Ravens converted third downs in the fourth quarter to maintain possession of the football. Philadelphia failed because of turnovers; the Ravens failed because of three-and-outs. If a team does enough things right to have a lead in the fourth quarter against the Patriots, it then becomes incumbent upon that team’s offense to convert third downs to hold onto the ball – and keep the king of comebacks on the sideline.

STEELERS SECONDARY VS. PATRIOTS WR RANDY MOSS: There are a lot of problems presented by the Patriots offense, and the primary one for every opponent is the big-play ability of Moss. Big plays kill a defense just as surely as turnovers kill an offense, and this seems to shape up as a matchup of strength vs. strength. The Steelers have allowed only seven completions of 25-plus yards, and the only one longer than 40 was the 56-yard flea flicker from Kellen Clemens to Laveranues Coles on the second play of the game against the Jets. Conversely, Moss alone has eight catches longer than 25 yards, and six of those eight are longer than 40. If Moss is making plays deep down the field against the Steelers defense, anything else the unit might be doing correctly will be for naught.

STEELERS ROLB JAMES HARRISON VS. PATRIOTS LT MATT LIGHT: One of the impressive things about the Patriots offensive line is it plays better as a unit than the talents of the individuals might indicate it would. Light is rarely mentioned when the league’s top left tackles are listed, but since he is charged with the most important job on that team – protecting Brady’s blind side – he must be pretty good. And the fact Brady has been sacked only 16 times in 430 attempts proves the point. Harrison, who was named the NFL’s Player of the Month for November, leads the Steelers with 8.5 sacks, and that puts him in a tie for fourth in the AFC. Light is going to have to adjust quickly to Harrison’s speed and explosion, or he’s going to lose the battle of leverage every time. The Steelers have to get pressure on Brady, or they’ll have no chance to win. It’s not Harrison’s job alone, but he’s going to have to play well.

STEELERS QB BEN ROETHLISBERGER VS. PATRIOTS OLB MIKE VRABEL: One of the most glaring errors of the Bill Cowher era here was the coaching staff’s inability to figure out a place to play Mike Vrabel. That Cowher and defensive coordinator Jim Haslett were incapable of finding a spot on the field for Vrabel led to the loss of a guy via free agency who just might be the best player on a Patriots defense that also includes DE Richard Seymour, NT Vince Wilfork, OLB Adalius Thomas and CB Assante Samuel. Vrabel leads the Patriots with 9.5 sacks, and he also has 56 tackles, four forced fumbles, plus a couple of touchdown catches as an extra tight end in goal-line situations. Roethlisberger is going to have to deal with a lot of things in this game at New England, and figuring out where Vrabel is and what he might be doing on any particular play could be one of the more difficult ones.

STEELERS PK JEFF REED VS. PATRIOTS KOR ELLIS HOBBS: Imagine the surge of energy that would flow through the Steelers sideline after a touchdown against the Patriots. Now, imagine the impact that a touchdown return on the ensuing kickoff would have, not only to the Steelers sideline but also throughout the stands at Gillette Stadium. Hobbs is averaging 27 yards per kickoff return, and he has brought one back this season 108 yards for a touchdown. The Steelers have had some success with Reed altering the depth of his kickoffs, and if that’s what’s again necessary to corral a dangerous return man, then so be it.

MAYWEATHER VS. HATTON

SO I GUESS IT WASN'T MONEY MAYWEATHER'S LAST DANCE, BUT IF YOU'VE BEEN PAYING ANY ATTENTION TO HBO'S 24/7.
HATTON AND HIS CAMP ARE VERY CONFIDENT THAT BY THE END OF THE 12TH ROUND THERE WILL BE A NEW CHAMPION, BUT I BEG TO DIFFER...RICKY "THE HITMAN" HATTON IS UNDEFEATED BUT THIS IS THE BIGGEST FIGHT OF HIS CAREER, FOR HIM THIS MATCH IS PIVOTAL, FOR MONEY MAYWEATHER THIS IS ANOTHER PAY-DAY; HOWEVER I'M PRETTY SURE THAT RICKY "FATTON" WON'T GO OUT WITHOUT A BRAWL...BUT WILL HE BE ABLE TO BOX HIS WAY INTO HISTORY?

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