Patriots vs. Steelers: Week 10

25-2. Remember that record for a minute or two and continue on.

What is the significance of 25-2? It would be the Patriots record following a loss since the 2003 season. It seems hard to fathom that a team could only lose back-to-back games twice over the past 7+ seasons, but thanks to a classic bounce-back performance last night, the Patriots can still lay claim to that impressive stat.

Following the shocking 34-14 dismantling at the hands of the Cleveland Browns (no, that's not a misprint, the Browns dismantled the Patriots), it wasn't too far-fetched to think that perhaps the Pats' 6-1 start was a mirage, and with the Steelers and Colts lurking they would begin to fall back to the pack. Was Tom Brady missing Randy Moss? Was the young defense starting to experience growing pains? What happened to the surprisingly effective running game?

One for each Gronkowski TD reception last night.

For now, all of those fears can be tossed to the curb after a 39-26 victory for the Patriots. Brady looked as good as he had all season, completing 30 of 43 passes for 350 yards to go along with 4 touchdowns (3 passing, 1 rushing). Eight different Patriots caught a pass, hearkening memories of the old-school "finding the open receiver" edition of Brady. He didn't seem to have much trouble at all with the much ballyhooed Pittsburgh D, be it from deep within his own territory or in the red zone. Wes Welker reeled in 8 passes, matching a season high, while Deion Branch, who'd been quiet since his initial triumphant return to New England, caught 7, which was as many as his previous three games combined. But the story of the night amongst the receivers has to be rookie tight end Rob Gronkowski, who snagged a career-high 5 passes with 3 for touchdowns, also a career high. Gronk now has 6 TD's on the season, which is more than Kellen Winslow, Tony Gonzalez, and Heath Miller combined. He is fast emerging into one of Brady's favorite red zone targets, a role which is there for the taking sans Moss.

It had to feel especially good for Gronkowski, the 2nd round pick out of Arizona, after a dreadful performance the previous week against Cleveland. Gronk lost a fumble on the goal line when New England could have cut the deficit to 17-14 shortly before the half, which would have greatly changed the complexion of the game from there on. He also had several drops in the contest.

Along with Aaron Hernandez, the Patriots tight end corps has certainly eased the painful memories of Ben Watson from the past several years.

The Patriots also became the first team all season long to rush for more than 100 yards against the Steelers, with BenJarvus Green-Ellis leading the charge, accumulating 87 yards on 18 carries.

On the defensive side of the ball, these kids continue to make strides that no one saw coming, certainly not this soon. Albeit against a depleted Pittsburgh offensive line, the Patriots pass-rush sacked Ben Roethlisberger 5 times, with Mike Wright and Tully Banta-Cain leading the way with 1.5 each. "Big Ben", known for his elusiveness, was being hounded by the Patriots D all night long, being flushed from the pocket on several other occasions and being knocked down on many others.

Normally elusive in the pocket, the only thing Roethlisberger could have eluded last night was the law, something else he's excelled in over the years.

Jerod Mayo had 9 more tackles, becoming the first player in the NFL this season to reach the 100 mark. With 105 tackles, he leads Chad Greenway of the Vikings by 13 for first place. Mayo may not be the flashiest middle linebacker type like a Ray Lewis or Brian Urlacher, but he's everywhere you need him to be, and he rarely, if ever, blows an assignment. Excelling in stopping the run ("Run Prevention" if you will, maybe Theo goes after him this off-season?), the 2008 defensive rookie of the year looks like a safe bet to make his first Pro Bowl appearance. 

As tough as it is to draw any negatives out of a game like last nights, it warrants mentioning that the Patriots let the Steelers hang around right until the end, never definitively stomping on the proverbial throat. In a way this game reminded me of Week 1 against Cincinatti, where the Patriots dominated the early portion of the game but allowed the Bengals to accumulate a ton of garbage-time points. Nothing to get too worked up over, especially considering that the Steelers are still an elite team, we think.

It's also fairly easy to see why Shayne Graham was sitting around on the streets, waiting for an injury in order to find work again. It's one thing to have an extra-point blocked, but to straight up miss one wide? Inexcusable for a professional kicker. Hey, at least he didn't miss 3 field goal attempts like a certain kicker from the Meadowlands, who's team continues to get luckier by the week and will almost certainly eventually fail. And no, I'm not talking about the Giants.

To adopt a tradition from hockey, I'm going to award "3 Stars" to the top performers of the game yesterday:

3. Mike Wright and Tully-Banta Cain

2. Tom Brady

1. Rob Gronkowski

Next up for the Pats? Peyton Manning and the Colts come rolling into Foxboro. I believe these teams know each other fairly well. Much has changed since their last meeting, the "4th and 2" game, but the rivalry between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning remains very much the same. The MVP race could be shaped by the outcome of this one.