The Road to Super Bowl 50 opens this week,
and the opening kickoff features the Super Bowl Champions New England Patriots
hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers.
As a Steeler fan I look at the matchup with
apprehension and then think, “On any given Sunday.” I realise it’s a Thursday Night game, but the
premise is the same. It’s a tough first game for the Steelers to play in front
of a world-wide audience, but there are no easy games in the NFL.
With the Tom Brady escapade behind us, fans
can begin to focus on the football. The Patriots are favoured by seven points
and the bookies have probably got it right.
With a win, either quarterback will make history.
Brady
has 160 regular-seasons wins with the Patriots, tied with Brett Favre for the
most wins by a quarterback with one team, and needs one more for the most wins
by a quarterback with one team.
Ben
Roethlisberger is currently tied at 158 with Terry Bradshaw for the most starts
as a quarterback for the Steelers.
The Steelers will be missing one of
Roethlisberger’s potent weapons with the absence of Le’Veon Bell. The addition
of ex-Panthers DeAngelo Williams and Jordan Todman to the roster won’t fully
compensate for the loss of Bell, but they will provide Roethlisberger with an
alternate to throwing to Antonio Brown.
New England will be missing LeGarrette
Blount, but his loss doesn’t compare with the nonappearance of Bell for the
Steelers.
Pittsburgh’s only chance of leaving New
England with a win will be if Roethlisberger produces an extraordinary
performance. He is capable of this as he showed twice last season, but he will
be facing an equally productive quarterback in Brady.
Potentially a shootout, it may be the
fragile Steelers defense that tips the balance in the Patriots favour.
The NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell
apparently is not going to attend the game. I can’t understand why?
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