The defending Super Bowl champions did not get the customary Thursday night opening game to begin the year. As part of the NFL’s celebration of 100 seasons, the league opted to kick off the year with the Green Bay Packers taking on the Chicago Bears. That meant the New England Patriots would have to wait until the final game of Sunday night to reveal the banner and kick off their new season.
As we’ve heard from head coach Bill Belichick countless times, this season (and every week) is a completely new obstacle. That couldn’t be more true for the 2019 iteration of this team. They look very different from the team we just saw win Super Bowl LIII. Rob Gronkowski retired, his skills in the seams and the middle of the field opened up a lot of Josh McDaniels offense. Instead of replacing him with a tight end, they beefed up their wide receiver’s room. Josh Gordon has been reinstated, Demaryius Thomas—recovering from a torn Achilles—was signed, and the team just added Antonio Brown yesterday.
On top of that, Super Bowl XLIII MVP Julian Edelman is back and second-year running back Sony Michel was a huge part of the Patriots success in the postseason.
Tom Brady is entering his 20th season in the league and it is debatable if he’s had a team with more weapons and talent any other time in his career.
The Pittsburgh Steelers also will look different. Le’Veon Bell and Brown are gone for good now. James Conner filled in admirably for Bell last season but the team will rely a lot more on Juju Smith-Schuster this year than they did before. With Ben Roethlisberger still calling the shots, this team should be potent offensively.
They have moved away from the Dick LeBeau defense over the year and spent a first-round pick on linebacker Devin Bush to try and replace what they once got from Ryan Shazier in the middle of the field. If another youngster, T.J. Watt steps up his game then they can be a very strong team on both sides of the ball.
Pittsburgh failed to make the playoffs a year ago, the hope is that the new-look roster will help them get back on top of the AFC North and into the postseason once more.
Tonight’s game will be a good test for the New England defense that is technically operating without a defensive coordinator this season—Jerod Mayo has called plays at times during the postseason but Belichick always has in hands on what that unit does in some form.
In the Super Bowl, the Patriots completely shut down the vaunted Los Angeles Rams offense by holding them to just three points. Every key piece (except defensive end Trey Flowers) returns and the team brought back linebacker Jamie Collins who has won a Super Bowl during his first stint with the team.
Stephon Gilmore proved himself to be a shutdown corner a year ago and will likely draw the bulk of Smith-Schuster coverage if the team opts to put him on the outside. The team just gave undrafted slot corner Jonathan Jones a three-year extension and will likely cover the Steelers top threat when he’s inside.
Brady and the Patriots are as multi-faceted as ever and will likely attack Pittsburgh wherever they feel they are weakest. If they find that sore spot early it could be a long night for the Steelers.
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