Tom Brady has never lost to Ben Roethlisberger at Gillette Stadium and is 8-3 all-time against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The New England Patriots and Brady, who is 5-0 at home in the matchup, will be celebrating their sixth Super Bowl victory in Foxborough, Mass., on Sunday night before kicking off the 2019 season against Roethlisberger’s Steelers.
Roethlisberger said Wednesday it would be “an honor” to share the field again with Brady, who is opening his 20th season in the NFL.
“I will get nervous — more excited, nervous,” Roethlisberger said. “We’re going up there. I’m sure they’re dropping a banner or whatever they are going to do. What an exciting and awesome opportunity for us all. I think it’s cool to be a part of, honestly. You go out there and watch it. You try and channel it to say, ‘That needs to be us next year.’ That’s the way I look at it.”
A road win over the Patriots would be one small step forward. A home win for New England could get the ball rolling once again.
The biggest loss from the roster for each club from last season is on offense.
Pittsburgh isn’t sad to roll into Gillette Stadium and not see Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who retired after collecting 41 receptions for 685 yards and eight touchdowns in his career against the Steelers.
Pittsburgh receiver Antonio Brown, a favorite target of Roethlisberger’s for several years, is with Oakland after the equivalent of a messy divorce. The Steelers also severed ties with running back Le’Veon Bell, but he was last on the field for the team in 2017.
Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster steps in as the Steelers’ top receiving threat, with James Washington close behind.
“They’re mainly a three-receiver team,” Belichick said. “They play four guys, probably play five if (Diontae) Johnson’s healthy. But they have good depth at receiver, good depth at tight end, good depth at running back. So I’m sure we’ll see a lot of those guys, however they decide to play them. But they have good depth offensively and a very good offensive line.”
The only player on Pittsburgh’s injury report is safety Sean Davis (ankle), who did not practice Wednesday. The three players on the New England injury list — receiver Demaryius Thomas (hamstring), tight end Matt LaCosse (ankle) and defensive back Obi Melifonwu (ankle) — practiced in a limited capacity Wednesday. Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman, who dealt with a broken thumb during the preseason, was not on the report.
“It’s the first game of the year. They are the world champs,” Roethlisberger said. “We’re just trying to get to where they have been. It will be exciting for all of us. I know the crowd will be excited. Sunday Night Football, it’s not a 1 o’clock game. All those things add up to an exciting night.”
In their meeting last year, Dec. 16 in Pittsburgh, the Steelers prevailed 17-10. That left the Patriots 4-1 in the teams’ past five regular-season meetings. New England has won six of 10 home games between the teams.
“It’ll be good to get started, but (the Steelers) do a good job,” Belichick said. “They’re a tough team to prepare for, a tough team to play against, but it’s the National Football League. Everybody falls into that category. So we’ll start grinding through it here.”
