Brady praises rival Roethlisberger
Tom Brady had no reason to believe Ben Roethlisberger’s injury last week would keep him out of Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots. And it won’t.
The Pittsburgh quarterback injured his ribs in the loss at Oakland and left the game, but returned in the fourth quarter and threw his second touchdown pass. He drove his team to a tying field goal try that failed when kicker Chris Boswell slipped and the Steelers lost their third straight.
“He’s just tough, been a great quarterback in the league for a long time, knows the game. He’s just a great competitor and he’s always got those guys going,” Brady said Friday ahead of their matchup at Heinz Field.
Asked what he has observed from watching Roethlisberger through the years, Brady said: “He’s got such a unique style. He’s just an incredible player. Prolific passer, great accurate passer, they just had incredible passing offences.
“His style is very different. He’s just big, stands in the pocket, has great presence. He’s not really a runner, but he extends a lot of plays and makes huge plays for their team. It’s hard to stop. Any time you play a guy like that, it’s up to us to really execute our offence and score as many points as we can.”
Brady has had the upper hand in his career against the Steelers, going 8-2 in the regular season and 3-0 in the playoffs. But the two losses have come at Heinz Field, where Pittsburgh is always tough. The Patriots, with a 3-4 road record this season, are coming off a shocking last-second loss at Miami.
“Going on the road is always challenging in the NFL,” Brady said.
“You’re playing good teams and there’s a lot of tough road environments. It’s always sellouts and if we don’t play well, it really gets the crowd into it. It’s a great environment, too, when you can go to a stadium and play well and kind of keep the crowd quiet. It’s a great feeling.”
Brady is 6-2 at Heinz Field, but has won his last two times there by scores of 27-16 and 27-24. He has won his last five overall against the Steelers, counting post-season. Another week means more potential milestones for Brady and his team. Brady enters the game needing 141 yards passing to become the fourth quarterback in NFL history to throw for 70,000 regular-season yards. He is 300 yards shy of his 10th 4,000-yard season.
The Patriots seek to clinch their 10th straight AFC East title (18th in 25 years of Robert Kraft’s ownership). They need a win and a Miami loss to clinch. However, Kansas City ’s last-second loss to the Los Angeles Chargers Thursday night opened the door for the Patriots to have a shot at the No. 1 seed in the conference. “This is a big one, this is a tough one and we’re going to have to play really well,” said Brady.