PITTSBURGH (9-6-1) at NEW ENGLAND (14-5)
Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC
OPENING LINE - New England by 7½
RECORD VS. SPREAD - Pittsburgh 9-6-1, New England 11-5
SERIES RECORD - Steelers lead 15-12
LAST MEETING - Steelers beat Patriots 17-10, Dec. 16, 2018.
AP PRO32 RANKING - Steelers No. 8, Patriots No. 1
STEELERS OFFENSE - OVERALL (4), RUSH (31), PASS (2).
STEELERS DEFENSE - OVERALL (6), RUSH (6), PASS (10).
PATRIOTS OFFENSE - OVERALL (5), RUSH (5), PASS (8).
PATRIOTS DEFENSE - OVERALL (21), RUSH (11), PASS (22).
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES -Patriots and Steelers have played 32 times, including playoffs, and each has won 16. . Patriots have won five of six games against Pittsburgh at Gillette Stadium, including stadium opener on Sept. 9, 2002, 30-14 New England victory. . Patriots beat Steelers five straight times before Dec. 16 loss at Heinz Field. . Tom Brady is 11-3 against Steelers lifetime, including 3-0 in playoffs. . Since 1994, including postseason, Patriots are winningest team in NFL with 312 victories; Steelers are second with 274. . Steelers winless in Foxboro against Brady (0-5). … Pittsburgh opened 2002 and 2015 seasons with losses to Brady, Patriots on road. … Steelers 14-13 on road all-time on Sunday night. … Pittsburgh 3-3-1 in Week 1 road openers under coach Mike Tomlin. … Tomlin, QB Ben Roethlisberger fourth in most wins by coach/quarterback combo (115). Win would move them into tie for third with Miami’s Don Shula/Dan Marino. Brady and Bill Belichick are first (207). … Pittsburgh WR JuJu Smith-Schuster’s 2,343 career receiving yards 10th most by player in first two years in NFL history. … Roethlisberger led NFL in yards passing in 2018 (5,129). … Steelers topped NFL in sacks each of last two seasons. … Pittsburgh’s 15 takeaways in 2018 tied for third fewest. … Patriots rookie LB Chase Winovich is native of Jefferson Hills, Pennsylvania, suburb south of Pittsburgh. . Patriots are 5-1 in season-opening games year after winning Super Bowl. . Patriots and Steelers have played in four season openers, Patriots are 3-1. . Belichick has 16-8 record in opening games, including his years in Cleveland. Belichick’s 16 opening-day victories are most among active NFL coaches. . Brady’s regular season winning percentage is No. 1 among active NFL quarterbacks at .775 (207-60). Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger is second at .675 (144-69-1). . Patriots WR Julian Edelman enters season fifth on team in all-time receptions with 499. Edelman is second all-time in NFL in postseason receptions with 115, trailing only Jerry Rice (151). . C Ted Karras, likely to start in place of injured veteran David Andrews, has started five of 45 games in which he has played over three seasons. . Patriots special teams captain Matthew Slater is tied with Buffalo’s Steve Tasker with seven Pro Bowl selections. . New England G Joe Thuney is first player in league history to have started Super Bowls in each of his first three seasons. . PK Stephen Gostkowski has led NFL in scoring a league-leading five times, tying him with Green Bay’s Don Hutson and Gino Cappelletti of Boston Patriots, who accomplished feat in American Football League. … Fantasy tip: Patriots will want to establish running game with deep backfield featuring Sony Michel.
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