“It’s time for me to do my job,”New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady bluntly put it in front of the media dismissing any Deflategate talks. The opening game against the Pittsburgh Steelers is all that matters for him now and luckily for all of us, he will be on the field when a new NFL season starts, tonight at 8:30 PM ET or 1:30 AM GMT.
“Anything that’s happened over the last several months really wasn’t my job. This is what my job is, to go out there and try to be a great leader for our team, to try to go out and execute the plays that are called and execute them at a high level,” Brady explained, according to the Associated Press.
And since the main man of the Patriots’ offense is playing, it’s time to revise our betting strategy and take it to the bank. Time is running out you know…
New England’s Killer Duo
Indeed, one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history is back. This should give the Patriots a definite edge over their opponents. But it’s not all about Brady. The Pittsburgh Steelers have to pay attention also to tight end Rob Gronkowski. Gronkowski is a force to be reckoned with: last year, he ranked first in the receiving yards (1,124) and touchdowns (12) categories, at his position. Only four years ago, he made history becoming the first tight end to lead the league in receiving touchdowns. Will he keep it up in the new season? Most likely. To have a chance, the Steelers need to find a way to stop Gronkowski besides giving Brady fewer options to deal with. Linebacker Ryan Shazier thinks the Steelers should disrupt the tight end’s timing and routes at the line of scrimmage. Many teams have tried this before but only few succeeded.
Pittsburgh’s Missing Pieces
As of now, the Steelers depth chart doesn’t look that great. They will miss many important pieces tonight due to a couple of reasons: injuries and suspensions. On the offense, center Maurkice Pouncey and running back Le’Veon Bell are out along with wide receiver Martavis Bryant. And that’s not all: Steelers’ revamped secondary team (or what should have been a retooling through the NFL Draft)won’t look well… revamped. In fact, the football fans could see more of the same following last season’s growing pains – in 2014, the team was 27
th in pass defense. Cornerback rookie Senquez Golson is out for the season and the other two defensive picks – Doran Grant and Gerod Holliman – were more or less fails. Good news for Brady? Of course!
NFL Pick: All-In New England Patriots
All the news lead to the following conclusion and NFL prediction: the Patriots win and should win by a margin bigger than 7 points. Aren’t convinced yet? How about a new set of numbers: with Tom Brady leading the offense, Pittsburgh won twice in nine games and never in Foxborough, Massachusetts. In fact, the three games played at the new Gillette Stadium ended up badly for Pittsburgh: 55-31 (2013), 33-10 (2008) and 34-13 (2007). You get the picture. Do you still have doubts?
By: Florian Gheorghe]]>
