The match between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots in the opening day of the NFL regular season on Thursday (September 10, 2015) at 8 pm ET will undoubtedly be one of the most widely anticipated games in the NFL. With both NFL teams raring to beat the other, it would be interesting to see how Ben Roethlisberger will try to outperform Tom Brady, who has been more than eager to show off his skills since getting cooped up from the beginning of the offseason.
Sports analysts believe that the New England Patriots will unleash a heavily aggressive and overzealous Tom Brady this NFL season. With the first match of the team being against the highly acclaimed Pittsburgh Steelers, it would be exciting to witness how Ben Roethlisberger, an NFL star pegged as a potential candidate for the MVP award this season, will handle the returning Tom Brady. It could be recalled that the playing time of Tom Brady with the New England Patriots had been considerably cut due to his involvement in the "Deflategate" scandal. Hence, the crowd would see the NFL star raring to show off his chops and silence the critics who claim that the victories of the New England Patriots under his reign had all been achieved through unscrupulous means.
"Brady is a competitor, and we all know that," said Pittsburgh Steelers defense tackle Steve McLendon, according to ESPN. The NFL star went on to say, "He's going to come out there and try to find a weakness in the defense. We have to keep disguising and do whatever it takes to play against him. He's a good guy. He's going to change everything [at the line], so you have to stay focused on what we do, don't let them dictate our game."
Although the Pittsburgh Steelers recognize the talent of Tom Brady, the New England Patriots quarterback also acknowledge that Ben Roethlisberger will not go down easy in the opening match. In an interview with the Patriot News, Tom Brady himself described the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback as an "incredible" athlete. He said, "Ben's been an incredible player in this league since his rookie year when we played him multiple times." He added, "He's been at the very top, two Super Bowl wins, he's just an incredible player."
Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Steelers surprised its fans and followers with the announcement that Brandon Boykin might not even play at the match against the New England Patriots on Thursday. According to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the former Philadelphia Eagles outside cornerback ranked only fourth in the list of players for the position. This places Brandon Boykin, whom the Pittsburgh Steelers acquired from the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for the former's fourth round pick, behind William Gay, Cortez Allen and Antwon Blake. With this lineup strategy in mind, it looks like the Pittsburgh Steelers have quite a roster this season and the New England Patriots are in for a surprise.
