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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