This Week
The New England Patriots welcome the Pittsburgh Steelers to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA on Sunday at 4:15 p .m.
The Patriots are 4-2 at the Razor and 5-4 against the AFC. The Steelers 4-1 on the road and 7-1 against the AFC.
Here are the rosters for the Steelers and Patriots.
Here are the projected starting lineups for the game.
The Line/Prediction
As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports is Patriots -1. The over/under is 39.5.
My prediction is Patriots 23, Steelers, 21. Give the points (Patriots) and take the over. I am 5-5-1 against the spread and 6 of 11 on calling the over/under in 2008.
Tickets
The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 158th consecutive sellout dating back to the 1994 season opener. The record includes preseason, regular season and playoff games.
Tickets to the game, if available, may be purchased through Ticketmaster. You can check the availability here.
Getting To The Game
If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game at the Razor make sure you check out the links.
Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from The Weather Channel.
Click for stadium directions, parking information, parking map, specific MBTA train times for this game and a Gillette Stadium seating chart.
Tailgating
Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgaiting America. There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack. I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re very good and for good measure here is one of my own.
And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages. With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks. You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or by theme.
Whether it’s at the game, a bar or someone’s house moderation is always the key to a great time. Please don’t drink and drive and designate a sober driver. Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television
CBS is televising the game regionally and Greg Gumbel will do the play-by-play while Dan Dierdorf will handle the game analysis. Check for your local CBS affiliate and see if you are getting the game.
Direct TV NFL Sunday Ticket has the game on Channel 713.
For those of you overseas here is some general information on NFL Broadcasts for the 2008 season.
Patriots All-Access airs Saturday at 7 p.m. on WCVB TV 5 in Boston. It will also be simulcast on the team website at the same time. Make sure you check out the Patriots Football Network for information on when you can see Patriots All-Access in your market.
Radio
The Patriots Rock Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBCN-FM 104.1 in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color.
It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Scott Zolak and Andy Gresh and the pregame show at 1 p.m. along the network.
The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours.
If you are outside of the broadcast area of the stations on the Patriots Rock Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass which allows you to listen to any NFL game live. You can also pick which teams broadcasters you want to listen to.
All NFL games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio. The Patriots Rock Radio Network call is available on Channel 126, the Steelers Radio Network call with Bill Hillgrove doing play-by-play and former Steeler Tunch Ilkin with analysis is available on Channel 121.
Since the satellite merger XM Satellite Radio also carries all the NFL games and in most cases has just the radio call of the home team. You can hear the call of the game on XM Channel 103.
Westwood One will also broadcast the game to the nation along it’s affiliates with Harry Kalas doing play-by-play and former NFL QB Mark Malone on color. The Westwood One broadcast can also be heard on Sirius Channel 124 and XM Channel 124.
Last Week
The Patriots whipped the Dolphins on the road 48-28, while the Steelers beat the Bengals, 27-10 at Heinz Field last Thursday.
History
- This is only the third visit by the Steelers to Foxboro since 1997 but second in two seasons. New England won in Week 14 last season 34-13 as Tom Brady threw 4 TD passes, 2 of 56 yards or more.
- They played the 2002 season opener in the new state of the art Gillette Stadium’s Grand Opening game won by the Patriots 30-14.
- New England has won six of the last seven meetings between the teams including two AFC Championship games played at Heinz Field.
- In 23 previous meetings the Steelers hold a 13-10 series advantage but only six of those games have been played in Foxboro.
Connections
- Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel played in 51 games for Pittsburgh from 1997-2000. He totaled 43 tackles, including seven sacks while with the Steelers.
- Patriots defensive lineman Richard Seymour and Steelers receiver Hines Ward were teammates at Georgia in 1997.
- Steelers linebacker James Farrior was coached by Bill Belichick when Farrior was with the Jets from 1997-1999.
- Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel and Steelers safety Troy Polamalu were teammates at Southern Cal from 2000-02.
- Patriot Laurence Maroney (IR) and Steeler Gary Russell were both running backs at Minnesota. Steelers tight end Matt Spaeth was also on the squad.
- Steelers CB Ferando Bryant was in training camp this season with the Patriots. He signed with the Steelers prior to Week 10.
- Steelers G Kendall Simmons is from Ripley MA.
- Patriots S Ray Ventrone was born in Pittsburgh and attended Villanova in Philadelphia.
- Patriots C Dan Koppen is from Whitehall, PA.
- Pittsburgh CB Anthony Madison and New England OL Wesley Britt went to Alabama together.
- Patriots WR Jabar Gaffney and Steelers T Max Starks were college teammates for two seasons at Florida.
- Steelers LB Andre Frazier and Patriots DE Mike Wright played football together at the University of Cincinnati.
- Patriots WR Sam AIken played college ball at North Carolina with Steelers RB Willie Parker and K Jeff Reed.
- Steelers S Ryan Clark played college ball at LSU and was at some point in his time there was teammates with Patriots RB Kevin Faulk, DE Jarvis Green and LB Eric Alexander.
- Patriots TE David Thomas was teammates at the University of Texas with Steelers WR Limas Sweed and T Tony Hills.
- Steelers LB Bruce Davis and Patriots S/KR Matthew Slater are NFL rookies after playing together at UCLA.
Other News
This is the link to head coach Bill Belichick’s Wednesday press conference on the Steelers. You can also see what Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin had to say about the game in a conference call with the New England media.
Here is the injury list for the game.
Bill Belichick coached teams are 8-9 vs the Pittsburgh Steelers including the playoffs. He is 5-1 with New England and 3-8 with Cleveland.
Overall in his NFL career Belichick is 134-85 in 14 NFL seasons. He is 98-41 with New England and 36-44 with Cleveland. He is 15-4 in the playoffs, 14-3 as the head coach of the Patriots in the postseason. When you combine the regular season and postseason Belichick is 149-89.
Matt Cassel is 6-4 since he took over for the injured Tom Brady.
Cassel became just the fifth QB since the 1970 AFL-NFL Merger to have back-to-back 400 yard passing games. The others are Billy Volek, Phil Simms, Dan Marino and Dan Fouts.
The Patriots overall franchise record is 373-353-9. They have won three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXIII, XXXIX) in 6 appearances.
The Patriots are +1 in turnover differential for the season.
Based on points per game the Patriots offense is ranked 9th in the league, while the defense is 9th.
LaMont Jordan was back on the practice field this week indicating his return from the calf injury could be as early as Sunday.
The Patriots have had back-to-back 500+ yard games for the first time in franchise history.
Dating back to last season Wes Welker now has 16 consectutive games with at least 6 catches. It is a NFL record.
Since 2001 the Patriots are 66-16 in games played on November 1st or later.
New England is 50-11 since Gillette Stadium opened in 2002.
The Patriots signed P Tom Malone to the practice squad this week to fill one of two vacant spots. This is Malone’s second go around this season. The team also tried out some players for the other vacant spot. Those who were in Foxboro this week working out were: DE Angelo Craig (Cincinnati); WR Joel Filani (Texas Tech); WR Scott Mayle (Ohio) and WR Marquay McDaniel (Hampton).
NFL Pro Bowl balloting runs through Dec. 9. Fans may vote for their favorite NFL players to represent the AFC and NFC in the 2009 Pro Bowl in Honolulu on Sunday, Feb. 8. Fans may vote online at nfl.com/probowl or on Web-enabled mobile phones by going to NFL.com.
2008 Patriots schedule/results
News from this weeks opponent:
Head coach Mike Tomlin is 0-1 vs. New England. Overall in two seasons Tomlin is 18-9 in his career during the regular season. He is 0-1 in the playoffs.
Ben Roethlisberger is 1-3 in his career against the Patriots (including one AFC Conference Championship game loss) and 47-19 in his career during the regular season, he is 5-2 in the playoffs for an overall record of 52-21.
Based on points per game the Steelers offense is ranked 23rd in the NFL, while the defense is ranked 1st.
The Pittsburgh defense is also ranked first in yards allowed per game.
Pittsburgh is EVEN in turnover differential this season.
The Steelers may be without RB Willie Parker on Sunday. And with Parker iffy, the Steelers have brought back Najeh Davenport for a third time even though Parker did practice fully on Thursday.
Oops. He did it again? When will this guy ever learn? Steelers (third string) S Anthony Smith talks again.
The Steelers have never won at Gillette Stadium they are 0-2 at the Razor and 3-3 over all in games in Foxboro.
The Steelers have only beaten the Patriots once since 1998 that win snapped New England’s 21 game winning streak in 2004.
The Steelers drafted one player in the first round this year RB Rashard Mendenhall (Illinois – 23rd overall). In all they had 7 picks over seven rounds. They have 14 players on their roster with 2 years or less of NFL experience.
Pittsburgh has more players from Alabama, Florida State, Minnesota and Texas (3) than from any other college or university.
The Steelers sent had former G Alan Faneca, S Troy Polamalu, NT casey Hampton, RB Willie parker, LB James Harrison and QB Ben Roethlisberger named to the 2007 Pro Bowl. Faneca was also named an All-Pro before jumping ship and signing with the New York Jets as a free agent.
Pittsburgh’s overall franchise record is 516-487-20. They are 28-19 in the post season and they have won Five Super Bowls (IX, X, XIII, XIV, XL) in six appearances. They last made the playoffs in 2007 but haven’t played in a Conference Championship game since 2005 when they beat Denver and went on to defeat Seattle 21-10 in Super Bowl XL for their first championship in 26 years.
The Steelers made the playoffs once in the their first 37 seasons (1947). They then went 25 years before another post season appearance. Since they have become one of the NFL’s model franchise’s getting to the post season 24 times in the last 37 years.
This is the Steelers 75th anniversary season.
2008 Steelers schedule/results
Next Week
The New England Patriots travel to Seattle to face the Seahawks at Qwest Field at 4:05 p.m.
