The New England Patriots won their sixth Super Bowl title last year. That’s tied for the most with the Pittsburgh Steelers so it’s fitting those two franchises open the 2019 campaign Sunday night against one another at Gillette Stadium. By winning another title this season, New England would also join Pittsburgh as the only teams to win consecutive Super Bowls on two occasions. The Pats are favored in the NFL Odds for Week 1.
How to Bet Steelers vs Patriots 2019 NFL Week 1 Odds & Game Info
- When: Sunday, 8:20 PM ET
- Where: Gillette Stadium
- TV: NBC
- Radio: SiriusXM/NFL
- Live Stream: NFL Game Pass
- NFL Week 1 Odds: New England Patriots -5.5 (Total 49)
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Last Meeting
The last time the Patriots lost a game that counted was 17-10 in Week 15 of last year in Pittsburgh as Tom Brady threw a horrible late interception deep in Steelers territory. Jaylen Samuels ran for a career-high 142 yards for the Steelers. Chris Boswell drilled a critical 48-yard field goal in the final minutes. Samuels had leaping 20-yard grab on third-and-9 on Pittsburgh’s penultimate possession that helped set up Boswell’s field goal. Ben Roethlisberger threw for 235 yards with two first-half touchdowns and two interceptions. Brady finished 25 of 36 for 279 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
This week’s matchup will mark the 33rd meeting overall. Pittsburgh leads the regular-season series by a 15-12 margin, while New England leads 4-1 in the postseason. Overall, the series is tied at 16-16.
Weather Forecast
- Partly Cloudy: 10°C/50°F
- Humidity: 72%
- Precipitation: 10%
- Cloud Cover: 55%
- Wind: 4 mph NNW
- Stadium Type: Open
Why Bet on Pittsburgh?
This year will mark the fourth time the Steelers have opened the season against the Patriots, previously doing so in 1979, 2002 and 2015. It’s the third time they are opening against them with the Patriots coming off a Super Bowl win, and Roethlisberger was at the helm when the Steelers opened against the Patriots in 2015, a 28-21 loss. Pittsburgh also lost in 2002 but won in 1979.
The Steelers begin life without two superstars in receiver Antonio Brown and running back Le’Veon Bell, who are with the Raiders and Jets now, respectively. The next step is discovering whether receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and running back James Conner can turn Pro Bowl seasons into Year 3 greatness.
On the depth chart for Week 1, the list of 11 starters on offense, 12 on defense (including a nickel back), and six on special teams (three specialists, a holder, and one primary punt returner and kickoff returner) is exactly the same as the list the team put out before its preseason opener. There could be some surprise associated with Vince Williams listed as the starter at right inside linebacker over rookie Devin Bush.
The Steelers are deeper at corner, have an emerging leader in T.J. Watt and a starting defensive line that can compete with any team. The key is improving that ugly minus-7 turnover margin from last season. Locking up Joe Haden was the priority of the summer for the Steelers. Haden is the team’s only defensive back with Pro Bowl pedigree, and now he’s under contract through 2021.
Should Ben Roethlisberger get hurt, is new backup is Mason Rudolph. He did a lot of things right during the preseason, and it paid off for him as he won the team’s No. 2 quarterback spot over Josh Dobbs. Rudolph completed 28 of 43 passes for 368 yards and four touchdowns, with just one interception, while turning in a quarterback rating of 113.3.
Team Stats
- Score: 22.30
- Rush Yards: 120.70
- Pass Attempts: 40.80
- Completion Percentage: 63.73
- Passing Yards: 280.20
- Total Yards: 400.9
- Turnovers: 1.40
Why Bet on New England?
The Patriots are 4-4 in home games against Pittsburgh in the regular season, including 4-1 in home games at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots are 2-0 in home games against Pittsburgh in the postseason with wins in the 1996 and 2016 postseasons. The Patriots first regular-season home game at Gillette Stadium was the 2002 season-opening 28-21 win on Sept. 9, 2002. Tom Brady is 11-3 in his career against Pittsburgh including playoffs and has never lost a game to the Steelers at home.
Following a Super Bowl win, the Patriots have opened on Monday Night Football once and three times on Thursday Night Football. This will be their first home opener appearance on Sunday Night Football after a Super Bowl win. They have won nine of their past 10 season openers overall at home.
New England’s offensive line took a hit late in training camp when center David Andrews was lost for the year with blood clots in his lungs. Since signing with New England as an undrafted free agent out of Georgia in 2015, Andrews has been an integral part of Tom Brady’s offensive line. Andrews has played in 71 games and started in 66, including the postseason. He was Brady’s snapper for New England’s last three Super Bowl appearances and two Super Bowl victories. That leaves Ted Karras as the starting center while Isaiah Wynn makes his debut at left tackle in place of the departed Trent Brown.
Josh Gordon has been reinstated from his NFL suspension and will open as the Patriots’ No. 2 receiver. Gordon missed all of training camp and was only active for one preseason game. He posted a respectable 40-720-3 receiving line while learning New England’s offense on the fly last year. No. 1 WR Julian Edelman got a cameo in the preseason finale and tweaked a thumb injury that caused him to open camp on NFI.
Rookie first-round WR N’Keal Harry was placed on injured reserve. Demaryius Thomas, who New England cut over the weekend, was brought back in the corresponding roster move. Harry tried to play through an ankle injury he suffered in his first preseason game last month but never looked comfortable.
Team Stats
- Score: 28.30
- Rush Yards: 93.70
- Pass Attempts: 36.70
- Completion Percentage: 68.39
- Passing Yards: 290.90
- Total Yards: 384.6
- Turnovers: 1.00
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Steelers vs Patriots 2019 NFL Week 1 Betting Trends
- Steelers are 8-4 SU in their last 12 games
- Steelers are 4-12-1 ATS in their last 17 games against New England
- The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Pittsburgh’s last 7 games against an opponent in the AFC conference
- Patriots are 16-0 SU in their last 16 games at home
- Patriots are 8-4 ATS in their last 12 games played in September
- The total has gone UNDER in 8 of New England’s last 11 games played on a Sunday
Expert Final Score Prediction for Steelers vs Patriots
Pittsburgh Steelers 21 – New England Patriots 27
