Dec 16, 2017 4 min read

Much will be made on the pregame shows and newspaper stories today about Tom Brady’s career record against the Steelers.

This just in, it’s good.

Brady is 10-2 against the Steelers, counting three playoff wins.

But guess what? None of those previous wins matters now. What matters is how the 40-year-old Brady is currently playing.

And that’s not been very good, or at least not very Brady-like.

Don’t think that’s the case? Suppose that is wishful thinking?

Brady showed up on New England’s injury report three weeks ago with an Achilles’ tendon issue. It was bad enough he missed a day of practice two weeks ago and two more last week.

Since appearing on the injury report, Brady has thrown four interceptions in three games, including two in a 27-20 loss at Miami last Monday night. He had only two interceptions in his first 10 games.

Brady has one touchdown pass and three interceptions over the past two weeks, the first time he’s had more interceptions than touchdown passes in a two-game stretch since 2006.

His completion percentage in his first 10 games was 69 percent. In the past three, it’s been 62.

What does all of this mean? After all, Brady owns the Steelers, right?

Well, even that should have an asterisk beside it.

While Brady has played well against the Steelers, his first two career wins against them came when Kordell Stewart was Pittsburgh’s quarterback.

And in his first career game against Pittsburgh – in the 2001 AFC Championship – Brady was knocked out of that game, giving way to Drew Bledsoe. And it was two punt returns for touchdowns by Troy Brown that provided the points in the 24-17 upset.

His most recent regular-season victory against the Steelers came at Heinz Field last season when Landry Jones was subbing for an injured Ben Roethlisberger.

The same people who will point out that the Steelers’ last victory over the Patriots in New England came when Matt Cassell was playing in place of an injured Brady in 2008 somehow pass over that 33-10 Pittsburgh victory.

So, if Roethlisberger and the Steelers don’t get credit for that win over the Patriots, why should Brady get credit for beating Stewart or Jones?

Tossing those wins out, Brady is 3-2 against the Steelers at Heinz Field when Roethlisberger plays. That’s hardly dominant.

And their statistics are eerily similar in those games. Brady has passed for 1,398 yards, nine touchdowns and three interceptions. Roethlisberger has 1,390 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Brady, however, has owned the Steelers at Gillette Stadium, going 5-0 against Pittsburgh. Then again, he’s pretty much owned everyone at home, where he has a 105-19 career record and is 17-3 in the postseason. He simply does not lose often at home.

But on the road? Brady is still good. He’s 88-38 in his career and 3-4 in the postseason. That, of course, doesn’t count Super Bowls.

It does, however, show why today’s game is so important to the Steelers.

They saw the difference last season when they faced Brady once at Heinz Field, when he threw for 222 yards and two touchdowns, and at Gillette Stadium, where he diced them for 384 yards and three scores in the AFC Championship.

The Steelers don’t want to travel that route again.

They can do something about that today.

The key to beating the Patriots isn’t just playing man-to-man defense, something that has been beaten to death since it was mentioned during last year’s AFC title game.

The key is getting a pass rush on Brady and having Roethlisberger match or better the New England quarterback’s performance.

Given the play of both recently, the bet here is that Roethlisberger can do it.

The strength of New England’s defense, if there is one for a unit ranked 29th in the NFL, is in its secondary. But alarge dose of a healthy Le’Veon Bell – something the Steelers didn’t have in the AFC Championship – and a red-hot Roethlisberger could be enough to carry the day.