Pittsburgh Steelers vs New England Patriots

Tonight sees the return of the NFL as the road to Super Bowl 50 begins and we have a mouth-watering encounter for opening night with Ben Roethlisberger's Steelers heading to Gillette Stadium to face an old foe in the form of Tom Brady and the defending champions New England.

The Steelers will look to gate-crash tonight's party at Foxboro as the Patriots unveil their fourth Super Bowl winners banner before giving the team a heroes reception as they step on to the field especially Tom Brady who has an to endure a troublesome offseason with the drama of 'Deflategate' and he more than anyone will be glad to get back to playing football. The last time the Patriots were involved in controversy was back in 2007 with 'Spygate' which seemed to ignite a spark in Bill Belichick's team and saw them finish the regular season 16-0 so who would bet against Bill and Tom pulling off one more masterclass this season just to rub further salt in to the wounds of Roger Goodell.

An undefeated season is a long way away and admittedly talking about one is crazy especially in week one plus as we know going unbeaten doesn't guarantee you a Super Bowl ring as the Pats found out back in 2007 (ask Peyton Manning too) but those demons were put to rest back in February so now its onwards and upwards. The quest for a fifth championship will be very tough especially against a Steelers team that has a powerful offense led by their two time Super Bowl winning quarterback. Big Ben and Mike Tomlin are quite the force themselves and they will have prepared their game plan very well for tonight looking to exploit a Patriots secondary that has seen Revis and Browner depart which I am sure will take a few weeks to sort out.

There are suspicions that Devin McCourty will move to corner but as the linchpin of the teams secondary at his normal position of safety taking Devin back to his old position at corner where he endured some struggles early in his career could be a risk especially as he himself has said that if he is moved to the outside that he hopes it isn't permanent. It will be interesting to see how Malcom Butler kicks on after his Super Bowl heroics especially as he will see a lot more snaps this season following the departures mentioned above.

With there being concerns regarding New England's secondary the Steelers will look to use Big Ben's rocket arm to exploit any holes downfield and he could well do so as he has arguably the most dynamic receiver in the NFL at his disposal in Antonio Brown. Brown is poised to have a fantastic year but without Martavis Bryant opposite him for the first four games of the season due to suspension as well as the fact that the brilliant Le'Veon Bell is suspended tonight as well so the Steelers’ game plan could become rather predictable.

When coming up against Bill Belichick it is very hard to spring a surprise on the Patriots head coach and considering that without Bell the Steelers will lack any real threat in the running game it will be interesting to see if Mike Tomlin has anything up his sleeve. Wide receiver Markus Wheaton will get a chance in these first four games to prove his worth to the Steelers offense without Bryant as he will step up to WR2; Roethlisberger will have to release his passes quickly which does basically sound like using a recipe for success that has worked so well for Tom Brady and the Pats over the years against themselves tonight.

That will be key to any success the Steelers have offensively tonight especially as the Patriots front 7 on defense this year looks incredible so running the ball on them will be extremely difficult as well as passing in the middle of the field as Jerod Mayo, Dont'a Hightower and Jamie Collins are three incredible linebackers who know how to get the job done. The loss of Mayo to a season ending injury last campaign appeared to be troublesome for New England at first but in fact it increased the responsibility for Collins and Hightower which sky rocketed their development with the two excelling in pressure situations which ultimately gave the defense a new identity and was truly influential in helping the Pats win the Super Bowl last season.

On the flip side of things the Steelers defense is not what it once was in terms of your typical hard defense that themselves and the Baltimore Ravens are known for over in the AFC North. The Steelers are going through a transitional stage on that side of the ball and despite the fact that Tom Brady won't have former Steeler Lagarrette Blount to hand the ball of tonight everyone knows that Brady is more than comfortable in throwing the ball 35-45 times tonight and getting the job done through the air. If anything that will suit Brady as I am sure he is so pumped up and fuelled with the fire inside to get on the field tonight to just get back to playing football and show why he is the greatest quarterback of all-time.

The 4 time winning Super Bowl QB is also without wideout Brandon LaFell but his rapport with Julian Edelman is impeccable so you can expect the two to have a great season together. Danny Amendola will look to kick on following his impressive postseason and establish himself in the offense. The most exciting sign for Patriots is Scott Chandler being paired with superstar Rob Gronkowski as this could be the new two-headed monster that the team has longed for at the tight end position. The Patriots will be incredible in the red zone tonight with these two on the field especially with Edelman and Amendola running the slants and then when Blount is back you can add a power running game in to their arsenal which will only make the red zone offense more devastating.

The Steelers will try their best to catch the Patriots off guard and may even throw in some surprise nickel and dime packages on defense but a New England win appears to be well on the cards tonight. With the red zone threat mentioned above despite the Patriots having some uncertainties in their own running game they'll be able to pass their way through the Steelers as they don't have the personnel to jam the Patriots weapons at the line and stop them. With opening nights there are usually fireworks but they are also prone for error as during the early weeks the teams get a feel for the new season with what is working and what isn't but with this old rivalry being renewed I think we can expect more fireworks than anything else with Tom Brady bringing home a victory to a crowd of happy Patriots!

Prediction: Steelers 17-27 Patriots

Big Ben has two wins to Brady's 5 in their head to head

Preview: Ravens vs Patriots

The New England Patriots will host the Baltimore Ravens in another high stakes playoff game with the winner heading to the AFC Championship game in 8 days time. The Ravens are one of the only teams in recent memory to walk in to Foxborough and enjoy great success with two playoff victories over the Patriots in the 2012 season when they went on to win the Super Bowl and back on the 10th January 2010 when they dismantled New England 33-14. 5 years later and these two teams are going to lock horns once again with both hoping that today's game will be the catalyst for a run to the Super Bowl.

Both Baltimore and New England have faced adversity this year and both have shut up their critics which is what makes this game so exciting as well as so tough to predict. The Ravens went in to Pittsburgh last week and knocked off their biggest rivals in the wild card round 30-17 when many predicted they would fail. In recent years we've seen how wild card teams get hot at the right time and go on a run whereas teams with a bye sometimes struggle to shake off the rust of not playing and pay the price with a sluggish performance. This was something that happened once or twice to the Indianapolis Colts in the Dungy-Manning era but for Belichick's Patriots you can be assured that his team will be fired up and ready to go.

Tom Brady said the other day that this is the 2014 Patriots vs the 2014 Ravens each with their own unique identity and whilst I completely agree with that assessment let's be honest Brady himself, Belichick and the whole of the Patriots locker room definitely won't be short of motivation when it comes to facing Baltimore. The thought of defeating an old enemy one more time is something that Brady and Belichick will be eager to do but it won't be easy and even 'Terrific Tom' himself hasn't been particularly terrific in past meetings with the Ravens as he has thrown 3 touchdowns to 7 interceptions in the teams last 3 playoff meetings.

Flacco on the other hand has been a worthy adversary for Brady and co as you can see from the stats above so it is safe to assume that today's game will be a close duel once again. The difference this time round for New England is that this is the best defense hands down since 2007/2008 and in my opinion this is the best overall roster since then as well which is what makes me believe that New England will find a way to get the job done tonight. Joe Flacco has been incredible in the post season and since he entered the league in 2008 he has proven himself to be a very good quarterback but the physicality and natural ability of this Patriots defense that possesses so many game changers will be something Flacco hasn't faced before in Foxborough.

We're talking about Flacco facing past defenses that have had Ras-I Dowling on the roster, Sterling Moore who basically made a once in a lifetime in the Patriots' lone win against Flacco in the postseason and that year Julian Edelman even lined up as a corner in the Super Bowl which says it all about how the Pats were struggling on defense as they did rank 31st that year too. The defense now has Devin McCourty excelling after switching to safety and is one of the best in the league with Patrick Chung, Brandon Browner, Logan Ryan and the gem of the secondary Darrelle Revis who has proven himself to be the best corner in the league not named Richard Sherman. Up front you have Vince Wilfork who has bounced back from a season ending achilles injury last season with Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich both capable of generating a pass rush as well as stopping the run and then at linebacker Dont'a Hightower and Jamie Collins are phenomenal young players with so much potential who are already two of the main players and leaders of this New England defense.

Jamie Collins is one of the best young players I've seen in recent memory and number 91 can do practically anything from man coverage to zone, dropping back to cover the pass as well as stopping the run. He makes big plays, sniffs out the danger, forces turnovers and quite frankly he has the speed, talent and intelligence to be one of the best linebackers in football. With a physical secondary along with other players we've mentioned including the tandem of Collins and Hightower the Patriots can disrupt the Ravens offense just like their old defenses have done in the past to Tom Brady. Defense wins championships and although it is an old sporting cliche quite honestly more often than not it is proven to be true but when you have an offense led by Tom Brady and a healthy Rob Gronkowski well that does certainly help.

The Patriots will be raring to go and I stand by my bold statement that if Gronk is healthy the Pats will win the Super Bowl. He is an absolute nightmare for opposing defenses and I'm sure coordinators lose sleep over thinking of ways to try and stop him or if it is even remotely possible. Gronk's ability to make big plays, draw double coverage which makes Julian Edelman and Brandon LaFell become so effective and his ability to block in the running game proves why he is the most valuable player to the Patriots. The running game will be key tonight as if the Patriots get it going it will make the passing game run more effectively which will give Tom Brady the opportunities to pick holes in a Ravens secondary that has obvious weaknesses. History may not bode very well for New England against Baltimore but the past is the past for a reason as the 2014 Patriots are equipped to go all the way this year and end a 10 year wait for a 4th Lombardi; if they do their jobs tonight they'll be one game away from a 6th Super Bowl appearance in the Brady-Belichick era.

Prediction: Ravens 23-31 Patriots

Belichick could get his 20th win in the postseason tonight which would leave him tied for 1st all-time