Did the Pittsburgh Steelers help end the Tom Brady/New England dynasty? One report seems to hint at the answer being yes.
The Boston Journal’s Greg Bedard recapping the final years of the Brady/Belichick era and how by the end, Brady felt like he was being phased out of the offense. The final nail in the coffin was their 2018 loss to Pittsburgh.
For about the first and only time, Brady looked downright mortal against a Steelers’ team he typically dominated. In a 17-10 loss, he threw just one touchdown and tossed a crucial interception, picked by Joe Haden, late in the game.
At the time, we wrote how the Steelers’ gameplan confused Brady, leading to poor decisions and turnovers. For his career, Brady had a sparkling 9-3 regular season record against Pittsburgh, throwing a whopping 29 touchdowns to five interceptions. Haden’s INT made him the first Steelers’ DB to pick him off since Chris Hope in 2005.
To be fair, as Bedard points out, Brady still had the last laugh, winning another Super Bowl that year, led by an top notch defense to beat the Rams in a low-scoring affair.
Brady, of course, took his talents to Tampa Bay, leaving New England in a potential rebuild spot for the first time in two decades. They seemed poised to enter 2020 with Jarrett Stidham at quarterback and may not be viewed as division favorites.
That also means Pittsburgh will likely do one thing New England didn’t. Keep their franchise, Hall of Fame quarterback for his entire career. While Bedard’s article more broadly pointed to how some careers have unceremoniously ended – Brady, Montana, Favre – it’s almost certain Ben Roethlisberger will spend all his time in Pittsburgh.
