Fantasy Football Today - fantasy football rankings, cheatsheets, and information
A Fantasy Football Community!




Create An Account  |  Advertise  |  Contact      







Game Preview

Fantasy | Game Notes | Results & Schedule | Injury Report | Stat Comparisons | Weather | Team vs. Team History

     


Final Score Prediction

Patriots 27, Steelers 24

Fantasy Player Rankings and Projections by Mike Krueger
New England Patriots
Rank  Player Projections
QB 3 Tom Brady Pass: 280, 3 TD Rush: 0, 0
 RB 23 BenJarvus Green-Ellis Rush: 60, 0 TD Rec: 2-10, 0
RB 36 Stevan Ridley Rush: 20, 0 TD Rec: 3-20, 0
WR 9 Wes Welker Rec: 8-90, 1 TD
WR 35 Deion Branch Rec: 4-40, 0 TD
TE 3 Aaron Hernandez Rec: 6-60, 1 TD
 TE 6 Rob Gronkowski Rec: 5-60, 1 TD
K 5 Stephen Gostkowski FG: 2/2 XP: 3/3
DEF 19 Defense / ST  
 
Pittsburgh Steelers
Rank  Player Projections
 QB 6 Ben Roethlisberger Pass: 290, 2 TD Rush: 0, 0
RB 12 Rashard Mendenhall Rush: 90, 1 TD Rec: 1-10, 0
RB 41 Isaac Redman Rush: 20, 0 TD Rec: 1-10, 0
WR 1 Mike Wallace Rec: 8-120, 1 TD
WR 28 Antonio Brown Rec: 5-60, 1 TD
 WR 42 Emmanuel Sanders Rec: 3-40, 0 TD
TE 10 Heath Miller Rec: 5-50, 0 TD
K 13 Shaun Suisham FG: 1/1 XP: 3/3
DEF 12 Defense / ST  

Game Notes

Patriots With win, head coach BILL BELICHICK & QB Tom Brady surpass HOFers DAN MARINO & DON SHULA of Miami for most wins (116) by QB-head coach duo in SB era (since '66)... .Incl. playoffs, Patriots have won 4 of past 5 vs. Pit... Rank 1st in NFL w/ 474.5 yards per game in '11... Have totaled at least 30 pts in 13 of past 14 games... Incl. postseason, QB Tom Brady has 6-1 record vs. Pit. & has 14 TDs vs. 3 INTs & 104.8 passer rating. Last game, Brady (277) surpassed VINNY TESTAVERDE (275) for 8th-most TD passes in NFL history. Patriots are 18-1 (.947) when RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis has rush TD in game... Since '07, WR Wes Welker averages NFL-best 7.2 catches per game (483 rec.). Has totaled 100+ rec. yards in 4 of 6 games this season (160, 217, 158, 124)... TE Rob Gronkowski had career-high 3 TD catches in last game vs. Pit. TEs Gronkowski (5) & Aaron Hernandez (3) have totaled 8 TD rec. in 1st 6 games of season... CB Kyle Arrington leads team with 4 INTs... DE Andre Carter had season-high 2 sacks last game.

Steelers Aim for 5th consecutive win at Heinz Field... QB Ben Roethlisberger (74-31, .705) seeks 75th regular-season win as starter. Has 114.4 passer rating at home in '11, 3rd-best in NFL (AARON RODGERS, 129.4; DREW BREES, 124.4) & highest among AFC QBs. Roethlisberger has 10 TDs vs. 2 INTs & 94.6 passer rating in 5 regular-season games vs. NE. In past 3 games, Roethlisberger has 9 TDs vs. 1 INT & 117.1 passer rating... RB Rashard Mendenhall has 9 rush TDs in past 10 home games... WR Mike Wallace tied career-best with 2 TDs in only meeting vs. NE (11/14/10). Wallace has rec. of 40+ yards in 6 straight games, longest streak since ISAAC BRUCE in 2000. WR Antonio Brown had career-best in catches (7) & receiving yards (102) last week... Defense allows NFL-low in passing yards per game (171.9) this season... LB LaMarr Woodley aims for 3rd consecutive game with at least 2 sacks. Leads AFC w/ 7 sacks... S Ryan Clark posted 1st INT of season last week.


Results and Schedule
New England Patriots
Week Date Opp H/A Score Dif
1 2011-09-12 MIA A W 38-24 +14
2 2011-09-18 SD H W 35-21 +14
3 2011-09-25 BUF A L 31-34 -3
4 2011-10-02 OAK A W 31-19 +12
5 2011-10-09 NYJ H W 30-21 +9
6 2011-10-16 DAL H W 20-16 +4
7   Bye      
8 2011-10-30 PIT A    
9 2011-11-06 NYG H    
10 2011-11-13 NYJ A    
11 2011-11-21 KC H    
12 2011-11-27 PHI A    
13 2011-12-04 IND H    
14 2011-12-11 WAS A    
15 2011-12-18 DEN A    
16 2011-12-24 MIA H    
17 2012-01-01 BUF H    
   
Pittsburgh Steelers
Week Date Opp H/A Score Dif
1 2011-09-11 BAL A L 7-35 -28
2 2011-09-18 SEA H W 24-0 +24
3 2011-09-25 IND A W 23-20 +3
4 2011-10-02 HOU A L 10-17 -7
5 2011-10-09 TEN H W 38-17 +21
6 2011-10-16 JAC H W 17-13 +4
7 2011-10-23 ARI A W 32-20 +12
8 2011-10-30 NE H    
9 2011-11-06 BAL H    
10 2011-11-13 CIN A    
11   Bye      
12 2011-11-27 KC A    
13 2011-12-04 CIN H    
14 2011-12-08 CLE H    
15 2011-12-19 SF A    
16 2011-12-24 STL H    
17 2012-01-01 CLE A    

Injury Report
New England Patriots
Out  ILB Dane Fletcher (Thumb)
Doubtful  CB Ras-I Dowling (Hip)
Questionable  SS Josh Barrett (Thumb)
 RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis (Toe)
 DT Albert Haynesworth (Back)
 ILB Jerod Mayo (Knee)
 OT Sebastian Vollmer (Back)
IR  OC Dan Koppen (Fibula)
 OG Rich Ohrnberger (Head)
 NT Myron Pryor (Shoulder)
 DE Mike Wright (Concussion)
PUP  DE Ron Brace (Elbow)
 DE Brandon Deaderick (Shoulder)
 RB Kevin Faulk (Knee)
Non-Football Related  OG Marcus Cannon (Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma)
   
Pittsburgh Steelers
Out  OLB James Harrison (Eye)
 NT Chris Hoke (Neck)
 OG Doug Legursky (Toe)
 OLB Jason Worilds (Quadriceps)
Questionable  ILB James Farrior (Calf)
 WR Hines Ward (Ankle)
IR  RB Baron Batch (Knee)
 OT Willie Colon (Triceps)
 QB Byron Leftwich (Broken Arm)
 DE Aaron Smith (Foot)

Offense Stats Comparison
  NE
 Offense 
PIT
 Offense 
NFL
 Avg. 
 Adv. 
Points for 30.7 24.0 22.3 NE
Rushing yards 120.3 126.8 116.1 PIT
Rushing yards per attempt 4.52 4.39 4.33 NE
Completion % 67.7% 65.1% 60.2% NE
Passing yards 317.0 270.0 234.8 NE
Passing yards per completion 12.40 12.69 11.32 PIT
Passing yards per attempt 8.40 8.27 6.81 NE
Interceptions 1.0 0.5 1.1 PIT
Fumbles lost 0.0 0.3 0.5 NE
Sacks allowed 2.0 2.5 2.2 NE
3rd down conversions 51.8% 50.6% 38.8% NE
4th down conversions 50.0% 33.3% 44.7% NE
Time of possession 29:21 33:20 30:03 PIT
  Defense Stats Comparison
  NE
 Defense 
PIT
 Defense 
NFL
 Avg. 
 Adv. 
Points against 20.3 16.8 22.3 PIT
Rushing yards 91.3 92.3 116.1 NE
Rushing yards per attempt 4.26 4.26 4.33 -
Completion % 66.7% 55.8% 60.2% PIT
Passing yards 337.7 163.8 234.8 PIT
Passing yards per completion 12.44 8.90 11.32 PIT
Passing yards per attempt 8.30 4.96 6.81 PIT
INT return 1.7 0.3 1.1 NE
Fumble recoveries 0.3 0.0 0.5 NE
Sacks 1.3 2.8 2.2 PIT
3rd down conversions 49.2% 37.2% 38.8% PIT
4th down conversions 0.0% 66.7% 44.7% NE
Time of possession 30:39 26:40 30:03 PIT

Special Teams Stats Comparison
   NE   PIT  NFL
 Avg. 
 Adv. 
Yards per punt return 11.5 12.9 9.4 PIT
Yards per kick return 20.8 24.4 23.7 PIT
Yards allowed per punt return 7.4 5.1 9.4 PIT
Yards allowed per kick return 25.3 24.2 23.7 PIT
  Misc Stats Comparison
   NE   PIT  NFL
 Avg. 
 Adv. 
Penalties 6.3 5.5 6.5 PIT
Penalty yards 58.3 52.3 55.0 PIT

Note: Team statistics are shown as the average per game through Weeks 2 to 7 of the 2011 season after deducting the best and worst value from the data set. The exception is yards per rush attempt, completion %, yards per pass completion, yards per pass attempt, 3rd and 4th down conversions, special teams and the NFL averages, which are each calculated based on totals through Weeks 2 to 7 with no adjustment.

Weather

Team vs. Team History
New England Patriots vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
 Season   Week   Date   Vis   Home   Score   Winner 
2002 1 2002-09-09 PIT NE 14-30 NE
2004 8 2004-10-31 NE PIT 20-34 PIT
2004 CF 2005-01-23 NE PIT 41-27 NE
2005 3 2005-09-25 NE PIT 23-20 NE
2007 14 2007-12-09 PIT NE 13-34 NE
2008 13 2008-11-30 PIT NE 33-10 PIT
2010 10 2010-11-14 NE PIT 39-26 NE

Note: Only playoff games from the 2004 to 2010 seasons are included in the team vs. team history. Playoff games from seasons prior to 2004 are not currently included in the database. CF = Conference Final