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[Teach]

Just two days. Less than 48 hours. The Showdown at The Heinz. The Patriots or Steelers? The Pats are favored by 3 (last I looked). Yet, I’m picking…The Steelers. Why?

So goes Tom Brady, so goes The Patriots. I’m skeptical. I’m concerned. Brady is 40-years old. I don’t care how young he says he feels, or how good he looks, Father Time has a way of catching up to you. Is his Achilles tendon bothering him? Frankly, I didn’t think Brady was sharp in the Patriots Monday Night loss to the Dolphins. Was that loss a sign of things to come?

By and large, the Patriots have beaten weaker teams. The AFC East is a weak division. I thought the Pats could have been in trouble against the Bills. Buffalo marched down the field on the opening drive only to have their quarterback, Tyrod Taylor, throw an ill-advised pass inside the Patriots 10-yard line; it gets picked off. Game. Set. Match. The outcome of that game turned on that play. Talk about a deflator.

Further, the Patriots will be without their 6-foot-6, 350-pound defensive lineman, Alan Branch. Branch has a way of clogging up the middle. His absence is a big loss. On the offensive side, the Patriots offensive line has not done a great job of protecting Brady; he’s taken his share of hits.

The Pats receiving core has been depleted (New England has gotten by without Julian Edelman…but in games like this he is sorely missed). Danny Amendola would seem like the logical short-yardage receiver, but he wasn’t even thrown to in the first half of the Miami game (Look for the Steelers to double-cover him). Ron Gronkowski is an excellent receiver, but will it take some time to shake off the rust from his one-game suspension? Chris Hogan doesn’t seem to be the same after coming back from his injury. As for Brandin Cooks, I don’t see him as reliable.

Again, it all harks back to Brady. I’ve watched him over the season and throughout the years. If the Miami game is an indication, it could be a long late-Sunday afternoon, early-Sunday evening for Bill Belichick’s team.