The reigning Super Bowl champion New England Patriots will host the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium at 8:30 p.m. EDT tonight in the NFL regular season opener.
With Tom Brady's four-game suspension voided by a federal judge, the Patriots get back their Super Bowl MVP and Hall of Fame-caliber quarterback. New England faces a host of questions entering this year after losing starting cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner to free agency this offseason. But having the steady hand of Brady and head coach Bill Belichick will go a long way in keeping the team in the Super Bowl hunt.
However, it won't be easy. The Miami Dolphins, New York Jets and Buffalo Bills all made positive strides this season with impressive additions to their rosters. That's why it's so important to New England to get off to a good start and block out all of the remaining focus on Deflategate.
Lucky for them, they'll be facing a depleted Pittsburgh Steelers team tonight. All-Pro center Maurkice Pouncey will miss the first eight games of the season due to injury, while breakout star running back Le'Veon Bell serves a two-game suspension and second-year wideout Martavis Bryant serves a four-game suspension. That's a lot of firepower missing from the NFL's second-ranked offense in 2014.
But with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and wide receiver Antonio Brown still healthy, the Steelers have more than enough to remain competitive. Brown led the NFL in receiving yards last year with 1,698 while Roethlisberger set career bests in completion percentage (67.1) and passing yards (4,952) and tied a career high in passing touchdowns (32). Pittsburgh's defense should also receive a much-needed injection of life after general manager Kevin Colbert invested three of the team's first four picks into that side of the ball.
You can check out the live stream for the game by clicking here or listen to the radio broadcast by clicking here (NE) or here (PIT).
