REGULAR SEASON WEEK 15 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS at Pittsburgh steelers Table of contents GAME INFORMATION Game Summary ...............................................................................................................3 Broadcast Information....................................................................................................3 Media Schedule ..............................................................................................................3 2018 Patriots Schedule ..................................................................................................3 2018 AFC East Standings ..............................................................................................3 2018 Regular Season Statistics ....................................................................................4 2018 Player Participation ...............................................................................................6 2018 Game-By-Game Starters ..................................................................................... 7 Rosters & Depth Chart ...................................................................................................8 Matchup Notes .............................................................................................................. 15 What to Look for This Week ....................................................................................... 18 Week 14 Recap .............................................................................................................. 21 Projected Contributors ................................................................................................23 INDIVIDUAL AND TEAM NOTES Robert Kraft ................................................................................................................... 26 Patriots Team Notes .................................................................................................... 28 Inside the Numbers ......................................................................................................33 Bill Belichick ...................................................................................................................34 Tom Brady .......................................................................................................................37 Patriots Offensive Notes .............................................................................................48 Patriots Defensive Notes............................................................................................ 58 Patriots Special Teams Notes .................................................................................... 60 Patriots Reference Notes ........................................................................................... 63 Patriots Playoff Notes .................................................................................................. 65 Patriots Football Network ...........................................................................................67 SECTION II 2018 Patriots Stats Pack SECTION III 2018 Game Summaries REGULAR SEASON WEEK 15 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS at Pittsburgh steelers MEDIA SCHEDULE GAME SUMMARY WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (9-4) at PITTSBURGH STEELERS (7-5-1) TBD Media check-in at blue gate and Sunday, Dec. 16, 2018 • Heinz Field (68,400) • 4:25 p.m. ET media workroom opens The New England Patriots will travel to Pittsburgh for the third straight season and TBD Patriots head coach Bill Belichick for the second straight season in December. Last year, the Patriots defeated Pitts- press availability (Media Workroom) burgh, 27-24, (12/17/17) at Heinz Field. In 2016, the Patriots beat Pittsburgh, 27-16, TBD Media availability at practice at Heinz Field (10/23/16) and beat the Steelers for a second time with a 36-17 win at TBD Approximate time for player Gillette Stadium (01/22/17) in the AFC Championship Game. availability (Patriots locker room) New England will earn its 10th win of the season with a victory, tying San Francisco (1983-98) for the most consecutive seasons with at least 10 wins with 16. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13 TBD Media check-in at blue gate and BROADCAST INFORMATION media workroom opens TELEVISION: This week’s game will be broadcast by CBS and can be seen locally TBD Media availability at practice on WBZ-TV Channel 4. Jim Nantz will handle play-by-play duties with Tony Romo TBD Approximate time for player as the color analyst. Tracy Wolfson will work from the sidelines. The game will be availability (Patriots locker room) produced by Jim Rikhoff and directed by Mike Arnold. NATIONAL RADIO: Sunday's game will be broadcast on ESPN Radio with Marc Kestech- FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14 er calling the play-by-play and Bill Polian as analyst. Sal Paolantonio will report from the TBD Media check-in at blue gate and sidelines. The game can also be heard on Sports USA with Josh Appel on play-by-play media workroom opens and Hank Bauer providing analysis. TBD Patriots head coach Bill Belichick press availability (Media Workroom) LOCAL RADIO: 98.5 The Sports Hub is the flagship station for the Patriots Radio Network. A complete listing of the network’s 41 stations can be found in this press release. Play- TBD Media availability at practice by-play broadcaster Bob Socci will call the action along with former Patriots quarterback TBD Approximate time for player Scott Zolak, who will provide color analysis. The games are produced by Marc Cappello. availability (Patriots locker room) POSTSEASON PROWESS SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15 If the New England Patriots defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field on Sunday Team travel to Pittsburgh - no media availability and the Titans lose to the Giants or tie, New England will become the first franchise in NFL history to earn a playoff berth in 10 consecutive seasons. New England can SUNDAY, DECEMBER 16 also clinch a 10th straight division title with a win and a loss by Miami or with a tie and 4:25 p.m. Patriots at Pittsburgh Steelers a Miami loss. New England enters this week tied with the Dallas Cowboys (1975-83) and the Indianapolis Colts (2002-10) as the only teams to qualify for the postseason 2018 patriots schedule for nine straight seasons. MOST CONSECUTIVE PLAYOFF SEASONS REGULAR SEASON (9-4) Sun., Sept. 9 Houston 27-20 W Team Years Consec. Playoff Seasons Sun., Sept. 16 at Jacksonville 20-31 L New England Patriots ......... 2009-17 ........................................... 9 Sun., Sept. 23 at Detroit 10-26 L Dallas Cowboys ......................1975-83 ................................................9 Sun., Sept. 30 Miami 38-7 W Indianapolis Colts .................. 2002-10 ................................................9 Thu., Oct. 4 Indianapolis 38-24 W Green Bay Packers .................2009-16 ................................................8 Pittsburgh Steelers .................1972-79 .................................................8 Sun., Oct. 14 Kansas City 43-40 W Los Angeles Rams ..................1973-80 ................................................8 Sun., Oct. 21 at Chicago 38-31 W Dallas Cowboys ......................1966-73 ................................................8 Mon., Oct. 29 at Buffalo 25-6 W San Francisco 49ers ..............1983-90 ................................................8 Sun., Nov. 4 Green Bay 31-17 W Houston Oilers ........................1987-93 ................................................7 Sun., Nov. 11 at Tennessee 10-34 L San Francisco 49ers ..............1992-98 ................................................7 Sun., Nov. 18 BYE WEEK Sun., Nov. 25 at N.Y. Jets 27-13 W WEEK 15 HIGHLIGHTS Sun., Dec. 2 Minnesota 24-10 W Sun., Dec. 9 at Miami 33-34 L PAGE 15: New England Patriots at Pittsburgh Steelers matchup notes Sun., Dec. 16 at Pittsburgh 4:25 p.m. CBS PAGE 18: What to look for in this week's game Sun., Dec. 23 Buffalo 1:00 p.m. CBS* PAGE 29: The Patriots have the NFL's best regular-season road record since 1994. Sun., Dec. 30 N.Y. Jets 1:00 p.m. CBS* PAGE 40: Tom Brady is on the verge of eclipsing 70,000 career regular-season passing yards. 2018 AFC EAST STANDINGS MEDIA CONTACTS TEAM W L T PCT. PF PA Stacey James, Vice President of Media Relations, [email protected], 508-326-6868 NEW ENGLAND 9 4 0 .692 364 293 Aaron Salkin, Director of Media Relations, [email protected], 508-326-6870 Miami Dolphins 7 6 0 .538 278 333 Michael Jurovaty, Asst. Director of Media Relations, [email protected], 508-326-6187 Buffalo Bills 4 9 0 .308 201 320 Mark Robbins, Media Relations Coordinator, [email protected], 508-431-7175 New York Jets 4 9 0 .308 270 330 Anne Noland, Media Relations Coordinator, [email protected], 508-431-7773 2018 REGULAR SEASON OFFENSIVE STATISTICS WON 9, LOST 4 * RUSHING No. Yds Avg Long TD 09/09 W 27-20 Houston 65,878 Michel 164 706 4.3 34t 5 09/16 L 20-31 at Jacksonville 68,527 White 80 342 4.3 27 4 09/23 L 10-26 at Detroit 61,769 C. Patterson 38 162 4.3 22 1 09/30 W 38- 7 Miami 65,878 Burkhead 35 108 3.1 12 0 10/04 W 38-24 Indianapolis 65,878 Edelman 7 83 11.9 20 0 10/14 W 43-40 Kansas City 65,878 Barner TM 19 71 3.7 11 0 10/21 W 38-31 at Chicago 62,389 Brady 23 35 1.5 10 2 10/29 W 25- 6 at Buffalo 70,109 Hill 4 25 6.3 11 0 11/04 W 31-17 Green Bay 65,878 Develin 6 8 1.3 2t 4 11/11 L 10-34 at Tennessee 69,363 Hoyer 6 -3 -.5 2 0 11/25 W 27-13 at N.Y. Jets 77,982 TEAM 382 1537 4.0 34t 16 12/02 W 24-10 Minnesota 65,878 OPPONENTS 301 1469 4.9 54t 7 12/09 L 33-34 at Miami 66,087 * RECEIVING No. Yds Avg Long