1st half analysis

Analysis from the first half, with the Patriots and Steelers tied at 10:

One of the main things that stands out is how tough it is to move the ball against the Steelers’ defense. They close extremely fast on the play, making up ground in a hurry. They’ve also mixed their pressures, sometimes coming with multiple blitzers, other times rushing just three and dropping eight. So that’s given Matt Cassel a lot to look at and the Patriots’ offense has not settled into a rhythm. Cassel is living dangerously, with a few passes that easily could have been intercepted.

The Patriots have done a nice job mixing in a few unexpected runs, which seem to have surprised the Steelers. Kevin Faulk’s 41-yarder in the two-minute offense was a season-long for the team.

But with two evenly matched teams, this has become a game of taking advantage of opportunities. And with that, the Patriots have not gotten the desired results, struggling in the red zone on offense.

A Randy Moss drop in the end zone would have helped late in the second quarter. Moss also had a drop in the middle of the field in the first quarter. The Steelers entered the game as the NFL’s No. 1-ranked red-zone defense.

Meanwhile, the Patriots’ red zone defense has had mixed results. It came up with one big stop in the first quarter, but cornerback Deltha O’Neal wasn’t competitive on the Steelers’ lone touchdown, to Santonio Holmes in the second quarter. He simply was turned around of his break.

Linebacker Mike Vrabel has played big for the Patriots. His first-quarter interception set up a short field to produce the team's first touchdown on a three-play drive.

Special teams have also let down the Patriots at times, with kicker Stephen Gostkowski missing a short, late field goal in the second quarter.

The Patriots get the ball to start the second half. To win, they’ll need to get 6s instead of 3s in the red zone. They simply can not keep letting these opportunities pass them by.