text: Beginning a stretch of three straight home games, the Patriots faced off against the 9–3 Steelers in their first afternoon game in five weeks. Before the game, Steelers safety Anthony Smith guaranteed a win for the Steelers. After going three-and-out on their first drive, the Patriots fell behind 3–0 early on a 23-yard Jeff Reed field goal to cap an 8-minute, 15-play Steelers possession. A 39-yard Chad Jackson kickoff return gave the Patriots the ball at their own 48-yard line to begin a 9-play drive that ended in a 4-yard Moss touchdown catch to give the Patriots the lead. Moss’ touchdown catch was his 18th of the season, surpassing Curtis Martin for the Patriots’ record for touchdowns by a single player in a season. After a Steelers three-and-out the Patriots, on their first offensive play of the second quarter, increased their lead to 14–3 on a 63-yard play action pass from Brady to Moss. A 30-yard Willie Parker run on the Steelers’ ensuing series set up a 32-yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Najeh Davenport. After a Patriots drive in which a muffed punt recovery by Pittsburgh led to a missed 48-yard field goal attempt by Gostkowski, the Steelers mounted a 12-play drive that lasted almost 6 minutes before a 44-yard Reed field goal cut the Patriots’ lead to 14–13. With 2:29 left in the half, a 32-yard Gaffney reception helped the Patriots drive to the Steelers’ 24-yard line; after two Brady incompletions Gostkowski kicked a 42-yard Gostkowski field goal, giving the Patriots a 17–13 lead at halftime.