The long Steelers preseason came to an end on Thursday night and now it's time for what players and fans alike have waited seven months for.
The 2015 regular season has arrived.
For the Steelers, that means facing the defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots on Thursday, Sept. 10 at Gillette Stadium.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who has a 3-4 record against the Patriots, will have a challenge with some of the personnel changes the Patriots have, but as always he looks forward to that challenge.
Here is what Roethlisberger had to say about facing New England, in the NFL's 2015 Kickoff Game:
On being familiar with what the Patriots bring on defense:"I am trying to get there. Coach (Bill) Belichick is a 'mad scientist' if you will. He throws all kinds of different looks at you, and blitzes and coverages. We will go back and look at things from the last time we played them and last year a little bit. We will try to figure it out, and we have to be ready to make in-game adjustments."
On dealing with changes in Patriots defensive personnel:"When you watch film, they had Darrelle Revis last year. They did a lot of things off of him. Now they don't have him. I am not quite sure what they are going to do."
On playing in the NFL's Kickoff Game as the visiting team:
"From what I remember, it is awful crazy. I don't know if they are going to reveal their banner. I am sure they will do something like that. You are playing the champs. It's at their place. The fans are excited. The world is watching. There will be jitters for everybody, including myself. I have been doing this for a long time but I still get excited and nervous. But it's about how fast you can get over those nerves and jitters, and just play ball."
