LeGarrette Blount grabed two touchdowns as New England recorded their third successive win by beating Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field.
Patriots recorded their third straight victory since Tom Brady's return as they proved too strong for a Pittsburgh Steelers led impressively by Landry Jones in the absence of Roethlisberger.
However while the Steelers offence failed to fire, New England and Brady were as ruthless as ever in taking their chances to improve to 6-1 while Pittsburgh suffered a third defeat of the season and for a second successive week.
In 140 characters - Patriots win again as LeGarrette Blount returns to haunt former Steelers teammates while Rob Gronkowski ties franchise touchdown record (68)
MVP - LeGarrette Blount returned to face his former franchise and was as impressive as he has been all season for the Patriots. The running back ran for 127 yards and two touchdowns.
Game-changer - Brady-Gronkowski-Blount is becoming increasingly familiar and when Brady found Gronk for a 37-yard catch-and-run that set up Blount's second TD, tjhe Patriots led by 11 with just under 12 minutes remaining.
Stat of the Night - 68. Rob Gronkowski ran in for his 68th Patriots touchdown, tying the franchise record set by wide receiver Stanley Morgan.
Keep across the final action of Week Seven on Monday night on Sky Sports when Denver Broncos host the Houston Texans on Sky Sports 1 from 1.15am,
The Game
Patriots started with a fumble but Tom Brady soon found his range as the Patriots dominated the opening quarter before taking the lead, with an opening 80-yard drive that ended with Brady finding James White with a 19-yard pass for the opening score of the game.
With no Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers turned to Landry Jones and the back-up QB was more than capable with ball in hand but it was a lack of cutting edge in the redzone that Mike Tomlin was to regret as Pittsburgh were unable to find their way through until late in the first half.
By that time Blount had already ran in his opening score of the game, from three yards out he was found by Brady to double the visitors advantage.
But rather than flounder the Steelers and Jones upped the ante and clawed their way back into the game, thanks to Darrius Heyward-Bey's touchdown and a Chris Boswell field goal, reducing the deficit to just four points at half-time.
And four became one early on in the third quarter as Boswell scored again, having missed one long-distance attempt this time his 46-yard try was good and it was game on at Heinz Field.
But as ever when the pressure is on, Brady went to Rob Gronkowski and the tight end responded with touchdown number 68 in the Patriots uniform, tying the franchise record set by wide receiver Stanley Morgan.
Gostkowski missed the extra point to keep the Steelers interest but the difference was proving to be time in the scoring zone, while Pittsburgh were forced to make do with field goal attempts, Brady and the Patriots chalked up a fourth TD of the night when Blount grabbed his second.
Brady completed 19 of 26 passes for 222 yards while Jones was more than a match with 281 yards himself but with the Steelers offence failing to fire it was the Patriots that grabbed the win to maintain their position as Super Bowl favourites.