Kindof like NE was doing prior to the Pittsburgh game. They were just doing enough to be better than their opponents. Even if the score didn't reflect it, you could see it. ...Then they fell behind against a good team and couldn't recover. That was clearly a wake-up call. Since then, they've been stomping.
Maybe Pittsburgh needs a good loss to reawaken them.
As a Pats fan, I'm eager to see a rematch in the playoffs. Hope it's on our turf though.