The New England Patriots opened their Super Bowl defense with a win over the Pittsburg Steelers on Thursday Night Football. With a 28-21 win, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady once again begin the season with a home victory at Gillette Stadium. It's only the first week, but NFL fans can always learn something every night.

Here are five things we learned from that game.

1. "Gronk" Is Still "Gronk"

So much for the Steelers "getting physical" and stopping Robert Gronkowski. All that pregame trash talk didn't do the Steelers much good at all, as Gronkowski destroyed the Steelers secondary for two touchdowns and 94 receiving yards. It came to the point where the Steelers would not even bother guarding Gronkowski, leaving him wide open. The biggest X factor for the Patriots this year will be Gronkowski's health and his ability to stay on the field. So far, he's off to a great start.

2. Steelers Defenseless

It's only one game, but this Steelers team may be in for a long season because of their defense. Dick LeBeau, one of the greatest defensive coordinators ever, is now with the Tennessee Titans, and the Steelers' offseason loss showed. Jason Worilds' untimely retirement didn't help things. The Steelers defense couldn't force a single turnover and allowed Julian Edelman to catch 11 of the 12 balls that were intended for him. The Steelers even allowed running back Dion Lewis (who?) to run for a 4.6 yard per carry average. Every time the Steelers offense would score and it looked like Mike Tomlin's team was going to take the lead, the defense let them down.

3. DeAngelo Williams Shines

The Steelers running game was a big question mark because Le'Veon Bell was out due to suspension. Former Carolina Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams turned back the clock and had a great day. Williams ran for 127 yards on 21 carries against the Patriots defense. Williams only had 219 rushing yards last season because of constant injuries, but he's off to a great start. Williams could create a good one-two punch with Bell this year.

4. Young Offensive Line Excel

After the game Brady said his offensive line was "phenomenal." It's not extremely surprising to see the Patriots have a great offensive line, but this was really impressive given their inexperience. The Patriots started three rookie offensive lineman last night, and they played terrific. Brady was sacked twice, but one of those was a safety blitz. For just about the entire night, Brady was untouched, and receivers had all day to get open. Rookies David Andrews, Shaq Mason and Tre' Jackson all played like veterans last night. This is big because starting center Bryan Stork is out with a neck injury and a concussion.

5. Tom Terrific

Brady has been Mike Tomlin's worst nightmare as a head coach. Brady has 17 career passing touchdowns and zero interceptions against Tomlin's Steelers in the games they've played against each other. It doesn't appear as if the offseason "deflategate" controversy distracted Brady one bit. Brady finished the game 25 for 32 with 288 yards and four touchdowns. This was his 18th career game with four touchdowns and zero interceptions, tying him with Drew Brees for most all time.

Follow Damon Salvadore on Twitter @DamonSalvadore1