Drake Maye had his milestone and a big lead at halftime.
And after the Patriots second-year quarterback absorbed a roughing the passer penalty late in the first half, Mike Vrabel kept his starter in to start the second half despite a 35-3 lead.
Maye led the Patriots to another touchdown on New England’s first drive of the third.
On the second drive of the third quarter Vrabel called off the dogs and veteran backup Josh Dobbs took over with New England leading 42-3.
Dobbs had appeared in two games — wins over Carolina and Tennessee — this season, completing 1-of-2 passes for 12 yards.
In his career, the 30-year-old former Tennessee Volunteer entered the game with 345 completions of 551 career passes for 3,293 yards. Pittsburgh’s 2017 fourth-round pick has thrown 17 touchdowns and 15 interceptions for the Steelers, Titans, Cardinals, Vikings, 49ers and Patriots in his career.
Maye was 17-for-19 for 229 yards and four touchdown passes in the first half. He completed his first two passes of the third, including a touchdown to Efton Chism III and was 19-for-21 for 256 yards and five for the game.
He became the third quarterback in Patriots history to reach 4,000 yards in a season, joining Tom Brady and Drew Bledsoe.