OK, it's a week later - why do you guys think we played D against the **s like we did

[SanAntonioSteelerFan]

The most charitable reason I can think of is that the coaches didn't think our young guys were good enough to play man bump and run against them.

Other reasons might be because the coaches actually thought a soft zone was the best way to defend Marcia** (ouch).

Other thoughts?

[feltdizz]

because they thought it was our best chance to win.

I also think NE used formations that confused our defense.

If the offense does it's job I think the D looks better because we sustain longer drives, score points and put pressure on NE to change their game plan.

[RuthlessBurgher]

The other option was Artie Burns manning up Julian Edelman, Ross Cockrell manning up Chris Hogan, William Gay manning up Danny Amendola, and Al-Hajj Shabazz manning up Malcolm Mitchell. Which of those matchups are in our favor?

[feltdizz]

The other option was Artie Burns manning up Julian Edelman, Ross Cockrell manning up Chris Hogan, William Gay manning up Danny Amendola, and Al-Hajj Shabazz manning up Malcolm Mitchell. Which of those matchups are in our favor?

I think it's even if we disrupt their timing getting off the LOS. I'll take bump and run over zone everyday of the week and twice on sunday when it comes to the Pats.

The OL is their weakness.

[tiproast]

The OL is their weakness.

Perhaps. But the reason the games are played is for the teams to discover and exploit each other's weaknesses.

If Team S is unable to exploit Team P's weakness, I think it says more about Team S's weaknesses than Team P's.

[SS Laser]

I disagree that there oline was a weakness.
https://www.google.com/amp/www.patspulpit.com/platform/amp/2016/12/30/14118794/patriots-offensive-line-has-been-a-top-10-unit-in-2016?client=safari
Thats the only article I can find on old Google real quick. I must have seen a chart on TV on NFL network or ESPN insiders/live showing the offensive line last 5 or so years and this one was good.
I think he steelers seen the pat offense throwing to the RB's and TE like they always do. Dink and dunk the Steelers to death. Instead they went 4 wide to take the defense out of there strength and confuse them. It has been beaten to death better team won.

[squidkid]

stupidity?....

[SanAntonioSteelerFan]

I disagree that there oline was a weakness.
https://www.google.com/amp/www.patspulpit.com/platform/amp/2016/12/30/14118794/patriots-offensive-line-has-been-a-top-10-unit-in-2016?client=safari
Thats the only article I can find on old Google real quick. I must have seen a chart on TV on NFL network or ESPN insiders/live showing the offensive line last 5 or so years and this one was good.
I think he steelers seen the pat offense throwing to the RB's and TE like they always do. Dink and dunk the Steelers to death. Instead they went 4 wide to take the defense out of there strength and confuse them. It has been beaten to death better team won.

I don't know enough about Xs and Os, so excuse the probably obvious questions, sorry ... but once they went 4 wide, do you guys think there was an adjustment we could have made to counter that? Or, as Ruth implied above, were we just so personnel/talent deficient defensively that the game was basically over at that point because we just were not going to stop them, unless we put up 35-40 points?

[BowCatShot]

The most charitable reason I can think of is that the coaches didn't think our young guys were good enough to play man bump and run against them.

Other reasons might be because the coaches actually thought a soft zone was the best way to defend Marcia** (ouch).

Other thoughts?

They played that D for the same reason that the Packers did. They were both instructed to lose by the powers that be. And they were complicit. It's so blatantly obvious that only the self deluded will fail to see it.

[feltdizz]

Perhaps. But the reason the games are played is for the teams to discover and exploit each other's weaknesses.

If Team S is unable to exploit Team P's weakness, I think it says more about Team S's weaknesses than Team P's.

Thats what was frustrating. We never adjusted. Hargrave tossed the center aside like a rag doll. Texans showed the Pats were vulnerable on the inside rush. We never really tried to bring pressure up the middle. I'm sure the Pats did a few things to improve the inside OL but we rushed 3 and only blitzed a few times.

[SS Laser]

I don't know enough about Xs and Os, so excuse the probably obvious questions, sorry ... but once they went 4 wide, do you guys think there was an adjustment we could have made to counter that? Or, as Ruth implied above, were we just so personnel/talent deficient defensively that the game was basically over at that point because we just were not going to stop them, unless we put up 35-40 points?

I also do not know much more about defense then the basic Steeler fan nut job. I just see the same defense that struggles without offensive help. This is the basic defense that had some bad games this season. Pats used all that info. And the steelers did not have the man power to counter there offense game plan. If I really knew what to look for I would go back and look at what the pats put on tape for most of the season and what there game plan was last time against the Steeler's. See if coaches really thought the zone was there best chance or if the conspiracy holds any water at all. I really believe that no Gronk caused the decision to go zone to stop the RB's and there normal WR game plan. But as we seen the pats switched it up and the defense even helped by playing a bad game besides the scheme. Execution was piss poor. Dupree looked lost in zone. And seems so was Davis. Gay had a bad game. And I am sure others also. That's how I seen it. It really would have taken there best D performance of the season and best O performance. And they failed at both. So they got there ass handed to them and were embarrassed. Sucks for sure.

[Steelerphile]

I think it was all about getting pressure. The Steelers got some but not nearly enough. I don't think it had as much to do with playing zone or man or giving the soft cushion. The Patriots didn't just throw a lot of underneath passes. Brady played his 'A' game. He had enough time. He makes quicker reads and finds the open receiver better than any other QB. His passes are precise. If Brady plays like that against the NE defense (which is supposedly the best) without much pressure and with the Patriots supposed coaching advantage, he would have been as successful.


Roethlisberger had a pretty good day against NE and he doesn't read defenses nearly as fast as Brady. He doesn't always see the open receiver, and Brady always seems to. He isn't always as accurate as Brady. Big Ben is a great QB but when Brady plays like that he is in another stratosphere. Houston got better pressure. I was looking for more out of Bud Dupree in the pash rush.
I would like to see them try to jam receivers a little to disrupt their release, but once receivers are in the route, you have to grab and hold to prevent any kind of separation. Brady at his best will exploit any secondary without requisite pressure.


The Steelers didn't possess the ball enough with the running game. Even with missing the first three games, Bell wasn't able to finish healthy and strong in the AFCC game. I don't blame him because he is highly conditioned. I think that he is overworked. He can never play a full 16 games plus 2-3 intense playoff games with the amount of touches he gets. They really need to lighten his load and let the backup RB play, even when Bell isn't injured. I'm not a fan of the "run him 'til the wheels fall of" school of thought.

[SteelCrazy]

W/O Bell we didn't have much hope. D. Williams would have had played the game of his life to match Bells game.

Our D was asked to do too much pattern matching to be successful. The Pats threw them when they went 4 wide and didn't do their dink n dunk offense. Not nearly enough pressure, but rushing 3 wasn't going to get it done anyway. They did send 4/5 at times but was unsuccessful so they quit trying.

Ross Cockrell needs to play slot (or backup) or be gone. We need a true DB on the outside. Justin Gilbert could be that man if he wasn't playbook dumb. Senquez, who knows if he's got the body for this game let alone the talent.

[SanAntonioSteelerFan]

... Justin Gilbert could be that man if he wasn't playbook dumb ...

Maybe the reason he kept oversleeping is he couldn't figure out how to work an alarm clock!

Seriously though, in terms of his having problems understanding the playbook - if I were the FO, I would spend a million dollars or more on professional educators to spend as much time as it took to help him in that area. Surely it would be with it?

[feltdizz]

Brady had a ton of time to scan the field. He had about 7 seconds in the TD to Hogan. I think it matters if we play zone or man vs the Pats. Everyone out there can see it but for some reason a few people are trying to use every other excuse possible.

Play man and blitz on 3rd down. I bet the farm we have a better shot vs them next year if we do this vs the same old tired zone.