4:25pm
The House That Hines Built
TV: CBS (map)
Radio: WDVE and other affiliates
The outlook isn’t pretty for the Steel City 53 this day. There isn’t much to feel positive about. Ben Roethlisberger is hurt. Landry Jones will be starting at quarterback. The Patriots offense is absolutely on fire with Tom Brady back at the helm. The Steelers are banged up across the board, and in addition to Ben, Cam Heyward, Marcus Gilbert, DeAngelo Williams, and Markus Wheaton will all miss this game with injuries. The bye week can’t get here soon enough. We were fortunate last week that the rest of the AFC North also stumbled when the Steelers lost in Miami. All signs point to the Steelers coming back to the pack even more this week as the Steelers enter as 7.5-point underdogs. This will be the first time the Steelers are more than 5-point underdogs since Heinz Field opened in 2001.
What To Watch For
1. Two Chains
Last year in the preseason, I dubbed Landry Jones with the “Two Chains” nickname because of his inability to get more than two first downs on a drive. Last year, Jones’ biggest plays in the passing game came after the catch when Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant were able to turn upfield and turn short and intermediate catches into big gains. As I discussed in my rampantly speculative post about the Steelers using the Wildcat, doing the same thing that you always do and expecting to win is not a good game plan against New England. The Patriots will scheme for whatever the Steelers have put on tape so far this season, so the offense will need to do something different if they are going to move the ball against the Patriots sound defense.
2. Soft Coverage
Similarly on the defensive side, Tom Brady is likely licking his chops watching tape of the Steelers defense. The Steelers routinely play soft coverage with a 7-10 yard cushion against outside receivers and struggle to defend tight ends and running backs out of the backfield. Those are precisely the areas New England likes to exploit. Brady will have a feast day throwing to Julian Edleman and Danny Amendola running shallow crossing routes and short out-routes, finding James White out of the backfield and working it to Gronk down the seam. The Steelers will need to do something different with their defensive schemes if they are going to have any hope of stopping the Patriots offense. This starts with playing press coverage on the wide receivers on the outside. Without Cam Heyward to disrupt things on the inside and force Brady to move his feet off his spot, the Steelers will need to disrupt the timing of New England’s short passing game by playing tight man coverage underneath. This is not something the Steelers typically do – they are a zone heavy team – and Brady has traditionally carved them apart in the past. If the Steelers are going to do something different defensively, it starts with playing press man on the wide receivers.
3. Gronk World Order
The Steelers generally struggle to defend tight ends. In theory, they drafted Ryan Shazier to add an athletic linebacker that could run down the field with big tight ends. Shazier will return for this game, but it’s uncertain how much it will actually matter. In his 4 career games against the Steelers, Gronk has put up some astounding numbers. He has 26 receptions for 403 yards and 7 TDs. His game-by-game lines are 5/72/3. 7/94/0, 9/143/1. and 5/94/3. The 2011 game when the Steelers had the most “success” against him (by holding Gronk to 7 catches and 94 yards) was when they matched CB Cortez Allen 1-on-1 against Gronk all game. Keith Butler employed a similar strategy against Travis Kelce a few weeks ago with Justin Gilbert, so watch for the Steelers to try that again. It should be noted that the 2011 game was the only one in which Gronk didn’t score was also the only one of the last four meetings that the Steelers won.
4. Turnovers
The Patriots have been one of the best defensive teams in the league this year, entering Week 7 with the second best scoring defense and 9th-ranked run defense. The Patriots have held their opponents to 17 or fewer points in each of the last four weeks. However, their defense has just been league average in the turnover department. They have forced 8 turnovers but only forced turnovers in 3 of their 6 games. ILB Jamie Collins has been a primary catalyst for their defense, leading the team with 2 interceptins and 1 forced fumble. The Steelers can not afford to give Tom Brady any extra possessions or chances with the ball. The Steelers have also only forced turnovers in half of their games, but are 3-0 in games where they win or tie the turnover battle. The offense has committed at least 1 turnover in all but the Kansas City game, and with Landry Jones at quarterback they will need to protect the ball and control the clock while putting points on the board if they are going to have a hope of hanging with New England.
5. It’s Not the End of the World
Look, the situation is pretty dire here. The hated Patriots are coming to town and probably going to stomp all over us in our house. That sucks. But it’s not the end of the world. Even if we lose this game, there are certain things we need to see the Steelers improve upon to build out of the bye. First and foremost, they need to tackle better on defense. Their philosophy of playing off zone converage in theory works against hook routes where receivers stop and they can swarm to the ball. However, when receivers and backs have caught crossing routes, the Steelers have given up chunks of yardage chasing receivers across the field. Secondly, they need to be better against the run than they were last week when Miami absolutely beat them up physically at the point of attack. Even without Cam Heyward, the Steelers need a big game in shutting down LeGarrette Blount, who is certain to get a chilly reception. The defense needs to get pressure on Brady. Last week, Ryan Tannehill was not sacked despite being the second-most sacked quarterback in the league up to that point. The Steelers need to get pressure on Brady and take advantage of the Patriots relatively weak offensive line. Finally, the Steelers line needs to hold the Patriots pass rush at bay and give Landry Jones the time he needs to throw the ball. The Steelers line has struggled multiple times this season and needs a big game against a strong New England front seven. If the Steelers are going to have any hope of winning, the offensive line will need to control the point of attack and plow lanes for Le’Veon and give Landry time to make the throws he needs to make. If the Steelers lose, it’s not the end of the world. There are still nine more games to play and anything can happen. Yes, it’s unfortunate to go from 4-1 to 4-3, but the complexion of the NFL generally changes every 3-4 weeks. After this game, there is still a full half-season to go and anything can happen.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
