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Unless something drastic happens, I just don't see us losing this game.
As talented as the Steelers personnel are, they just don't give you any surprise on offense or defense. It's a "this is what we do, see if you can beat us at this" philosophy. The zone defense concept hasn't changed in years (although their coverage designs have), and the zone blitz just doesn't fool Brady. A zone blitz to Brady is like a game of whack-a-mole: he just hits the vacant zone. The only area of concern is Polamalu, who is given license to freelance. However, he has a really hard time with our Ace package (2 WR/2TE/1RB) because there are so many options run out of it, and you don't know if the TE's are out to block or on routes, or even both. On multiple occasions in last year's game (especially the long bomb to Tate) he was often lost in space. While he's lost a step or two, he's still talented and as long as the line keeps an eye on him, we really shouldn't have any trouble moving the chains.
On the other end of the ball, I expect (and a lot of posters will like this) us to be fairly aggressive on defense, to blitz and send in an extra man, or have the line bring the stunt, and occasional double-stunt just to get pressure on Ben, who I view as a bigger version of Favre, big on broken plays and thin on playbook smarts. The more the ball stays in his hand, the more of a chance a big play has to develop, so rather than allow him to pump-fake everyone to death, it's better to get a free man in after him. The Cards were able to beat him up and I view this very favorably because our line is better and much more sophisticated.
The Steelers offense has pretty much remained the same over the years, and I strongly suspect that has a lot to do with Ben R's limited cerebral capacities at QB. You'll notice he almost never calls protection (Pouncey does that) so he'll rarely change things at the line. I wouldn't be surprised to see us go in at 3-4, but if we stay with the four man front, I expect us to go okie on Pouncey, so he experiences stress while trying to figure out protection. The one problem we will have is containing Wallace, the new emerging threat- he and Ben have been clicking lately, and he is a burner so it's not as simple as slapping bracket coverage on him. I think you start with a chip and hit him hard coming off the line, and drive him into the middle of the field where he has to think about getting hit.
Last year the Steelers ranked #1 in run defense, yet we went out and bullied them, hit them in the mouth and ran on them. BJGE dropped almost 90 yards (5 YPC) on them. I think this was a feature of the gameplan that they did not expect. This year they rank #15, and while I don't want to run at the expense of Brady's ability to kill the zone defense, I do hope there will be a good dose, just to keep them honest.
The only thing I would be wary of is how the Steelers are going to come out- Tomlin is probably going to have the entire team sit through the whole game from last year to drive home how much we bullied them (we sent Hines out of the game with a concussion, and hurt a few other players). They will probably come to play with the attitude that they have to pay us back for this- but this shouldn't last long if we just stick to the game plan.
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"He’s the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. He goes from being a rookie that nobody is expecting anything from, to taking over with people saying he can’t do it, to winning three Super Bowls....It should already be obvious he’s the greatest quarterback to ever have played. "
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. "If you believe in yourself, have dedication and pride and never quit, you'll be a winner. The price of victory is high, but so are the rewards."
There's no way the Pats lose this game. The Steelers are down to one legitimate pass rusher (Woodley) and Brady figured out their blitzes a long time ago. The Pitt OL is in shambles, and even Pouncey is vastly overrated. I just hope Haynesworth rested up during the bye, because getting 50% of the snaps or so would be huge. Getting Mayo back would also be great, so they can unleash both Spikes and Mayo on blitzes.
And Polamalu does a ton of guessing. That's his role. But when he plays against Brady, he's almost always wrong.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fake Nate Ebner
No big deal...only took me 3 defensive plays to be drafted before Tom Brady
On the other end of the ball, I expect (and a lot of posters will like this) us to be fairly aggressive on defense, to blitz and send in an extra man, or have the line bring the stunt, and occasional double-stunt just to get pressure on Ben, who I view as a bigger version of Favre, big on broken plays and thin on playbook smarts. The more the ball stays in his hand, the more of a chance a big play has to develop, so rather than allow him to pump-fake everyone to death, it's better to get a free man in after him. The Cards were able to beat him up and I view this very favorably because our line is better and much more sophisticated.
Great post. I agree with everything but attacking the pocket, except in obvious long yardage downs. My guess is that the Patriots focus on taking Mendenhall out of the game and playing conservative pass defense, forcing Ben to throw into coverage. The LBs, DBs (and Vince, the pickoff machine) will look to cover and jump routes all day and go for picks and strips. The Jets and the Cowboys games were remarkable because in both, the QBs had to check down consistently to underneath stuff. Ben doesn't have that discipline nor does his coach discourage him from throwing deep. This could be a big game for McCourty who excels in a gambling, ball-skill focused game.
- Brady owns their secondary
- Their OL always makes our DL look like studs, and this year we actually DO have a pretty good DL
- BB is almost unbeatable after a bye week
- They haven't looked impressive in any of their games, beaten a bunch of joke teams except Tennessee (3-3 team)... almost lost to 2 horrible teams in the Colts and Jags
It would take a Bills-like collapse and barrage of bad bounces to make us lose this one IMO... and some home cooking from the refs.
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