Steelers Changing D in response to beatdown from Pats O

37Harrison · Jan 7, 2011

Patspsycho said:
It wasn't LeBeau's defense that stopped the Patriots that day, it was the Patriots having a terrible day where nothing went right. Brady had five picks if I remember correctly. Everything was just out of sync, from offense to defense. It felt like they had a loss in their system and just had to get it out.

I understand that we had injuries but I'm trying to not use that as an excuse. Also, I did say that tthis years Pats would basically have to be out of sync and that almost seems impossible right now however, anything is possible on any given day. Plus you have to give the Steelers D some credit as they caused turnovers and and beatdown Brady that day.

I feel as though the Steelers D is good enough to win the game if the Pats O doesn't play their 'A' game and comes out flat and out of sync. I am optimistic that this years Pats and their play will flat out beat Pitt once again however, if the O line struggles to protect Brady it could be a looooooooooooooong day.

SVN · Jan 7, 2011

jerome bettis the next day on radio basically said the steelers are too stubborn to do it their way e.g stop the run and dare opposing teams to throw to win that they dont change their philosophy when a team comes in and refuses to run the ball and throws efficiently. if the pats/steelers meet in the playoffs i expect lebeau to try more coverage type plays than blitzes but dont know how effective it will be because the steelers are built around their linebackers .should be interesting.

SVN · Jan 7, 2011

Patspsycho said:
It wasn't LeBeau's defense that stopped the Patriots that day, it was the Patriots having a terrible day where nothing went right. Brady had five picks if I remember correctly. Everything was just out of sync, from offense to defense. It felt like they had a loss in their system and just had to get it out.

the only thing worries me if we get to the AFCC and face the steelers is the exact reversal of the situation. pats get beat in the regular season and are #2 seed and go into pitts and beat them agaisnt odds in the AFCCG. Hopefully that trend doesnt continue if the steelers come to foxboro.

SVN · Jan 7, 2011

another thing which was lost in this game 8 weeks ago was that the defense actually stopped pitts until we got a decent enough lead. In fact the defense has been the real star last 8 weeks although brady and o gets all the credit. without forcing turnovers in every game i dont know if we have these many blowouts and points scored.

R_T26 · Jan 7, 2011

Dillon and Branch were out. Law went down first series. Sorry not worried about a game 6 years ago with basically 70-80% different personel.

BradyFTW! · Jan 7, 2011

AndyJohnson said:
I love the thining that someone was embarrassed, and now they are mad, and that will be the reason they will be better.
Did it take LeBeau 96 years to figure out he didnt like being embarrassed, so all of a sudden his fossilized body started working harder and taking defense seriously? NOW he cares?

In very specific circumstances, with certain people, I think there's something to the idea. But as a universal thing that you can just apply to anyone and any team at any time? Definitely not.

Keyser Söze · Jan 7, 2011

So are their CB's going to be less awful in coverage now?

Just some drivel written by wishful thinking Steelers fans who think things will be different the 2nd time around.

Metaphors · Jan 7, 2011

AndyJohnson said:
I love the thining that someone was embarrassed, and now they are mad, and that will be the reason they will be better.
Did it take LeBeau 96 years to figure out he didnt like being embarrassed, so all of a sudden his fossilized body started working harder and taking defense seriously? NOW he cares?

Really. Their problem isn't their scheme, it is the players. Outside of Troy, they have a bunch of one-dimensional players that have to all do well at the same time for them to be successful. Efficient offenses make that difficult to impossible to pull off consistently.

The whole premise of the article is off anyway. Brady completed 30 passes but got 1/3 of his yardage on 4 of them. Two of those passes were for TDs and the Tate deep pass eventually resulted in another TD. If they were guarding against the long pass in that game, they did a pretty poor job of it.

The Pats had 11 drives, scored on 6 of them (4 TD, 2 FG) and had only one 3-n-out. Yet they only faced a 3rd down 10 times. In fact, here is what 2 of their 2nd half TD drives looked like:

10 plays, 78 yards, 0 3rd downs
8 plays, 80 yards, 0 3rd downs

That isn't a "dink-n-dunk" offense...that is just a brutally effective one.

Rob0729 · Jan 7, 2011

37Harrison said:
The game in 2004 which snapped the Pats consecutive win streak was a beat down. The Pats were utterly embarrassed in that game which shows that LeBeau's defense is definitely capable of stopping and beating down Brady.

Of course, the Pats would have to not show up for that to happen again however, the same thing happened in the game that shall not be named.

The Steeler's worry me more than any other team in the playoffs.

Well, there was a number of factors for that loss that had nothing to do with LeBeau and his defense. First, it was the only game that season that Corey Dillon missed. Second, Ty Law broke his in the first series. Third, the Steelers ran for over 200 yards in the game.

In the AFC Championship game that season, the Patriots offense scored 34 points vs. LeBeau's defense. In 2005, they won 23-20 and Brady threw for 372 yards. In 2007, the Pats won 34-13 and Brady threw for 399 yards and 4 TDs.

So the Brady led Pats have faced LeBeau's defense 5 times and won 4 of them. Brady threw for over 300 yards in three of the games. He had three or more TD passes in two of the five games.

I don't know how one game in 2004 would give you the feeling that the Steelers are the scariest opponents. Brady historically does very well against LeBeau's defense at least in Pittsburgh.

TriplecHamp · Jan 7, 2011

reflexblue said:
"Tom Brady and the New England Patriots shredded LeBeau's defense like Mexican cheese." Mexican cheese Never heard of Mexican cheese. Maybe thats why **** can't stop Brady.

Rob0729 · Jan 7, 2011

37Harrison said:
I understand that we had injuries but I'm trying to not use that as an excuse. Also, I did say that tthis years Pats would basically have to be out of sync and that almost seems impossible right now however, anything is possible on any given day. Plus you have to give the Steelers D some credit as they caused turnovers and and beatdown Brady that day.

I feel as though the Steelers D is good enough to win the game if the Pats O doesn't play their 'A' game and comes out flat and out of sync. I am optimistic that this years Pats and their play will flat out beat Pitt once again however, if the O line struggles to protect Brady it could be a looooooooooooooong day.

And it was six years ago. Brady has spanked the Steelers' defense virtually every time he has faced them since. The Pats have lost to the Steelers' just once in the Belichick era.

Gon_Trevil · Jan 7, 2011

BSR said:
I loved how someone in the comment section called out a statement in the original version of the article that the patriots rushed only once per quarter. In the comment they say 23/4 does not equal once per quarter. The author then replied in the comment section that they meant twice per quarter. I don't think statistics or math is their strength.

I'd suggest making sure you read things correctly before, uhm, commenting about other people's intellectual strengths.

Ice_Ice_Brady · Jan 7, 2011

Finding it hard to believe that after getting demolished in 04, 05, 07, and 10, the Steelers are finally going to shut down the Pats due to a couple of tweaks. I'm pretty sure they would have done that by now.

reflexblue · Jan 7, 2011

Uncle Rico said:
Mmm. Good on tacos. Mmm.

So its an Artsie Fartsie kind of cheese, no wonder ive never heard of it. I do believe he meant Swiss Cheese.

Gon_Trevil · Jan 7, 2011

I understand that the point of the article is that they're trying something new, and so far it appears to be working. However, that string of games doesn't include anyone in the top 10 of NFL starting QBs, let alone anyone elite. And the improved results can also be tied to several other factors.

Funny how out of 70+ comments, only 1 poster says anything about the horrible QBs they've played, and 1 other poster agrees with the sentiment. Everyone else conveniently ignores that, being too busy fondling themselves and frantically ballwashing the writer at the same time.

I mean, how can anyone look at their list of quarterbacks faced after the Patriots game and boldly state that "this is no statistical anomaly based on variances of opposition"?

Gon_Trevil · Jan 7, 2011

reflexblue said:
So its an Artsie Fartsie kind of cheese, no wonder ive never heard of it. I do believe he meant Swiss Cheese.

I hope you're joking.

BlueThunder · Jan 7, 2011

Obviously reflex isn't a Tacos type guy....

artsie fartsie???

I use Sargento's all the time.....check it out sometime... :rocker:

VJCPatriot · Jan 7, 2011

Well it is nice and all that the Steelers DC made changes. It was pretty obvious they were needed. But the improvements seen were against mediocre teams and quarterbacks. To judge whether or not those changes were successful that 'new and improved' defense needs to be tested against an elite QB. And BTW I'm sure BB and company will also make note of the changes from that game sample and find ways to counter it if necessary.

And for the record the shortball vs longball analogy is inaccurate. The Pats don't play longball or shortball. They play wideball. They stretch out the field and make the defense cover more ground. When that results in a matchup vs a linebacker, Brady instantly spots the advantage and gets the ball there quickly and accurately, allowing the receiver to make additional moves for RAC. If the Steelers pull a linebacker to give themselves a CB and extra coverage ability, this then allows Pats to attack with the running game. So it's a pick your poison kind of thing. In any case it's not just the Pats wide receivers who provide mismatches, its also our tight ends - Gronkowski and Hernandez. Nobody else in the NFL has this unique personnel grouping and talent on offense. So that 'new defense' may have netted better results but it has never actually been tested against the offense it was intended to stop.

Ice_Ice_Brady · Jan 7, 2011

VJCPatriot said:
Well it is nice and all that the Steelers DC made changes. It was pretty obvious they were needed. But the improvements seen were against mediocre teams and quarterbacks. To judge whether or not those changes were successful that 'new and improved' defense needs to be tested against an elite QB. And BTW I'm sure BB and company will also make note of the changes from that game sample and find ways to counter it if necessary.

And for the record the shortball vs longball analogy is inaccurate. The Pats don't play longball or shortball. They play wideball. They stretch out the field and make the defense cover more ground. When that results in a matchup vs a linebacker, Brady instantly spots the advantage and gets the ball there quickly and accurately, allowing the receiver to make additional moves for RAC. If the Steelers pull a linebacker to give themselves a CB and extra coverage ability, this then allows Pats to attack with the running game. So it's a pick your poison kind of thing. In any case it's not just the Pats wide receivers who provide mismatches, its also our tight ends - Gronkowski and Hernandez. Nobody else in the NFL has this unique personnel grouping and talent on offense. So that 'new defense' may have netted better results but it has never actually been tested against the offense it was intended to stop.

This is a great point. The Patriots thrive on matchups, not on taking whatever is open underneath all game. If this were the case, I'm pretty sure they would be shut down. What people underestimate is Rob Grownkowski. The Steelers have no answer for him other than Brady-Gronk having a bad game in their timing. Gronk burned the Steelers for three TDs, and one of them was the direct result of selling out for the underneath route (by the Steelers.)

sbpatfan · Jan 7, 2011

Steelers can change their game plan or scheme to whatever they want, doesn't help the fact their secondary is god awful besides Troy. And even Troy is susceptible to being exploited, he was abused last game versus the Patriots.

Steelers Changing D in response to beatdown from Pats O

2nd Team Getting Their First Start

PatsFans.com Retired Jersey Club

PatsFans.com Retired Jersey Club

PatsFans.com Retired Jersey Club

Banned

Goodell sucks

In the Starting Line-Up

In the Starting Line-Up

PatsFans.com Supporter

Experienced Starter w/First Big Contract

PatsFans.com Supporter

On the Game Day Roster

I heard 10,000 whispering and nobody listening

PatsFans.com Supporter

On the Game Day Roster

On the Game Day Roster

PatsFans.com Supporter

Pro Bowl Player

I heard 10,000 whispering and nobody listening

Banned

Similar threads