A bit concerned about our D-Line...

Anytime we can win and still have plenty to improve upon I think Belichick feels like a kid on Xmas. Relax, he's on it.

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-...the-low-snap-count-for-patriots-lb-jerod-mayo

Reiss' snap counts are up. If we move Grissom from the DT group to the DE group based in his listed position and size, then we end up with less than one DT per snap and more than three DEs per snap on average. There was never any adjustment to attempt to better defend the run.

The far bigger concern here is the pass rush given who they had on the field.

Sticky Caulk said:

He's my favorite player on the defense, but he has had a lot of trouble containing since last year. Really, the Carolina game was the first time I've seen him look that bad. It seems that, once a game, we see him slowly chasing a QB to the outside with zero ability to actually catch him.

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He was getting held like crazy yesterday.

snap count:
DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Geneo Grissom -- 32 of 73
Malcom Brown -- 26 of 73
Sealver Siliga -- 22 of 73
Alan Branch -- 12 of 73
Dominique Easley -- 7 of 73

the pats did not go with stout last nite

Run D will get better as the year goes on. Mayo is knocking off rust and Malcom Brown will get better and better as the year goes on.

lillloyd said:

Pitt may end up 8-8 -- certainly in the realm of possibility -- but that's hardly a mediocre *offense* you faced tonight. D. Williams is a rejuvenated back with some actual talent (particularly now that he's back at a good playing weight), and Pitt's offensive line is a good unit. Both fan bases should be cautious not to overreact about their defenses, as not every offense will be like New England's (or Pittsburgh's).

That said, I was a bit surprised that Pittsburgh got a consistent push in the run game. But you all have a lot of young (and talented) players in that front 7...I imagine it will be very different later in the year.

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No way, barring massive injuries, Pitt goes 8-8 this year. I think they win the north and that their D is going to be fast and pretty good by year's end, and the O elite.

They're better than the Colts, better than the Donkeys...

The D-Line had a rough game. I think i counted 3 times that we got pressure on Big Ben and one of them was Hightower on a nice move. I think we were playing a lot more conservatively, but more than not did the Pitt O-Line dominate us.

I thought Malcolm Brown made a couple of nice plays, Sheard had a bad first half, but made a couple of nice plays in the 2nd half. Too bad Easley got injured early.

I thought Jabaal Sheard played like a Beast last night and not like the overrated one.

While we had a few sacks, overall pressure was not great and yeah against the run was not good. Its not time to panic just yet but some people on this forum were ready to crown the front 7 and they should be singing a different tune after the performance last night. I was more impressed with the secondary considering Ben had alot of time.

IllegalContact said:

snap count:
DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Geneo Grissom -- 32 of 73
Malcom Brown -- 26 of 73
Sealver Siliga -- 22 of 73
Alan Branch -- 12 of 73
Dominique Easley -- 7 of 73

the pats did not go with stout last nite

Click to expand...

This is really the most interesting stat of the night (Grissom with most snaps and at DT) although we know that this came about after Easley went down.

It will be interesting to see the groupings next week and I really hope Easley doesn't miss much time.

First game..i am not worried..keeps happening..then i will worry

Wait till Flowers comes back, that will be a big boost. Maybe Rufus will get in the mix at some point too.

Low DT snap count, Bill was inviting the Squeelers to run on us to take pressure off the secondary. Solid gameplan that worked against the Donkeys with CJ Anderson.

Lots to learn from this game too and we came away with the W, I can't be mad about that. I was happy the D stayed with their assignments on the first drive trick play and the nice goal line play fake.


Sheard looked good, Lewis looked good, can't wait to see what else McD schemes up with Chandler and Gronk. I hope Easley recovers sooner than later. The OL looked stout considering all 3 IOL just notched their first starts.

Where is Roger? On to Buffalo.

SacPete1 said:

This is really the most interesting stat of the night (Grissom with most snaps and at DT) although we know that this came about after Easley went down.

It will be interesting to see the groupings next week and I really hope Easley doesn't miss much time.

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Didn't Grissom leave the game with an injury? He was holding his arm during one of the goal line plays. Looked pretty bad, but I don't recall seeing him after. I actually thought his injury looked as serious Easely's.

Its very early, the defense will come around (at least the front seven) in the next three or four weeks.

BB teams always improve a lot over the course of the year. So R E L A X

I am concerned about the early injury.

As to the rush, I wish it was better, but BB has always talked about Rothlesberger's ability to get out of the pocket and make big plays on broken plays. I am sure there was a major emphasis on maintaining lane discipline and keeping Ben in the pocket. In that they were pretty successful.

I am much more worried about the lack of pressure. Their QB has an enormous amount of time, often. We can't complain. We won. However, they missed 2 field goals, and didn't score from the 1 yard line. That's 10 points plus field position.

Our offense played very well, although the fumble by Lewis could have cost the game.
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It is great to be able to look at needed improvements after a win.

thecore762 said:

We gave up over 100+ yards to a mediocre team, this was poor performance by our D-Line inside and out and of course our linebackers didn't do a good job.
Also with Dominique Easley being injured, its a big blow to our D-Line...this was supposed to be the year he could have proved himself to be worthy of the round 1 pick....we will see if he is sidelined for an extended period of time.

At this time we have no one on our roster to fill the big void Vince left us...hopefully one of these guys can have a breakout year and prove to us they can be the next Wilfork for our D....

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Do you know anything about the Steelers? Calling them a mediocre team is ridiculous. They were a top 5 offense last year. Yes they were without Pouncy, Bell, and Bryant, but they have adequate replacements. Thinking that Pittsburgh is somehow a bottom end team shows a lack of knowledge about them that is astounding.

The Pats were primarily in a 4-2-5 last night. And, since you missed it, the Pats stopped the Steelers on the goalline except for the 1 run..

Something else you don't seem to realize is that almost the entire 2nd half they played with Either Jones, Grissom or both as the down linemen. That tells me that the Pats were willing to give up the ground game and force Roethlisberger to pass.. And he did.. And he made mistakes. The Pats just couldn't capitalize on those mistakes..

I'm disappointed not concerned /worried I think our guys are way better than what they showed last night. It's the first game we have the GOAT at HC he'll figure it out

Miami week 1 2014: 38 rushes for 191 yards
Miami week 15 20014: 23 rushes for 76 yards