Film studies of Pittsburgh's dominant Offensive Line in the Running Game + How does NE match up?

[Soul_Survivor88]

@patfanken Since you were disappointed that I didn't mention how well the Patriots have defended the run, I wanted to include this :

In PFF rankings, Alan Branch and Malcom Brown finished second and third among all defensive tackles in run-stop percentage, while Trey Flowers finished 10th among edge players. Branch alone has 13 tackles against the run for either no gain or a loss of yards (more than twice as many as anyone else on the Patriots). As DTs, Branch and Brown both have the size and weight to take on double-teams, but are also laterally quick enough to shed blocks and penetrate quickly to the ball carrier. Flowers, meanwhile, can also line up in the interior in hybrid fronts and has exceptional burst through blocks for someone who is only 6'2", 265-pound frame.

The remaining players on the defensive front seven have run stopping grades ranging from high to decent: Hightower (75.4), Jabaal Sheard (75.2), Chris Long (69.2), Shea McClellin (62.0) and Rob Ninkovich (69.5). Only Van Noy has a sub-par metric of 50.4 (which is low for a middle linebacker).

FiveThirtyEight recent made a model for expected yards for a run based on the area where an opposing running back was first contacted and what yard-line his team was on, relative to the line of scrimmage (and then compared his average actual results to what the model expected.) The goal of this model is to determine how effectively a defense can defend against the run -- either by restricting the lanes being opened in the trenches, or by directly tackling a ball carrier and forcing him back to the line of scrimmage.

While the yards after contact is more a function of speed, strength, and tackling ability, the yards a defense allows before first making contact is likely an indicator of how well a defender can adjust their pre-tackle reads, avoid or shed blocks, and close in on run lanes before making contact with the ball-carrier.

In this case, the Patriots are in the top group as far as when their opponents get engaged at the line of scrimmage. It show how effective they are in adjusting scheme and controlling the battle in the trenches



Behind the defensive front in the secondary, Logan Ryan has been solid at run support from the slot, wihle Patrick Chung is basically a safety in a linebacker's body, with an exceptionally high run stopping metric of 68.4. Interestingly enough, Football Outsiders ranks New England in leading the league in restricting open-field yards (rushing yards earned more than 10 yards past the line of scrimmage, divided by total number of carries) meaning that both New England's linebackers and secondary are exceptionally good at inserting themselves into run support and collapsing around the ball carrier. Throughout the season, they've allowed the fewest number of runs at ten or more yards (32) which is the lowest mark of any team in the league.

Overall, New England’s run defense was well above-average across the board. While they only had to face the third-fewest rushing attempts on the season, they still allowed the third-fewest rushing yards, the fewest rushing touchdowns, and the eighth-lowest yards per attempt!

One interesting thing to note about all this, is that the Patriots often played with the lead in most of their games, meaning they were facing passes at a far greater rate than usual (about 60 percent of opposing team’s plays were passes, the 4th-highest in the league). So even while playing prevent defense to keep their opponents from making quick scores, they still managed to contain and effectively limit the run.

When you consider all the data, it's hard to not appreciate how well the Patriots have done against the run. In fact, according to Football Outsiders' DVOA (a metric which measures efficiency adjusted for opponents) this is the highest-ranked rushing defense of Bill Belichick's entire tenure in New England

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

The writer conveniently forgets to mention the second meeting between Ravens and Pitt. In that game on Dec 25th, Bell got 122 yds on 20 carries (6 yd avg.) and 3 receptions for 15 yds. I guess by the time the second game against Ravens came around, Pitt had figured out what the Ravens were doing defensively against the run.

Actually, I read Kevin Duffy's piece on masslive.com), and he does note how the Steelers responded to the Ravens (brief) success in limiting Bell:

Just how good is the New England Patriots top-ranked defense? We'll find out Sunday

The team that played the best defense against Bell was Baltimore in Week 9. They held him to 14 carries for 32 yards (2.3 per attempt), and did so because of their two defensive tackles -- the 340-pound Brandon Williams and the 339-pound Michael Pierce. Both players consistently absorbed double teams, held their ground at the line of scrimmage, and allowed inside linebacker C.J. Mosley to roam relatively free and make plays on Bell. Mosley was particularly disciplined. Hardly ever did he overrun a play or make a mistake that resulted in a significant gain.

And then in Week 16 against the Ravens, Bell ran wild on the Ravens, racking up 6.1 yards per carry on a 122-yard night.

The difference? In the second meeting, the Pittsburgh offensive line appeared to do a good job of double-teaming inside initially and then getting a blocker to the second level to disrupt the Baltimore linebackers. There were a few key mistakes on Baltimore's part, too. Terrell Suggs cut inside off the edge to try to take a dancing Bell down in the backfield, but gave up containment in doing so. Bell bounced to the outside for a 23-yard run.​

 

[luuked]

What I won't give them credit for is the run game. Watch tomorrow for how many times a Pitt lineman holds, then throws his hands up as in "Nothing to see here"

I was hoping someone would mention this in here. I certainly expect the Pats coaching staff mentioning that to the ref crew ahead of time to make it a point of emphasis. Now, whether this has any effect or just gets ignored is a different story.

Either way, the Steelers OL gets away with a ****ton of holding.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Like SS said and I mentioned numerous times. This entire defense is set up to play the run well. From the front 7, where every guy from DT-DE specializes in stopping the run. To our secondary that tackles very well.

Branch has been a monster. Brown put together a wonderful last 12 weeks and I mentioned a ton about the pressure he was causing.

Flowers is just long and strong. So powerful in the lower half that lets him set the set, stack n shed and disrupt even when he has hands on him.

I really dont think anyone is under selling our defense, rather talking about our opponent this week.

Pretty sad that some are already blaming the refs for holding that hasn't happened yet. Honestly we're complaining about holding on the oline? Literally every fan base can complain this.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

An alternate key to slowing down bell is score TDs early. Nothing like jumping out to a quick, solid first half lead to make an opposing team feel a sense of urgency, take them away from their gameplan, make them throw a lot more than wanted.

Exactly. Dont ignore the obvious here. Let's get Ben throwing to his 3rd-4th guys trying to play catch up.

Pitt wants to run it and have everything open up and come from that.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Pitt has allowed 8 sacks in their last 10 games. Thats pretty damn good.

If they are going to get to Ben, I would expect any pressures to be more coverage-related than their OL allowing it > 3 seconds

 

[Joker]

BaconMoronDandy and his buddy SoleStupidityPersonified seem to have fallen off the cliff of their all-knowingness now that it's been determined the Pats DID control and stop the Pittsburgh running game by using disciplined gap integrity. Guess the Patriots all time comeback in the Super Bowl broke their big mouths for the time being.