Per Rapoport, Brady to OL: “Against the Steelers, don’t worry, I got it”

[shmessy]

The Patriots have access to the same footage.

Ssssshhhhh. Don't burst RJB87's balloon. He thinks the Steelers have secret information!!!!!

 

[patsfan13]

So just because we beat them a few weeks ago you don't think teams are going to study the loss to them last year? We didn't even beat them that convincingly and it was because our run game, not our pass game, that we did win. You know nothing about Football or game preparation. You probably didn't even play Pop Warner. I'm so glad you're not on the Patriot's coaching staff.

God where do these old farts get their entitlement from????:bricks:

BB looked at the tape, Brady too BTW knowing other teams were looking at the tape. They have worked out how to attack that D.

Nice to know not only opponents check the tape isn't it.

 

[lillloyd]

Koppen is no longer the center against the Steelers...this year it's Dan Connolly going up against Casey Hampton who might be the best NT Connolly has seen yet...this never before seen matchup in the trenches could be very interesting.

Hampton's play, along with Smith's (now IR'd) has declined this season. Age, injury, lack of a true camp, Harrison's back issues...whatever it is, our run D hasn't been stout or sharp. We've actually played better run D with backup NT Chris Hoke (now also injured) this year.

It's not just the D line--most of the defense has been surprisingly sloppy with regards to fundamentals (tackling, gap assignments). I'm hoping they'll be on their Ps and Qs this week at home, with an elite opponent.

 

[patsox23]

WHY ON EARTH is anyone blaming Rappaport for this? It's the mystery OL's fault for saying it! I think the media SUCK at their jobs as much as anyone, but this is ridiculous. Rappaport's a journalist. It's not his job not to provide bulletin board material. It's the player's job.

 

[lillloyd]

Don't need to. The dramatic increase in the number blown protection assignments resulting in unblocked rushers this tells the story of Koppen's value over Connolly.

This *could* be a legit issue this game. The Steelers like their "Fire X" blitz stunts up the middle with their inside LBs (although it seems they haven't done quite as much of it lately, it seemed very effective last year).

Problem is, with Harrison out Timmons has been moved outside, meaning we have two slower-footed ILBs in Foote and Farrior blitzing (although Farrior has excellent timing on these). Plus, Timmons is not nearly as effective as an edge rusher as Harrison. Maybe that mutes the impact of Connolly's protection calls not being as sharp as Koppen's.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

WHY ON EARTH is anyone blaming Rappaport for this? It's the mystery OL's fault for saying it! I think the media SUCK at their jobs as much as anyone, but this is ridiculous. Rappaport's a journalist. It's not his job not to provide bulletin board material. It's the player's job.

Agree....I like Rappaport,despite his employer

Rap does some good reporting

 

[BradyManny]

It was a obviously a glaring mistake by whatever OL who divulged a private conversation between the QB and the unit. And Belichick won't be happy about it.

Rap can choose to report it or not. A more savvy reporter would've made a much more general statement about the Patriots being confident going into Sunday. I doubt anyone will confide in Rap anytime soon.

 

[lillloyd]

This isn't the Cowher Steelers - they play Arians-Ball now in Pittsburgh.

Alot of multiple 3+ WR formations, alot less FB reliant stuff (which Mendenhall was crying about a little while ago).

There won't be much Bettis-inspired '3 yards and a cloud of dust' going on this sunday.

It's amazing how the national commentators persist with the "Steelers want to run the ball!" theme. The glory days of Bettis blasting defenders behind a Pro Bowl line have long since passed; we haven't had an elite (or even good) ground game since arguably 2004.

Part of this is the long-standing mediocre line play (and 'mediocre' may be being charitable), and part of it simply is that Arians is infatuated with a down-the-field passing game. Management actually intervened in before 2010 with a directive to run the ball more.

While the national media may be about 5 years behind in their assessment of the Steelers style of play, I am quite sure the Patriots coaching staff is well aware that Pitt is a throwing team, first and foremost, and has been for quite some time.

 

[Halifax_Pats_Fan]

It was a obviously a glaring mistake by whatever OL who divulged a private conversation between the QB and the unit. And Belichick won't be happy about it.

Rap can choose to report it or not. A more savvy reporter would've made a much more general statement about the Patriots being confident going into Sunday. I doubt anyone will confide in Rap anytime soon.

agreed...Brady is not going to like this. Sounds bad, no matter how bad it was lost in translation, or when it was said.

Not our way, keep that stuff inside the facility, not out into the media....

 

[Destroyer]

No big deal. Half the Steelers couldn't read a bulletin board anyway.

Let alone find it

 

[BaltimorePatsFan]

I wonder if Brady said something like this about the Bills too earlier this season.

 

[lamafist]

It really doesn't, though, because line calls are helped significantly with experience, and Connolly will have the rest of the season to get up to speed.

True. So, granting the premise that there have been more blown assignments on the line so far this year (which, admittedly, is my unverified impression), this is more of a comment on the relative value of an experienced Koppen vs. a greener Connelly.

I imagine that Center is like QB in that different players will have different ceilings when it comes to reading defenses and diagnosing pressure at the line, so it will be interesting to see the degree to which the protection calls improve down the road.

Of course, this is all pretty hard for us to judge, seeing as we're not privy to whether it was the protection call or a blown assignment that resulted in an unblocked pass rusher.

Still, the basic point of my post remains, which is that comparing two centers' performance after the snap doesn't tell the most important part of the story. Jeff Saturday is undersized and can get overpowered just like Koppen, but there's a reason why neither the Colts nor Pats have seemed too concerned with making an upgrade at the position all these years.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I wonder if Brady said something like this about the Bills too earlier this season.

Last Brady remark about other teams that I remember was his scoff at the claim that the Jints would hold the Pats to only 17 pts.

 

[BradyManny]

Last Brady remark about other teams that I remember was his scoff at the claim that the Jints would hold the Pats to only 17 pts.

Sure, in hindsight, that one hurts...but no one had any idea how that game was going to play out.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Sure, in hindsight, that one hurts...but no one had any idea how that game was going to play out.

I'd say that Tom Coughlin had a pretty good idea having tried out their defensive tactics in game 16 with decent success cutting the points/game output of the greatest offense evah! in game 16

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

I am sure that in 2007 Brady said something to his O line like "I am going Anthony Smith's direction,just block for me long enough to embarrass his ass in the end zone"