The Official Patriots vs Steelers Post game thread

[Harrisoned!]

Brady's on pace for:

4,010 yards, 23 TDs, 11 INTs, 6.6 YPA, 57% completion rate

Hopefully we see the completion rate tick up north of 60% - if that does, the rest of the stats will take care of themselves.

 

[PatsBoy12]

I really hope this week was the awakening of Danny Amendola. I know he's playing with a nagging injury that will likely not heal this season, but he looked like what we thought we'd get most of the season today. Having Gronk back is opening things up for him and that means trouble for defenses in the weeks to come.

 

[PYPER]

I had to watch on Red Zone in Northern VA because of the Ravens game. Can anyone explain why the follow up rushing TD after they ruled Gronk wasn't in, was called back? It looked like there was a penalty on the Steelers, but then RZ cut away and when they came back we were attempting to run it in again, unsuccessfully. I couldn't figure why our TD would come off if they had the penalty on the play.

The penalty essentially gave them a do-over but they got stuffed when they went for it again. The penalty wasn't an automatic first down. It just allowed them to replay fourth down.

 

[PYPER]

The Pats are in the driver's seat to win the division and have a good chance at the #3 seed. If Denver or KC stumble near the end, we could land the #2 seed and the first round bye. A VERY good win for the team, and a great way to go into the bye week!

We're actually in line for the #2 seed if the season ended today. KC/Den are in the same division so one will get the wild card (and #5 seed), regardless if their record is better than ours.

We just need to take care of business. In all likelihood, 12-4 will be good enough for the #2 seed, although that loss to Cincy could factor in against us.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I was at the game today thanks to a Patsfans Pats fan. Steeler fan across the aisle when score tied @ 24 "You guys are quiet now" Uh, Hello! "Pats are on offense we're SUPPOSED to be quiet" Learn the game bro.

It was great to sit in a section of actual Patriots fans, not surrounded by corporate seats where nobody yells on D or lets themselves get excited.

My featured complaint on this wonderful beat down was 3rd QTR Pats 3rd and 2, Josh calls a 20 yard back shoulder to Dobson. Covered and incomplete. Please…just move the chains.

Loved seeing the Gronk Monster return to form. Porn stars beware during the bye week.

Ridley is a quick runner, should "start" but needs to avoid the fumbles.

"Emily" Blount is a great downhill runner who'll run out the clock in cold weather games.

Dunno about you but I'm really enjoying "Brady in decline" here

And Dobson….

 

[Ozymandias]

Brady's on pace for:

4,010 yards, 23 TDs, 11 INTs, 6.6 YPA, 57% completion rate

Hopefully we see the completion rate tick up north of 60% - if that does, the rest of the stats will take care of themselves.

I'm less concerned with the stats and more concerned with his how he's throwing the football.

His season should be judged by a tale of two halves. Today was the start of that second half. The way he was throwing the football today with that accuracy and velocity, clearly shows that the offense is on the rise as long as they can protect him.

He was obviously dealing with some discomfort the past few games until today. He was really slinging it. All of his passes downfield had loads of zip and were for the most part right on the money.

 

[Joker]

I was at the game today thanks to a Patsfans Pats fan. Steeler fan across the aisle when score tied @ 24 "You guys are quiet now" Uh, Hello! "Pats are on offense we're SUPPOSED to be quiet" Learn the game bro.

It was great to sit in a section of actual Patriots fans, not surrounded by corporate seats where nobody yells on D or lets themselves get excited.

My featured complaint on this wonderful beat down was 3rd QTR Pats 3rd and 2, Josh calls a 20 yard back shoulder to Dobson. Covered and incomplete. Please…just move the chains.

Loved seeing the Gronk Monster return to form. Porn stars beware during the bye week.

Ridley is a quick runner, should "start" but needs to avoid the fumbles.

"Emily" Blount is a great downhill runner who'll run out the clock in cold weather games.

Dunno about you but I'm really enjoying "Brady in decline" here

And Dobson….

Hey PWP!!...just getting in too...I was crammed into 201 with a couple of black and gold tardsters a few seats away...I just want to know one thing...WTH was Tomlin screaming about at the end of the half? The PI call?...if it was he's going to sorely disappointed when he sees the tape.

7-2...a bye week...Ninko twist an ankle? Squealers get away with a ton of holds by their O line....I kept screaming "blitz blitz blitz" and Patricia kept rushing four as the Big Rapist got them back in the game...and then....we started bringing heat and the whole team took off. THAT is what I CANNOT stand about this bend don't break crap...you're bending AND breaking...BRING SIX...he's beating your corners anyway, may as well go down swinging instead of passively giving up these catches..it all ends up the same you can say BUT it's the tenor you establish that counts...hit hit hi\t blitz blitz blitz!!!!

BTW Harmon and Ryan look like vets now and McC is the glue...but Talib needs to get back and put Arrington back where he belongs..

 

[VJCPatriot]

Changes have had to be made ever since Demaryius Thomas caught the game-winning TD in overtime a couple of years back. Pittsburgh prefers to do it through the draft. Be patient. They'll be back one day. Just hope that it's while Big Ben still has something in the tank. In the end, you guys are going through what the Pats were going through starting in '08, and that's a rebuilding period.

Isn't it scary the fact that you mention '08 as a rebuilding year but the Pats went 11-5 that season and barely missed the playoffs on tiebreakers? That just speaks volumes about how successful this franchise has been.

The Pats never seem to be in full blown 'rebuild' mode in the traditional sense. They merely reload. I mean, honestly after losing Welker, Hernandez, Wilfork, Mayo, Kelly, any reasonable fan would expect this team to be struggling this year, and yet here we are AGAIN. 7-2 and in control of winning the division and a top 3 seed in the playoffs.

This is an AMAZING run that the Pats are on! And I just wish more fans would appreciate what they are witnessing here instead of nitpicking every game. I mean we just put up franchise record setting 55 points on the Steelers and we STILL get negative posts. It blows my mind how spoiled some of us are as fans here!

I mean look at what Steelers fans are going through right now. A painful 55 point beatdown. Meanwhile our 'rebuilding' team is 7-2 and dishing out that scoreline!

 

[manxman2601]

Isn't it scary the fact that you mention '08 as a rebuilding year but the Pats went 11-5 that season and barely missed the playoffs on tiebreakers? That just speaks volumes about how successful this franchise has been.

The Pats never seem to be in full blown 'rebuild' mode in the traditional sense. They merely reload. I mean, honestly after losing Welker, Hernandez, Wilfork, Mayo, Kelly, any reasonable fan would expect this team to be struggling this year, and yet here we are AGAIN. 7-2 and in control of winning the division and a top 3 seed in the playoffs.

This is an AMAZING run that the Pats are on! And I just wish more fans would appreciate what they are witnessing here instead of nitpicking every game. I mean we just put up franchise record setting 55 points on the Steelers and we STILL get negative posts. It blows my mind how spoiled some of us are as fans here!

I mean look at what Steelers fans are going through right now. A painful 55 point beatdown. Meanwhile our 'rebuilding' team is 7-2 and dishing out that scoreline!

And the Oscar for best post goes too...

 

[supafly]

He's going to have to be resigned after the 2014 season. While I agree that his career is not over yet, it might be more constructive to start reloading the roster now. The first step to solving a problem is acknowledging there is one and our cap right now is a mess.

Roethlisberger is not a free agent until the 2016 season. If anything, they will likely extend him even further this offseason to reduce the cap hit and free up some money.

Ben Roethlisberger Contracts, Salaries, Cap Hits, & Transactions

 

[supafly]

Most importantly - no big injuries, and we are 7-2 going into the bye!!

Steve Gregory has his thumb in a cast. He is (was) the current "QB" of the defense who wears the green dot and calls the defensive alignments. I'd say that is a pretty big loss, particularly since he's a starter and it puts another rookie on the field as his replacement.

Rob Ninkovich obviously is a big loss too, as he left in the 3rd quarter and never returned. He has some kind of ankle issue, although we don't know the extent of it or how long he'll be out. It was reported that he said he'd be okay, but we have no idea what that means. It could mean that he'll be okay by not breaking it and missing the rest of the year, it could mean that he avoided the dreaded high-ankle sprain...or it could mean that he'll be back for the very next game. We'll have to see.

Alfonzo Dennard came off in the last several minutes of the game with some kind of leg injury, although he was reportedly seen in the locker room without much of a limp and one reporter's opinion is that he'll be okay.

Those are 3 pretty big starting names to keep an eye on, and we already knew that at least one of them suffering an injury severe enough to warrant a cast. It's not the end of the world, but it's hardly what I'd call "no big injuries" either. We were down 2 more key starters for the entire second half, and at one point 3 important starters in the fourth quarter.

The Pats are in the driver's seat to win the division and have a good chance at the #3 seed. If Denver or KC stumble near the end, we could land the #2 seed and the first round bye. A VERY good win for the team, and a great way to go into the bye week!

I agree that it was a huge win to go to 7-2, but only one team can win the AFC west division between KC and DEN. The other team will be getting the #5 seed and the first wildcard spot. They aren't BOTH going to be the top two seeds. That's impossible. At the moment, we're primed to make a run for the #2 seed, which should be obtainable with something around a 12-4 record.

Cincinnati losing put us in the current #2 seed if the season ended today, since they held the tiebreaker over us due to head to head victory. Another team to keep an eye on will be the Indy Colts, who also have 3 losses along with Cincy.

EDIT: Sorry, I just saw that PYPER addressed this also in his post.

 

[chasa]

one thing i will add to my happiness from the game, Troy polamalu, I sincerely hope one of these times he launches at a player like he launched at gronk in the endzone, that polamalu hurts himself. people say hes "scrappy" I call it dirty.

 

[ivanvamp]

It's a great thing that they're heading into the bye. It gives the wounded a couple more weeks to heal up. I really would like to see this team with a healthy Talib, Ninkovich, and Vereen, with Gregory and Dennard fully ready to go too.

The offense just put up 600+ yards on Pittsburgh. Maybe, just maybe, they've turned a corner. We'll see.

 

[Kontradiction]

He's going to have to be resigned after the 2014 season. While I agree that his career is not over yet, it might be more constructive to start reloading the roster now. The first step to solving a problem is acknowledging there is one and our cap right now is a mess.

Roethlisberger is not a part of the problem. Your aging and slow defense and issues all along the OL are. I would start with rebuilding the defensive side of the ball and beefing up in the trenches. Maybe seeing if Roethlisberger would be open to a restructure of his contract, as well. But if the Steelers get rid of Roethlisberger, they're either inept or inebriated (or both).

 

[PatsDeb]

I don't have time to read through all the threads and haven't seen it here through a cursory look, but did anyone explain why, on 4th and 1 on the one yard line, we did not get a 1st down when the Steelers got an encroachment penalty? Does the rule really penalize you for being inside the 5 yd. line? Seems ridiculous. At the time it also seemed ridiculous that the Pats did not kick a FG there, although at the end of the day it didn't matter...

 

[condon84]

Thoughts on the game

- Brady and our offense is at its best when they spread the defense, and go no huddle. Brady in particular sees the field better when defenses are spread out. And going no-huddle puts him in a rhythm. Not sure why we even mess around.

- Props on our coaching staff for not letting up. Against the Jets, our first few drives we moved successfully employing the spread no-huddle. We then inexplicably tightened it up and slowed the game down and proceeded to get shut down. Same thing vs the Saints when we slowed the game down our offense bogged down.

- I don't know what it is, but the two other times BB has called a TO prior to a 3rd and 20+ yards, we've given up the 1st down. It happened again yesterday.

- I sure hope Talib gets healthy soon. He makes a huge difference.

- Same with Gregory. I hope he isn't too injured. He's playing well.

- It's about time Ridley gets featured

- I had us pegged to go 12-4. We're right on schedule and we haven't even played our best ball. It sucks that we have all these injuries, but I'm thoroughly enjoying the fight in this team.

 

[1960Pats]

The better team won. It's that simple.

That isn't the same Steelers team that we're used to seeing. What's up?

 

[The Brandon Five]

I don't have time to read through all the threads and haven't seen it here through a cursory look, but did anyone explain why, on 4th and 1 on the one yard line, we did not get a 1st down when the Steelers got an encroachment penalty? Does the rule really penalize you for being inside the 5 yd. line? Seems ridiculous. At the time it also seemed ridiculous that the Pats did not kick a FG there, although at the end of the day it didn't matter...

I seem to remember Belichick talking about this in a "Sound FX" or "Football Life" clip. If you near the goal line the penalty for jumping offsides is minimal (half a yard if you are on the 1 yard line). In other words: go ahead take your chances. Be aggressive in that situation. I think that's exactly what Polamalu was doing. He got called but it wasn't much of a penalty (other than the do-over on the down).

 

[Huckleberry1]

Im very excited to see the Pats play. But was very disurbed by the faith the fans had in them when things started to go south this year. I keep seeing the fan base fall apart at the smallest problem or being behind. They lose complete faith in their boys.
Pats are not my team, but a 2nd, and I really had no thought they would fail.
Picking on TB and the players is counter productive. Their are many good things that could be said, but many more negative things that are.
All teams are trying, and as a NFL lineman said 100% of the guys are hurt at this point.
We're not suppose to be utopian, unicorn, blind love, but common when the game starts no one beats our boys, and no one should think for a second that their Pats will fail them. My point is Im less worried about the team of NE and more about the fans. This 380 degree posting about we suck, than we are the best has to stop. I might be wrong.

I think the Patriots are a damn good team this year.

Right on the money, and it is hilarious that the worst of them are silent right now, which confirms to me that a good number of them really aren't Patriot fans but are just trolls who get off on pissing people off.

 

[1960Pats]

Im very excited to see the Pats play. But was very disurbed by the faith the fans had in them when things started to go south this year. I keep seeing the fan base fall apart at the smallest problem or being behind. They lose complete faith in their boys.
Pats are not my team, but a 2nd, and I really had no thought they would fail.
Picking on TB and the players is counter productive. Their are many good things that could be said, but many more negative things that are.
All teams are trying, and as a NFL lineman said 100% of the guys are hurt at this point.
We're not suppose to be utopian, unicorn, blind love, but common when the game starts no one beats our boys, and no one should think for a second that their Pats will fail them. My point is Im less worried about the team of NE and more about the fans. This 380 degree posting about we suck, than we are the best has to stop. I might be wrong.

I think the Patriots are a damn good team this year.

I think fans are the same everywhere, and overreact to things, but this is the Patriots and don't deserve the grief, especially with all they've had to overcome this year. The fact that they're sitting at 7-2 right now is amazing.

I have to admit that I thought the game might have been over vs the Saints after the late INT, but any time that they have any time left they're a threat. It has happened so may times and with so little time left, that we can't help but believe.