Brady's annihilation of Pitt may lead to a change in D philosophy

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Uh oh, all this talk reminds me of one thing.............The almighty BLUE PRINT :0

All you gotta do is
-play tight man coverage
-pressure with 4 men
-have each and every fumble bounce your way
-have their stud te tear an acl

SIMPLE AS THAT, WHY DONT MORE PEOPLE DO THIS??!? THANK YOU DONOVAN!

 

[neuronet]

Good thinking telling everyone your plan a year in advance, Tomlin.

 

[Tony2046]

The funny thing is, while the Pats do obviously adjust a lot, they consistently beat the Steelers in basically the same way. Zone blitzes just don't work on Brady. Never have, never will, so as long as the Steelers take the "this is who we are and this is what we do" approach to defense and refuse to adjust, they'll never beat us. In order to be competitive on defense against the Pats, they have to fundamentally change who and what they are.

And it's only then, IF they can do that, that they can actually step on the field with some basic chance of fooling Brady and forcing him to make some mistakes. They need to change their identity just to be starting from the same starting point that most other teams are it. And that's where the Pats' tendency to innovate will become a real issue for them. But for now they haven't even advanced far enough up the curve for that to matter yet.

This, in a nutshell, is why philosophically rigid units are a huge handicap. Same deal over in Seattle: they make it work for now because they have a huge wealth of talent on the defensive side of the ball, but once they start to regress even a little you'll see them marching headfirst into impossible matchups in much the same way.

They no longer have Troy Polamalu freelancing in the secondary.

 

[ausbacker]

If Pittsbugh goes man, do they really think this group (****rell, Burns, Davis, Mitchell, Shazier) is going to stop this group (Edelman, Cooks, Hogan, Gronkowski, White) 1 on 1? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.

 

[bormio]

If Pittsbugh goes man, do they really think this group (****rell, Burns, Davis, Mitchell, Shazier) is going to stop this group (Edelman, Cooks, Hogan, Gronkowski, White) 1 on 1? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.

That's the issue - their personnel was for their scheme. They will need new personnel. Still the right long-term move.

 

[PP2]

That's the issue - their personnel was for their scheme. They will need new personnel. Still the right long-term move.

Exactly. Can't just change systems overnight.

 

[ausbacker]

That's the issue - their personnel was for their scheme. They will need new personnel. Still the right long-term move.

Piitsburgh's D has been garbage for some time. They haven't drafted particularly well on defense and until that changes, not much will change. Furthermore, Pittsburgh's vaunted D never troubled Brady so there's that component to consider.

 

[Love The Drake]

Given the steeler's personnel, perhaps changing the defense to better defend against the patriots would keep them from even getting to the playoffs.

Of course, if they can, the steelers should be able to have different game plans for every team they play.

Would really enjoy Cleveland and Cincy keeping Pitt and Bal out of the playoffs

 

[Gwedd]

FWIW, I have always thought that Pittsburgh's biggest problem was their attitude. That whole "This is who we are, this is what we do" shtick might be a valid thing in the AFC North, but there are 7 other divisions out there who have teams who know how to gameplan for other teams.

It's as if the Steelers are stuck in a college football timewarp. They have moments of brilliance, but then remember who they are and revert back to the same old, same old. "This is who we are, this is what we do" simply isn't going to win championships anymore.

I'm fine with Pittsburgh living that dream. Just like I'm fine with New England living rent free in the Steeler's heads.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Tom Brady's dissection of Pittsburgh Steelers may lead to change in team's defensive philosophy

Nice proactive approach...



"We're gonna close the barn door now."

Should've been a GOAT.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Exactly. Can't just change systems overnight.

Unless you're NE.

 

[PatsDeb]

The funny thing is Scott Zolak said that the Steelers needed to change their defense to stop Brady when it was playing in Tomlin's headsets two years ago. Further proof that it was a non-story since Tomlin doesn't listen to what people are saying in those things anyway.

This made me LOL. Show ponies and unicorns baby!

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Ah, the old "Cover Hogan" defense. Good idea.

Regards,
Chris

 

[Silver Blue&Red]

If - and this is really the key to everything - the OL stays keyas healthy as it did last season, then I'll take Brady & his guys on offense vs RooneyRule Tomlin & his guys on defense.

ABSOLUTELY!! That IS the key. It was a tremendous advantage last year. Every team, player, coach, fan, obviously crave for that. Last year was a beautiful thing . Man, another would be nice. It sure looks like they have the depth .
Save the unthinkable.

 

[PatsBoy12]

All of this is moot. Brady has all the answers to the test, no?

 

[BobDigital]

All of this is moot. Brady has all the answers to the test, no?

Yes but even if he has the answers that doesn't mean he can apply them automatically. If under too much pressure or with too tight of coverage it won't matter if he knows how to beat a D if not given the chance.

 

[patfanken]

Here' s the thing that I don't understand. Why is it that anyone think that the Falcons suddenly discovered "the blue print" to stopping the Pats offfense. For the most part they NEVER stopped the Pats offense, even in the first half. It was more that the Pats werre stopping themselves with drops, bad passes, and poor runblocking. Just look at the disparity in the number of plays run.

Simply adding speed and playing man isn't a cure-all solution. You'd think someone might have noticed that, in even in an up and down game, Brady put up 466 passing yds against this so called "blueprint" defdnse that everyone seems to be rushing to copy. ''

Back in the 60's EVERYONE played man defenses primarily. There was a reason everyone eventually went to zones, and as offenses evolve, there is a reason they seem to be coming back again to man.. The fact is that there is no ONE solution, and because the Pats have long understood that, is part of the reason they have had such long term success

 

[VrabelMayeWin]

Ironically, a nickel or dime zone may be the only chance to stop them. Cooks, Gronk, Edelman, in man almost every CB/LB will need help (and with those 3 and 1 RB we'll still have ANOTHER WR/TE or receiving RB on the field, LOL). These guys will crush man (Imagine the WRs taking the secondary downfield then a dump off to a RB). Which, I think, is why Bill upgraded the RB, he probably anticipates lots of nickel to run against. Man likely won't stop them, zone could, at least, slow them down.

 

[Flash]

Why Patriots stay ahead of the curve: Focus on jack-of-all-trades, not specialists. Because they have players who can play both man and zone schemes, 3-4 and 4-3, nickel/dime defences, whatever system the team wants to run, players are capable of doing them. Which is why Patriots can switch to different schemes easily while teams like the Steelers continue to use zone despite being bent over every time when they play us. Only took them about what, 16 years to catch up? Good job Tomlin.