I hope we run the ball...a lot

[WHPats]

Tomorrow I really want to see us pound the rock...a lot. All we've heard all week is Le'Veon Bell this and Le'Veon Bell that. The other theme is Brady vs. their D. But what hasn't been talked about nearly as much is that we have quite the two headed monster in the power of Blount, and the shiftiness of Lewis. If you want to keep Pittsburgh's offense off the field (and exhaust their defense) we need to hand the ball off a lot, maybe 25-30 times. It'll exhaust their D by the time the 4th quarter rolls around and it'll help Brady immensely. The safeties and LBs (and everybody else for that matter) will then be guessing a lot more and they can't pin their ears back and come after Brady like they did with Alex Smith. I think KC nailed their coffin shut when they stopped running the ball so early. Alex Smith is not an elite QB and relies on short passes and a lot of misdirection plays. Once he started consistently dropping back with an empty backfield, that was it for the Chiefs. That's what killed the Pats last year too. Balance, you need it to win it all. I actually hope BB takes a page out of his Super Bowl XXV gameplan where the Giants upset the Bills. If you don't know the story (I'm sure most of you are familiar) the Bills had a crazy high-flying offense and the Giants wanted to keep them off the field. Parcells had his offense run the ball a ton and it just pounded the Bills into submission.

On D I think the Pats just need to watch Bell and Brown. Just harass them as much as possible (within the rules of course). Make Ben beat you. I think that's what BB is going to do...but who knows I could be way off on that haha. But it makes sense.

In any event, I like our chances in this one. If we take care of the ball, control the clock and keep the big plays to a minimum, we have an excellent chance of winning this one!

Go Pats!

 

[ScottishPatriots]

I hope we maintain balance, i hate when we get into these games and McDaniels stops running the ball and Brady gets under siege.

 

[mosslost]

Pats need to possess the ball, move the chains, and of course score. If they do it with running or the short passing game I'm fine. Balance will bring the most success I believe. Also, if you can run the ball successfully it demoralizes the defense. I think the Pats should win.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

I'm okay with a balanced offensive gameplan. Just do whatever it takes to get TDs and get an early, multi-score lead. Force Pittsburgh to play catch up and abandon the running game (the strength of their offense) and make Big Ben throw more than he wants. It's basically a "pick your poison" approach to defense. You want to deny Pittsburgh their primary strength (Le'Veon Bell) and compel Pittsburgh to deviate from their usual offense. Take the ball out of Le'Veon Bell and put the game on Big Ben shoulders. And if possible, take Antonio Brown out of the equation as much as possible (he will get his yards, but in the last two games against him, he's had over 100 yards receiving, but the Patriots still won anyways).

Consider this:

Roethlisberger has not thrown for 300 yards in his last eight games, a streak he last matched in 2007.

When Bell rushes for fewer than 85 yards, the Steelers are 1-4. When he is held below four yards per carry, they are 1-3.

Roethlisberger has a 115.6 passer rating on throws to Brown this season, including the playoffs, but just a 88.4 rating on passes to the other receivers on the roster. Bell is a threat to catch passes out of the backfield, but he averages just 1.42 yards per route run after catching a pass from Roethlisberger.

After Brown and perhaps Bell, the Steelers don’t have many reliable pass-catching options. Eli Rogers caught 48 of 66 passes during the regular season for 594 yards and three touchdowns. Tight end Jesse James caught 39 of 60 targets for 338 yards and three touchdowns. In the playoffs, Brown has as many targets (20) as Rogers and James combined (16).

 

[RobertWeathers]

With the exception of the Week 17 game v CLE and vs BAL Pitts run D has been very solid since the DAL game.

IMO it would be irresponsible of JMD to not throw the ball v this young secondary and a ok pass rush.

With that said if the have a 14 point lead in the 4th qtr I would assume they'd go run heavy with the play calls.

 

[WHPats]

With the exception of the Week 17 game v CLE and vs BAL Pitts run D has been very solid since the DAL game.

IMO it would be irresponsible of JMD to not throw the ball v this young secondary and a ok pass rush.

With that said if the have a 14 point lead in the 4th qtr I would assume they'd go run heavy with the play calls.

I agree. I just want to see some balance. Don't do one or the other all the time like KC did. Even if we're not getting big gains on the ground, it can't disappear from the gameplan.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I agree. I just want to see some balance. Don't do one or the other all the time like KC did. Even if we're not getting big gains on the ground, it can't disappear from the gameplan.

If they can get the play action going that'll test the younglings in the secondary and force Shazier closer to the LoS where he can be moved around.

 

[Dragda]

You have to have a game plan that gives you the best chance to win. Their run D has improved since we last saw them. It's Lewis and White out of the backfield that will exploit the biggest mismatch. Their LBs can't cover them. We have to be able to run though or they will go dime and take away the short passing game.

 

[SalemPats]

Brady vs Tomlin defense is 19 TD / 0 int and averages over 300 yards, i hope he throws

 

[bormio]

I hope we run a lot. If we are, we are winning easy.

 

[deroc5050]

I just hope LG isn't getting 2 ypc.. and I most definitely hope that Dion holds on to the ball. If they can get 4 yards+ consistently per run, that would great. It will be in the upper 30's for the game and not very windy. Weather shouldn't really play much of a factor.

 

[50-yard-line]

If Pitt's D is depleted by the flu...hurry-up offense, get ot hte line, put them in their stances, then make them stay there as the play clock winds.

Wear 'em out!

 

[mosi]

Blount ran very well in the first game and Lewis seems to consistently get positive yardage. Lewis first followed by Blount last seems to work well and could work in this game.

 

[obgod3]

Dont leave White out of this...he can be a factor running and in the pass game as we saw last week.

 

[Ring 6]

It would be very patriot like (in terms of taking away what the opponent does well) and could easily happen if they have a big lead so bold prediction is patriots outrush steelers

 

[Wax Frog]

If they can get the play action going that'll test the younglings in the secondary and force Shazier closer to the LoS where he can be moved around.

 

[supafly]

If we're focused on running a lot, things are likely going well, so Ill gladly take it.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

We will run when they want us to pass and pass when they want us to run.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Yea I finally saw Rogue One so I'm a little Star Wars nerdish right now and that slipped out.

 

[jimnance]

We will run when they want us to pass and pass when they want us to run.

So we'll play cat and mouse with them?