Official pregame thread.... the AFC Championship Game vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (6:40 pm ET)

[luuked]

Maybe Mike knows something I don't but I don't understand why they wouldn't dress both. Lots of the WR corps are banged up and each brings a unique skillset. Yes, Special Teams are important but I'd much rather a guy like Grissom or Bolden be benched in favor having Amendola/Floyd active.

Bolden & Grissom are core special teamers and play on all 4 ST units.

See farther down in the Reiss post:

Special teams will be major factor in determining final Patriots' inactive

It really is not that easy. If we had more TE depth then Lengal would be the obvious sacrifice but with Marty still going through his ankle issues I don't see the coaching staff taking the risk.

Reiss ends the post saying:

Anyone in the "all four units" and "three units" category is untouchable on the 46-man game-day roster.

So if you follow his rationale the question is whether you'd activate Floyd/Dola over Coleman or Develin I suppose. More realistically the question will boil down to what you rather take a gamble on WR depth or CB depth.

 

[LightSkinSmurf]

Hopefully, it isnt too early to get this started

Funny, I was just thinking about when ben said this. A little foreshadowing here.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

I rewatched the game from earlier this year, both the network broadcast and the All-22. Some thoughts and observations...

- Landry Jones played decently. His only display of missing guys badly "like a backup would" was at the end of the game trying to make the score closer. Otherwise he made pretty good decisions and throws. If Roethlisberger played, I'm not sure he would have done a ton more.

- Pats clearly focused on stopping Bell and did well overall. Bell was scariest running routes. Pats pass rush was sacrificed for good gap control.

- Pats run D looked best with Branch giving Pouncey all he could handle. When Branch was out, Pittsburgh controlled the LOS better.

- Brown looked his best crossing the field. On routes where he stayed on his side of the field, the Pats defended him well.

- DHB had a pretty decent game as a secondary option. Nobody else did, but Eli Rodgers did not play.

- Gronk had one catch in the first half. Pats did most of their damage with Edelman and Blount.

- Edelman drew Timmons as his primary coverage. Brady repeatedly exploited it, yet Pittsburgh stuck with it.

- Aside from the TD by White, Pittsburgh played the screens well.

- Shazier and Harrison didn't appear to have big impacts. #48 (I forget his name) didn't play.

- Pats turned the ball over twice on their side of the field, but yielded no points.

- Edelman and Bolden dropped wide open 3rd down conversions.

Regards,
Chris

 

[Kontradiction]

Quietly confident....but
View attachment 15868
LOL

I'm nervous now that I've been told at week that Brady sucks. How can we top such a juggernaut offense with an absolute liability at quarterback? Seriously about to **** my pants...

 

[ANGR89]

Bennett with a cracked bone on ankle! wow i guess we know what's slowed him down, ouch!

 

[long distance]

Maybe Mike knows something I don't but I don't understand why they wouldn't dress both. Lots of the WR corps are banged up and each brings a unique skillset. Yes, Special Teams are important but I'd much rather a guy like Grissom or Bolden be benched in favor having Amendola/Floyd active.

Bolden & Grissom are core special teamers and play on all 4 ST units.

See farther down in the Reiss post:

Special teams will be major factor in determining final Patriots' inactive

It really is not that easy. If we had more TE depth then Lengal would be the obvious sacrifice but with Marty still going through his ankle issues I don't see the coaching staff taking the risk.

Reiss ends the post saying:

Anyone in the "all four units" and "three units" category is untouchable on the 46-man game-day roster.

So if you follow his rationale the question is whether you'd activate Floyd/Dola over Coleman or Develin I suppose. More realistically the question will boil down to what you rather take a gamble on WR depth or CB depth.

Mike doesn' know . he goes with the norm . or the fact how BB values ST.

It's true if you want to keep ST intact and Lengel as only other TE there's nowhere else to cut but one WR.

Re ST: as mentioned before Mingo saw his ST snaps reduced by 50% from the first part of the season. I guess he's only playing 2 coverage units . but he is still a great weapon there. Grissom and McClellin took over in return game.

I would risk one ST member for Floyd or Danny .. for lack of receiving health and Gronk (if something happens to Bennett or continues to struggle getting opened Floyd would be most valuable) .. then again Im barely HC at my home ..

 

[luuked]

Mike doesn' know . he goes with the norm . or the fact how BB values ST.

It's true if you want to keep ST intact and Lengel as only other TE there's nowhere else to cut but one WR.

Re ST: as mentioned before Mingo saw his ST snaps reduced by 50% from the first part of the season. I guess he's only playing 2 coverage units . but he is still a great weapon there. Grissom and McClellin took over in return game.

I would risk one ST member for Floyd or Danny .. for lack of health and Gronk (if something happens to Bennett or continues to struggle getting opened Floyd would be most valuable) .. then again Im barely HC at my home ..

If I remember correctly the table Reiss compiled was made off the snaps in the game @Miami - so it should be kinda recent. So not sure about Mingo and the reduction in snaps.

Either way, personally I wouldn't wanna disrupt the ST units as the coverage on those has been brilliant all year. I'd rather take the gamble with Coleman because Jones should still be around in case of injury. Of course if we get into a situation where we lose 2 CBs its a different story..

I am happy I don't have to make those decisions..

 

[JMC00]

Watching some of the pre game stuff here and there and if all you were going by was them, you'd think there is just no way the Pats can stop the Steelers offense and that the Steelers can easily duplicate a game plan that only a few teams have been able to do and they themselves have never been able to do.

 

[carmelo15]

Watching some of the pre game stuff here and there and if all you were going by was them, you'd think there is just no way for the Pats can stop the Steelers offense and that all the Steelers can duplicate a game plan that only a few teams have been able to do and they themselves have never been able to do.

What boggles my mind is the fact that the Steelers will have a thought time stopping us and it's not close. "if" we did struggle last week that's a an elite defense which Pitt isn't.

 

[Mainepatsfan54]

I am so excited but also nervous. Going to try and keep myself occupied until game time. Maybe I'll clean the house. Probably not.

weather is supposed to be pretty bad down here in NC come game time so fingers crossed We don't lose power. Otherwise I'll be racking up the data watchjng on my phone

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I'm nervous now that I've been told at week that Brady sucks. How can we top such a juggernaut offense with an absolute liability at quarterback? Seriously about to **** my pants...

Kontra maybe you can get yourself a pink ****ey hat, slightly used, 1 day old?

 

[jimnance]

I am so excited but also nervous. Going to try and keep myself occupied until game time. Maybe I'll clean the house. Probably not.


weather is supposed to be pretty bad down here in NC come game time so fingers crossed We don't lose power. Otherwise I'll be racking up the data watchjng on my phone

Where you at in nc? I'm in wilmington

 

[Wheelman]

I'm glad you started the thread rather than (most blocked member on patsfans.com to remain unnamed) because if he did it, very few of us would be seeing this thread!

I hope for a great clean game, with the Pats winning it and heading to the Super Bowl!

Go Pats!

Stop being a ****y and name him!

 

[PatriotsPimp136]

Defense still win's championships. We will see if this defense can slow down the steelers.

 

[Mainepatsfan54]

Where you at in nc? I'm in wilmington

Charlotte area. There is a threat of tornados later today I was just in Wilmington for work last month! Nice area. I miss being close to the ocean.

 

[jimnance]

Defense still win's championships. We will see if this defense can slow down the steelers.

PP- by the same token- we'll have to see if steelers D can slow down Pats.

 

[RIpats88]

Mike flynn on 98.5 who is usually good picks the steelers because they have a better redzone offense than the pats according to him

Guess he missed last week when they kicked 6 fgs and had no touchdowns

 

[Mike the Brit]

More crowd singing, please!

 

[Guts]

Watching some of the pre game stuff here and there and if all you were going by was them, you'd think there is just no way the Pats can stop the Steelers offense and that the Steelers can easily duplicate a game plan that only a few teams have been able to do and they themselves have never been able to do.

They talk how hot PIT and GB have been on their winning streaks, but quietly the Pats have a win streak of their own after the SEA loss. They have also been the most consistent team

 

[jimnance]

Charlotte area. There is a threat of tornados later today I was just in Wilmington for work last month! Nice area. I miss being close to the ocean.

Be safe man. Its been in 70s all week here- but heavy tstorms coming soon. Been here 25 years(Boston native) never had a tornado here. Think tornadoes are rare on the coast. But if you go just 10 miles inland on other side of Cape Fear River they get em a lot. Oth, been thru 7 or 8 hurricanes.