Week 2 Pats @ Steelers pregame thread

[Tunescribe]

He did not look.

You have to have the awareness to check out of the play or get rid of the ball like a hot potato.

Yeah, you think you "know" things. You don't know what his pre-snap tasks were -- where he was supposed to be looking and what the OL was trusted to handle. Just give your anti-Mac B.S. a rest.

 

[PatsFan2]

TJ Watt won't play yessss!

 

[Triumph]

So teams have found out that Jones is susceptible to a blindside blitz by a CB who isn't even touched? He might be the only QB in the league with that weakness.

Stop it. I know you hate Jones and Belichick, but stop going to ridiculous lengths to beat up on Jones. Jones had his issues on Sunday. Some are concerning if they start to be a trend.

But the o-line not being able to pick up a blitzer is not on him. That was either on Henry or Brown for that strip sack. The QB doesn't call out line blocking assignments.

No

Teams know that when Jones is oblivious the blitz to go full speed ahead. Keep the heat on until Jittery Jones figures it out.

This season is looking like 2021. NE needs to run the ball heavy and play
stout defense.

 

[ashley]

 

[ashley]

Some Assistant Coach talk:

 

[sb1]

Forgot Gunner is a Steeler now.

 

[Guts]

The OL will be tested even without TJ Watt the Steelers can generate pressure. I hope we see some improvement

 

[PatsFan2]

Forgot Gunner is a Steeler now.

Gunner better be careful he doesn't become like mush for brains Austin Collie the kid takes too many unnecessary shots.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

 

[Deus Irae]

The OL will be tested even without TJ Watt the Steelers can generate pressure. I hope we see some improvement

The with/without numbers for the Steelers and Watt are significantly different. With just that one player lost, the Patriots be facing a defense that is effectively less than half as good as it would have been with Watt on the field.

 

[Jim Beankie]

Yup. I believe it was after that 2002 season that Brady sought out help to improve his movement in the pocket. I know he worked with some basketball guys in Cali and that's when he started with the resistance bands.
In 2003,his movement in the pocket was light years better than before. He's the best I've ever seen at moving effectively in the pocket.
Thats,all learned behavior. It was Brady's desire and maniacal work ethic.
We've all seen shades of that from Mac.
I believe in this kid. He'll keep improving. He's a looong way from his ceiling.

I just remember very early on in his career (1st few years) thinking that it was like someone was controlling him from above. It was uncanny. Thanks for the context.

 

[Hyped]

Pre-game thoughts:

1.) Offensively, the Steelers might be a step down from the Dolphins. I see it as this:

Hill, Waddle, Wilson, & Gesicki > Johnson, Claypool, Pickens, Freiermuth

Harris > Edmonds/Mostert

Trubisky = Tagovailoa, but Trubisky is the better runner, IMO.

Dolphin OL > Steeler OL ...a slight edge.

Overall, the Steelers have less speed than the Dolphins did...but they have taller receivers in Claypool/Pickens...both are 6'3"+ and Freiermuth had a good rookie season then followed that up with a 5/75 line in week 1. Trubisky is more dangerous on roll outs...he was working on that all off-season with Claypool/Pickens.

Our defense has it's work cut out....but I expect us to hold the Steeler offense to 17-23 points MAX.

2.) Defensively, the Steeler D is pretty damn good.... thank god we are not facing TJ Watt at least...but gotta be worried about guys like Heyward, Highsmith, and Fitzpatrick. They had trouble vs. the run last year....but did well against Mixon all day on Sunday. IMO, this is where the game will be won/lost....Pats O vs. the Steeler D.

3.) Per Chad Graff (their new Pats beat writer) over at The Athletic, the Pats only used play action on 6 snaps...and zero RPO snaps. The overall offense was vanilla all day along. And that Mac only had one pass attempt that required more than 3 seconds to release the ball. Mac had the 2nd quickest release of all QB's on Sunday (TB was the fastest). Also, Graff pointed out that Strange did very well in pass blocking and never got beat...but struggled to run block. And that Wynn/Strange were rotated in/out a bit, but Graff thought it had to do with the heat more than anything else. Also, the Pats had zero or negative rushing yardage on 36% of their rushing attempts on Sunday (the league %-age was 18%). This is disturbing...I expected some growing pains with Wynn on the right side, a rookie at LG, and a new scheme...but I also expected that we had an above average OL capable of buying Mac time and opening some holes.

4.) While Parker was held in the EZ on the first drive...and while he isn't known for separation....we need him to haul in those 50/50 balls no matter what, IMO. Not a good debut...especially against his old team, IMO.

5.) I'd like to see more of 12 personnel...just use Henry/Jonnu a lot more...and have Algholor take more reps than Parker....especially between the 20's and on early downs. We should be hitting Algholor deep 2-3 times a game, IMO. 15+ yard chunk plays make drives a lot easier to finish, IMO.

 

[Rob0729]

No

Teams know that when Jones is oblivious the blitz to go full speed ahead. Keep the heat on until Jittery Jones figures it out.

This season is looking like 2021. NE needs to run the ball heavy and play
stout defense.

You do realize that last year, Jones was the 24th most sacked QB in the league with 28 sacks. That is almost half the number of sacks Joe Burrow had last year (51). If teams have figured out that Jones is oblivious to the blitz, why were there 23 other QBs who were sacked more than him?

And even Sunday, he was sacked only twice. If the Dolphins knew that Jones was oblivious to the blitz, why did the Dolphins blitz far less this game than either of the two games last year. They didn't blitz that much. Far less than they did either game they played the Patriots last year.

You are just making things up.

And last year, Jones was great against the Dolphins' blitz.

 

[VJCPatriot]

The Steelers defense FEASTED on Joe Burrow with 4 interceptions.

I think most of us agree that Joe Burrows is ahead of Mac Jones at this point in their respective careers. Can't say I fancy our chances against that Steelers defense on the road.

We don't have #12 back there anymore who always seemed to find a way to kill the Steelers. I'm not even sure Mac Jones should start this game, what with his recent back injury.

Do we really think the likes of Brian Hoyer or Bailey Zappe can pull off a win on the road next week? The Patriots don't have a gamebreaker weapon like a Jamarr Chase. How do the Patriots score on this Steelers defense when they can barely avoid tripping over their own feet?

 

[ashley]

 

[PatsFan2]

Thought that already happened post padding Ash??

 

[PatsFan2]

The Steelers defense FEASTED on Joe Burrow with 4 interceptions.

I think most of us agree that Joe Burrows is ahead of Mac Jones at this point in their respective careers. Can't say I fancy our chances against that Steelers defense on the road.

We don't have #12 back there anymore who always seemed to find a way to kill the Steelers. I'm not even sure Mac Jones should start this game, what with his recent back injury.

Do we really think the likes of Brian Hoyer or Bailey Zappe can pull off a win on the road next week? The Patriots don't have a gamebreaker weapon like a Jamarr Chase. How do the Patriots score on this Steelers defense when they can barely avoid tripping over their own feet?

I can't wait until we have a WR like Jamarr Chase I can dream can't I??

 

[ashley]

Thought that already happened post padding Ash??

lol, it's official now silly.

 

[Zuma]

 

[Sicilian]

I can't wait until we have a WR like Jamarr Chase I can dream can't I??

I think at least 27 out of 32 teams can't wait to have a WR like Chase. Basically the Rams, Vikings, Raiders, and maybe Bills have someone comparable right now. 9ers too, though Deebo is a bit of a different role.