We're on to Pittsburgh

[Soul_Survivor88]

Lazar: Steelers’ road woes could give extra edge to Patriots

• On the road, the Steelers’ high-powered offense seems like it can be slowed as much by the location as by the opposing defense. This season the Steelers average 7.2 fewer points per game on the road than in Pittsburgh. Their two worst losses of the season (a 34-3 defeat Week 3 in Philadelphia and a 30-15 defeat Week 6 in Miami) came on the road.

• The three other teams fighting for a berth in Super Bowl LI this weekend don’t have that type of inequality on offense. The Packers, who travel to Atlanta for the NFC Championship Game, score 1.5 fewer points on the road than at home. The Falcons (2.5 more points per game at home) and Patriots (1.6 more on road) also have more balanced road/home splits than the Steelers.

• The Steelers did win a road game in an inhospitable environment, Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium, to earn their trip to Foxboro. But their offensive issues were on full display in an 18-16 win during which they did not score a touchdown.

• Ben Roethlisberger, Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown led the Steelers offense inside the Chiefs 30-yard line seven times, but they emerged with six field goals — and a costly Roethlisberger interception on the Chiefs 5-yard line as well.

• The game was a microcosm of the Steelers’ season on the road. Pittsburgh has the second-best red zone offense in the league at home (scoring touchdowns 73.1 percent of the time), but like the rest of their offense that number plummets on the road to 27th in the NFL at 43.5 percent.

 

[Kdo5]

Watching a bit of Brady's press conference right now. There are no smiles on his face. I think he is still pissed at his performance on Saturday. He is in full Belichick mode right now. I think it bodes well for Sunday.

 

[Bradyking12]

Watching a bit of Brady's press conference right now. There are no smiles on his face. I think he is still pissed at his performance on Saturday. He is in full Belichick mode right now. I think it bodes well for Sunday.

I think Brady might be sick, just watched it too, he looks a lil pale

 

[pctronics0072]

Good, brady survived Monday film review....Anyone seen rowe? I am kind of wondering if he is still alive.

 

[luuked]

How? Denver's NE's achilles heel. Denver is paper, NE is rock, Pittsburgh is scissors. Some teams just have your number. We heard it all year long about how the Pats can't win in Denver. Then they went in and shut their asses down and won 16-3.

Like I said, not by any means drawing comparisons to insinuate that that means Pittsburgh will win, just that it sounds exactly like what people were saying about NE. Mind you, NE won this year in Denver because they were the better team. They're the better team this weekend too, so I still think they win

Do you want to talk about meaningless narratives or actual relevant things like matchups, potential weaknesses ect ?

Because the entire "Team X owns Team Y" is pretty much completely meaningless and has zero value. None of what happened years or even more than 2 months ago will have any impact on this game.

 

[fnordcircle]

Do you want to talk about meaningless narratives or actual relevant things like matchups, potential weaknesses ect ?

Because the entire "Team X owns Team Y" is pretty much completely meaningless and has zero value. None of what happened years or even more than 2 months ago will have any impact on this game.

Eh, I think it matters but probably not a whole log and only until it no longer matters. Which sounds dumb but what I mean is remember Brady's face on that miracle catch by that Seattle player? Everything in his expressions and demeanor read "are you ****ing kidding me with this **** again?"

But the team was resilient and responded well. Probably aided by the fact that a lot of the people who were in a position where they had to respond weren't veterans of the 2007 and 2011 SBs and hadn't spent 7 years listening to 'no SB wins since spygate'.

Point being is that if we get up on them I am sure there will be a natural "We cannot win against these guys" feeling sinking into the pit of some Pitt players stomachs. Whether they can overcome that has everything to do with how they respond but it's still a natural inclination given how many times we've sexually assaulted them in a bathroom.

 

[SVN]

Watching a bit of Brady's press conference right now. There are no smiles on his face. I think he is still pissed at his performance on Saturday. He is in full Belichick mode right now. I think it bodes well for Sunday.

I think he is too tight .I saw this before the texan game too at kickoff. There was some severe anxiety in his face i felt. There is excitement and getting fired up like he was before ravens game and there was this very similar to how he was before the game which shall not be named. I hope its all speculation but he needs to settle down a bit and play relaxed.

 

[Todd Bradley]

I think he is too tight .I saw this before the texan game too at kickoff. There was some severe anxiety in his face i felt. There is excitement and getting fired up like he was before ravens game and there was this very similar to how he was before the game which shall not be named. I hope its all speculation but he needs to settle down a bit and play relaxed.

I don't know about that. He was in a good mood leading up to that game.

He was laughing and joking when asked about Burress saying they'd only score 17 points.

 

[ALP]

I think he is too tight .I saw this before the texan game too at kickoff. There was some severe anxiety in his face i felt. There is excitement and getting fired up like he was before ravens game and there was this very similar to how he was before the game which shall not be named. I hope its all speculation but he needs to settle down a bit and play relaxed.

im going to put a dead stop here at comparisons between the game that shall not be named and this week

he was joking up to that one game, no joking today

 

[The Brandon Five]

It got dismissed in 2011, but Edleman has been accused of such behavior in the past.

He wasn't accused of rape. C'mon, man!

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

Pats will have a great advantage if they control the tempo of the game

Taking The Lead: Why a quick start for Patriots will spell doom for Pittsburgh

How have the Patriots managed to take and hold a lead so consistently? One, they were the second-best first-quarter scoring team in the league in the regular season, which allowed them to put their imprint on the game right out of the gate. New England (130 points) finished the year second only to the Falcons (139) in first-quarter scoring. The Patriots were also the best team in the league when it came to holding opponents in check in the first quarter, yielding just 32 first-quarter points in the regular season — an astounding average of just two points per game. You put up those sorts of numbers in the first quarter, you have control of the game.

Two, they’ve had a run game in that period that has done an excellent job killing the clock and allowing them to keep lead. Including that win over the Jets, the Patriots have topped 90 rushing yards in each one of those games, and had 100-plus yards on the ground on four occasions. LeGarrette Blount has fallen off his pace since the start of the season, but he’s still produced quality yardage. In addition, a rejuvenated Dion Lewis has also provided a jump-start since his return, averaging 4.4 yards per carry through that stretch and helping New England control the clock in the second half. Overall, the Patriots finished the year fifth in time of possession with an average of 31:12 per game.

(When it comes to Blount, we don’t have the numbers from this past season, but that’s pretty consistent with how he’s played since he arrived in New England: according to Football Outsiders, in 2015, he rushed 87 times for 406 yards — 4.7 yards per carry — when the score margin was greater than 15 points and 78 times for 297 yards — 3.9 yards per carry — when the score was closer.)

Coming into this week, it’s worth noting that the Steelers are no chumps when it comes to starting fast. They had 95 first-quarter points in the regular season, one of the best totals in the league, and their plus-33 point differential in the opening quarter is respectable. With Ben Roethlisberger, Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown, they might be one of the few teams in the league capable of matching the New England offense and weathering the storm, at least in the early going.

But Pittsburgh has very little margin for error, as the Patriots’ ability to finish off teams after an early lead — especially at home — remains without peer. Since 2001, New England is now 100-1 when leading at halftime in games at Foxboro. In addition, the Patriots have now won 104 straight home games when leading after three quarters.

In the end, New England will hammer the importance of playing a 60-minute game. But the bottom line is that if the Patriots are able to control the action over the first 15 minutes of Sunday’s AFC title game, the other 45 minutes will mark the beginning of the end for the 2016 Steelers.​

 

[mosi]

It got dismissed in 2011, but Edleman has been accused of such behavior in the past.

Are you talking about the night-club incident? Jule's hand bumped a girls bottom when walking through the club. She only filed charges because he was a Patriot. The video clearly showed that nothing happened.

 

[Todd Bradley]

Are you talking about the night-club incident? Jule's hand bumped a girls bottom when walking through the club. She only filed charges because he was a Patriot. The video clearly showed that nothing happened.

I didn't say anything did happen. I said he's been accused of similar things.

I'm not defending Ben. He is a scumbag. We all know he is.

But to throw Edleman's name out there and proclaim he's a Boy Scout choir boy is a bit much.

 

[The Brandon Five]

I didn't say anything did happen. I said he's been accused of similar things.

I'm not defending Ben. He is a scumbag. We all know he is.

But to throw Edleman's name out there and proclaim he's a Boy Scout choir boy is a bit much.

Touching someone's bottom is the similar to rape?

 

[A Defiant Goose]

Do you want to talk about meaningless narratives or actual relevant things like matchups, potential weaknesses ect ?

Because the entire "Team X owns Team Y" is pretty much completely meaningless and has zero value. None of what happened years or even more than 2 months ago will have any impact on this game.

Ok, it was totally a nice talking point earlier in the season when we played Denver but now that the shoe's on the other foot it's irrelevant. Talk about whatever you wanna talk about. You're a free man. Nobody's gonna stop it

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

 

[Todd Bradley]

Touching someone's bottom is the similar to rape?

Alleged sexual assault is alleged sexual assault. One type of accusation isn't "better" than the other.

These guys are not goodie two shoes saints. Let's not split hairs over this.

I'm not commenting on this further.

 

[SVN]

I don't know about that. He was in a good mood leading up to that game.

He was laughing and joking when asked about Burress saying they'd only score 17 points.

I am referring to just before the game. He looked very pissed off they lost the coin toss. Was very wound up.

 

[WHPats]

My fiance is born and raised not far from Pittsburgh and she's a Steeler fan. We don't like one another's teams but we've got a mutual respect and we only do playful, harmless razzing, nothing mean (her Dad is another matter, he slings tons of mud at the Patriots lol). Not a fan of mud-slinging other teams, I just want the Pats to go out there and keep playing awesome year after year after year. I say let's let all let the other fanbases yap and chirp and insult us, calling us every name under the sun. Let's just keep smiling and kill them with kindness. To quote Abraham Lincoln or Mark Twain "better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt." As Patriots fans we're above it as far as I'm concerned . Go Pats!

 

[long distance]

This could actually be a new thread ..