Greetings Pats Fans,
lillloyd
Nice job Lloyd, but be careful of all the flattery you've gotten, if you were less pessimistic, it might have been a different story.
Add me to the large number of fans who were looking forward to a nice heavyweight fight amongst equals in order to gauge where are teams are at the near half way point of the season. On the other hand, no one gave us an ounce of sympathy when we were leading the league in starters injuries and players on IR, so it's nice to be on the other side for a change.
I think you ARE being too pessimistic though. It's easy to say, "just bracket AB and stop Bell". But that is what EVERY team's plan is for the Steeler offense, and yet AB and Bell keep on racking up All Pro stats, so I'm sure the Steelers will have something prepared for what the Pats are likely to do.
Along with lots of touches for Bell, I think we'll see AB in motion or in stacked set in order to get him clean releases off the LOS. I also think it would be wise for the Steelers to be patient and take what the Pats give you on defense, because they will give up stuff underneath to protect against the "big play". It's just the way BB wants to play (much to the frustration of many here). We are second in the NFL in scoring D, yet many here think our defense isn't Superbowl quality. I don't understand it but it "is what it is".
I think Landry is good enough that the Steelers will move the ball. We don't have a 4 man pass rush that will scare anyone as individuals, but as a unit they will provide pressure, but few sacks. We blitz rarely but effectively, and our secondary people are all excellent tacklers.
As for our offense, it really IS scary. Right now we have a few guys playing hurt, but they ARE playing. The OL is still our biggest question. The C and 2 G's are either rookies or 2nd year guys. The right T is our back up that a lot of people don't like here, but he seems to be playing better than expected. No probowls here, but rather a better than average well coached group that we hope will get better the more experienced they become. It is however the key to any success the Steelers might have.
The Bengals provided an excellent bluepring last week in how to defend this offensive juggernaut. They were very physical on the LOS to keep Brady from getting rid of the ball quickly and in rhythm. They rushed 4 and got enough pressure to move Brady off his spot, and they doubled Gronk (and held him like mad). It worked well enough to hold the Pats to just 10 first half points. And when they started the 2nd half with a TD on their first drive, they held a 14-10 lead. They actually got a stop on the Pats first drive of the half (actually the pats killed their own drive with penalties).....and then the let loose the dogs.
They made adjustments to the pass blocking and routes they were running and suddenly everyone was open, and Brady had tons of time, and the rest is blow out history. 35-17 in a game that was over by the start of the 4th quarter.
Cinci has that good pass rushing DL, but their LB's couldn't stay with Gronk, Bennett, and James White (a player we'd all like to upgrade, but keeps on being productive if unspectacular anyways) Good hands- zero run threat.
So I think, especially at home, the Steelers can have some success in frustrating the Pats offense. The problem is to be able to do for 60 minutes, because once they decipher the defensive game plan, regardless of how good it was to start, they will be hard to stop.
For the Steelers, TO's are the key. You can't turn the ball over to the Pats, and you have to create some of your own. The Pats have a good Defense, but have been weak in the read zone and on 3rd down. On the plus side, as I said, they don't seem to allow many points (about 15/game).
I'm not worried about Brady playing on the road, but I am about the other 45 guys who will dress. The OL and defense are pretty young, and this is only Brady's 3rd game back from his travesty of justice. Still working out the kink, though the stats say he's doing fine. I see the Pats winning the game, but the ball bounces funny sometimes and sh!t happens. We just have to look at what happened last week in Miami. NO one expect you guys to lose that game, let alone get crushed.
Good teams bounce back, especially at home...and the Steelers might just be the other best team in the AFC. So regardless of what transpires on Sunday, a rematch is likely in our future.
