MORSE: Patriots Week 2 Preview - Pittsburgh Steelers, Morse's Morsels

This week’s opponent is the Pittsburgh Steelers. We haven’t played them in three years after being perennial opponents when both teams were making the playoffs. The game is being played in Pittsburgh and that may be the deciding factor on who wins this game.

Pittsburgh will be starting journeyman QB Mitch Trubinsky. They are hoping he can manage the game as he did in Cincinnati, coming off the overtime 23-20 upset. Trubinsky put up pedestrian numbers; 21 of 38 passing, 55.3 Completion %, 194 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, and 1 sack. Najee Harris was held to 25 yards and hurt his foot. Chase Claypool was the leading rusher with 36 yards on 6 carries. They ran for 75 yards total, nothing to write home about.

Offense

3WR 1TE


	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
QB	Mitch Trubisky	Kenny Pickett	Mason Rudolph	–
RB	Najee Harris Q	Jaylen Warren	Benny Snell Jr	Jeremy McNichols IR
WR	Diontae Johnson	Gunner Olszewski	Calvin Austin III IR
WR	Chase Claypool	Miles Boykin	Anthony Miller IR	–
WR	George Pickens	Steven Sims
TE	Pat Freiermuth	Zach Gentry	Connor Heyward	–
FB	Derek Watt
LT	Dan Moore Jr	Trent Scott	–	–
LG	Kevin Dotson	Kendrick Green		–
C	Mason Cole Q	J.C. Hassenauer	Kendrick Green	–
RG	James Daniels		–	–
RT	Chukwuma Okorafor	Jesse Davis

Warren Sharp writes that the Steelers’ Offensive Line is one of the worst in the league, despite 4 of 5 linemen returning. 2021 was very bad for the line. They ranked 31^st in pass blocking and 30^th in run blocking. James Daniels, a former 2^nd round pick of Chicago replaces Trai Turner at RG. Center Mason Cole was limited in practice on Wednesday. The Steelers have the cheapest O Line in the league, as well as the least expensive Offense overall.

Harris only gained 0.93 yards before 1^st contact, the worst in the league. To make matters worse, this was against normal fronts. Pittsburgh only faces 7+ man fronts 55.2% of the time. Again the least in the league.

Pittsburgh was in a lot of close games last year and came out as winners. They were 4-0-1 in games decided by 3 or less and 8-2-1 in games decided by one score. They are not going to be that lucky this year.

Defense

Base 3-4

	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
LDE	Larry Ogunjobi	Chris Wormley	–	–
NT	Tyson Alualu	Montravius Adams	–	–
RDE	Cameron Heyward	Isaiah Loudermilk	DeMarvin Leal
WLB	T.J. Watt O	Malik Reed		–
LILB	Devin Bush	Robert Spillane
RILB	Myles Jack	Mark Robinson	Marcus Allen	–
SLB	Alex Highsmith	Jamir Jones
LCB	Ahkello Witherspoon	Arthur Maulet	James Pierre	Karl Joseph IR
SS	Terrell Edmunds	Miles Killebrew	Damontae Kazee IR	–
FS	Minkah Fitzpatrick	Tre Norwood	Carlins Platel IR	–
RCB	Cameron Sutton	Levi Wallace Q

In 2004, Ben Roethlisberger’s rookie year, the Steelers had the number one Defense and that took them to a 15-1 record. The Steelers are going to need a stout Defense again this year. However, that is not going to be enough.

You have to hand it to the Pittsburgh secondary as they came away with 4 Interceptions last week in the Overtime upset of Joe Burrows and the Bengals. The combination of Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin and Brian Flores is a dynamic duo that’s hard to beat. Austin prefers the 2 deep split safeties and Flores likes the man coverage.

Last week they played Cover 2 on 23 snaps and Cover 1 on 17 snaps of 50% of the Bengals’ passes. Flores knows the Patriots and beat them twice last year as the Miami coach. You cannot deny the Flores factor. The Patriots catch a huge break as TJ Watt will miss the game with a torn pectoral muscle.

Cam Heyward is a beast even at age 33. He plays the run extremely well and doesn’t let running backs get around his end. Heyward had one of the 7 sacks. Alex Highsmith LB was the destructive force with 3 sacks. Watt had one, LB Robert Spillane, and CB Arthur Maulet the last one.

Minkah Fitzpatrick had a pick-six, Watt had an INT, as did CBs Cameron Sutton and Ahkello Witherspoon.

The Pittsburgh Defense is the most expensive unit in the league!

Former Patriot Montravious Adams is a backup for the Steelers’ D-line.

Special Teams

	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
PK	Chris Boswell	–	–	–
P	Pressley Harvin III	–	–	–
H	Pressley Harvin III	–	–	–
PR	Gunner Olszewski	Steven Sims	–	–
KR	Gunner Olszewski	Steven Sims	–	–
LS	Christian Kuntz	–

Old friend Gunner Olszewski had a 20-yard Punt Return last week and is one of the top 5 Punt Returners in the league. Boswell is as consistent as they get, especially kicking in the swirling winds of Acrisure Stadium (formerly Heinz Field). The naming rights were changed this year.

Mike Tomlin

I couldn’t write an article about the Steelers without mentioning Mike Tomlin. Love him or hate him, you have to hand it to him because he is a winner. Year in and year out the Steelers are prepared and competitive. According to Warren Sharp, “Mike Tomlin continues to get the most out of his team year after year. Despite the quarterback inabilities the Steelers made the playoffs and continued Tomlin’s streak of 15 consecutive seasons without a losing record. The Steelers also added Brian Flores to the defensive coaching staff. Tomlin appears to be a coach that players respect and play hard for and that should continue in 2022.”

Injury Report

This is from the Wednesday 1^st report of the week.

Patriots

Bentley Toe DNP

Bledsoe Groin Limited

Phillips Ribs Limited

Strong Shoulder Limited

Wade Ankle Limited

Jones Back Full Participation

Steelers

Watt Pectoral Out

Cole Ankle Limited

Harris Foot Limited

Wallace Ankle Limited

Transactions

Ty Montgomery Short Term IR (4 weeks)

Lil’Jordan Humphrey Promoted to 53-man roster

Marcus Cannon Signed to Practice Squad

Watch the Pierre Strong injury as the week goes on. If he can’t go, it might be an opportunity for JJ Taylor to get a call-up as one of the two designated players.

Morse’s Morsels

I noticed that Carlins Platel was on the Steelers IR list. The local Everett HS product played three seasons at D II Assumption University in Worcester. Because COVID wiped out his Senior season in 2020, he was given an extra year of eligibility and transferred to South Carolina for a year as a Grad Student. He made 21 tackles as their nickel back. A UDFA, he was hurt late in the final Pre-season game. Waived at the final cutdown with an injury designation, he passed through waivers and was put on IR. Unless he comes up with an injury settlement, he will remain on IR all year. He is noticeably bigger than when he played at Assumption. He is 6’1 and 205 lbs with solid muscular frame.

Pro Football Focus does a weekly rating of the Offensive lines in the NFL and had the Patriots line as #7 coming into the season. Believe it or not, they moved them up a notch to number 6 with a 66.7 rating. They had particular praise for Cole Strange. His pass blocking grade as 4th amongst all guards in the league. Strange was criticized as a reach at the draft, but by those numbers, it appears the Patriots and their scouting staff did the right thing. Also, Strange was not benched during the game, that was a planned substitution to try and keep the rookie fresh. Yodny Cajuste spelled Isaiah Wynn for a series. Michael Onwenu’s grade was 68.9, Wynn’s 72.4, Brown 65.7 (33^rd by OT), and David Andrews had a rough game with just a 55.9 (20^th) rating.

Bottom line is this will be a low-scoring, close game. The Home Field advantage, with all those Terrible Towers, could be the deciding factor in this game. Either team can win. Whoever makes the least amount of mistakes will win the game.

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About Mark Morse

Merrimack Valley native and lifelong fan of the New England Patriots. My earliest memories of the Patriots were attending as a child with my dad, the off-season practice at Phillips Academy. I was at the Patriots game at Harvard Stadium in 1970 where Bob “Harpo” Gladieux was called out of the stands by the stadium announcer over the PA to play in the game. Analyzing the draft since ESPN first started to televise it in 1980 and former writer for the Lowell Sun Newspaper.

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