PITTSBURGH \u2013 After Sunday’s loss in Pittsburgh, it’s safe to say this year is most definitely different than any season in recent memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Normally, the Patriots win this game easy. They held the Pittsburgh Steelers to only 17\npoints. Ben Roethlisberger had two\ninterceptions. Mike Tomlin had a\ncoaching brain cramp at the end of the first half. Chris Boswell had still another missed field\ngoal. Tom Brady had the ball with just\nover two minutes left and a chance to send the game to overtime, and that\u2019s\nlike betting on the Harlem Globetrotters to beat the Washington Generals. All this and no LeVeon Bell or James Conner\nat running back. A Globe <\/em>article proclaimed that the Patriots have the Steelers\u2019\nnumber and that the Steelers are \u201cbeaten before the game starts\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately, this year is different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Patriots still cannot stop the run. The Patriots committed 14 penalties, many of them\nof the pre-snap variety. Patriot\nreceivers dropped key passes. In the\nend, a late rally by Brady fell short, and Pittsburgh pulled off a somewhat\nshocking 17-10 win over the Patriots on Sunday at Heinz Field. The Patriots lost in a kooky way last week at\nMiami, but this week this was definitely a downer for the reigning AFC champs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, this year is definitely different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The loss once again prevented the Patriots from clinching\nthe AFC East, as Miami was throttled earlier in the day at Minnesota. The loss also drops the Patriots to the three\nseed, vaulting Houston into the two seed. \nPittsburgh barely holds on to the lead in the AFC North; a loss would\nhave put Baltimore in the four seed and dropped Pittsburgh to the eight\nseed. With all this playoff mojo\nworking, such a scenario always favors the Patriots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But still, this year is definitely different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s begin with the opponent running the ball. No Bell, no Conners, so Pittsburgh trots out some\nguy named Jaylen Samuels. All this\nrookie from North Carolina State did was rush for 142 yards on 19 carries for a\n7.5 yard per carry average. This is\nsimply unacceptable for the Patriots. \nAll the defense had to do was to make sure that Antonio Brown and Juju\nSmith-Shuster don\u2019t beat you, and the front seven should be able to handle\nSamuels. But that was hardly the case. He was so good, Tomlin didn\u2019t have to try\nex-Patriot Stevan Ridley, who had 16 yards on three carries and zero fumbles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the opening drive of the game, Samuels had 50 yards from\nscrimmage on five touches. This helped\nRoethlisberger find Vance McDonald from five yards out for a touchdown and a\nquick 7-0 lead. Samuels had only three\ntouches for the rest of the half, but two of those touches went for ten or more\nyards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most damaging play of the night came on the final offensive\npossession for the Steelers (not counting the kneeldown at game\u2019s end). Needing a stop to get the ball back and\nkeeping the deficit at four points, the Patriots had Pittsburgh third and nine\nat their own 26. Roethlisberger rolled\nright, couldn\u2019t find anyone open, then at the last minute found a wide-open\nSamuels at the sideline for a backbreaking 20-yard catch. The drive continued until Boswell nailed a\n49-yard field goal to make it 17-10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Over the last three games, against Minnesota, Miami and\nPittsburgh, the Patriot opponent has averaged 7.3, 9.0 and 6.3 yards per rush\nrespectively. The Patriots are simply a\nteam that cannot stop the run. Normally,\nthe Patriots can stuff runs at the line and worry about pass coverage,\nespecially in games in December and January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Except this year, things are different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Penalties killed the Patriots, especially a lot of false\nstarts, but a few in particular were very damaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the first offensive possession of the second quarter,\nSony Michel ripped off three runs for 18 total yards. The fourth carry was a nifty left end run for\n25 yards and would have put the Patriots at the Pittsburgh 31. But Trent Brown was called for holding, and\nthe drive stalled two plays later. The\nSteelers had just taken a 14-7 lead on the previous drive, and this penalty\nstopped what was becoming a shootout between Brady and Roethlisberger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the final drive for the Patriots, Brady was able to drive\nthe Patriots to the Pittsburgh 11 with about 30 seconds left. Michel ran for about six yards to the Steeler\n5, but Shaq Mason was called for holding. \nWith the ball now at the 21 and time running out, Brady threw three\nstraight incompletions and the game was over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which was another reminder that, with two weeks left, this year is definitely different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the previous drive in the fourth quarter, Brady suffered\na hideous interception which also made the end game difficult. With the score still 14-10 Pittsburgh, Brady\ndrove the Patriots to the Steeler 5-yard line. \nOn first down, Marcus Cannon was called for holding. James White was then nailed for a two-yard\nloss on a left flat pass. With the ball\nnow on the 17-yard line and second and goal, Brady rolled right to avoid a\nsack, but then hurried a throw off his back foot to the right sideline. Thinking Rob Gronkowski was there for a jump\nball, cornerback Joe Haden jumped up and made the pick at the Steeler 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Needing a three and out that deep in Steeler territory,\ninstead they give up the winning field goal by Boswell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, this year is definitely different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Duron Harmon had both interceptions of Roethlisberger. The first was followed by a Patriot three and\nout, the second one was followed by the Haden interception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Normally that would be enough to win, but for some reason, this year has been a little different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tomlin was snookered by Bill Belichick at the end of the\nfirst half. Seemingly wanting to go for\nit on fourth down, at the last minute the Patriots switched and put out their\npunt team. Tomlin never called time\nout. Pittsburgh got the ball back but\ncould only take a kneel and end the half. \nThe Patriots had to begin the second half with a touchdown. Nope, five plays and a punt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In past years, they would have closed out the half with points and opened the 3rd quarter with another score. But this year, things are a little different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next week the Bills come to Foxborough, followed by the\nJets. The Patriots have a good chance to\nfinish 11-5. But the Patriots haven\u2019t\nlost 5 games since they lost 6 in 2009, the same year where a camera crew\nfollowed Belichick around all year, and they caught Belichick in New Orleans\nlamenting to Brady that he couldn\u2019t reach his players that year. Maybe Belichick and Brady will have a similar\nchat this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both of these last two weeks, the Patriot opponent played poorly enough to lose. Miami was trailing at the end of the game before the crazy play, and Pittsburgh was typically mistake-prone at home against the Patriots. They should be 11-3 and thinking about Kansas City losing one more game along the way and reclaiming the one seed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately, that’s just not the case. For now, it’s just time to accept the fact that, whether we like it or not, this season is simply different.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Patriots lost in a kooky way last week at Miami, but this week this was definitely a downer for the reigning AFC champs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":20903,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_pfeai_meta_description":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1826,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2018-patriots-regular-season","category-patriots-commentary"],"yoast_head":"\n