Steelers vs. Patriots matchups
When the Steelers have the ball: It’s tough to say that Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown are afterthoughts, but they are with the way Le’Veon Bell has been rolling along. Bell has 1,172 yards in his past eight games.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is known for his ability to take away the opposing team’s best offensive option, but do you do that with Bell at the expense of leaving Brown one-on-one?
No team mixes and matches its fronts and defense quite like the Patriots. They will show a variety of looks trying to confuse Roethlisberger.
The Patriots were third in the NFL, stopping the run, but much of that was because their offense was so good that their mostly inferior opponents – they played five teams with winning records – had to abandon the run.
New England allowed 3.9 yards per carry, still above average, but not outstanding. When the Steelers faced the Patriots Nov. 6 at Heinz Field, a 27-16 New England win, Pittsburgh ran the ball effectively despite Landry Jones starting in place of an injured Roethlisberger.
The Steelers gained 94 yards rushing on 22 carries in that game. Considering the Patriots were daring Jones to throw the ball against them, that’s not bad.
Bell had 10 catches for 68 yards in the first meeting and the Patriots allowed 102 receptions to running backs, second-most in the NFL. The Steelers haven’t used Bell much as a receiver in recent weeks, but he could have an advantage against New England’s linebackers.
Cornerback Malcolm Butler will likely shadow Brown with help, at times. Roethlisberger will have to recognize when it’s Brown vs. Butler in one-on-one situations and get Brown the ball. He had seven catches for 106 yards in the first meeting and nine catches for 133 yards and a touchdown. With Butler following him around in the 2015 opener in New England, that was a 28-21 loss.
The other corners, Logan Ryan, Eric Rowe and Duron Harmon are OK, though Ryan led the Patriots with 92 tackles. That’s not always good for a defensive back.
Safeties Devin McCourty and Patrick Chung are one of the best duos in the league. But they had two combined interceptions during the regular season. McCourty did have one last week against Houston. Both will be used as blitzers.
The Patriots will bring pressure from a lot of different places, so the Steelers’ offensive line could be tested.
When the Patriots have the ball: You can bet the Steelers spent time this week watching the tape of the Houston Texans harass Tom Brady into a sub-par day last weekend, despite New England winning that game 34-16.
Brady was just 18 of 38 passing for 287 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. It marked his second consecutive playoff game with a completion percentage of less than 50 percent, so he is human.
A lot of that pressure came right in Brady’s face, attacking center David Andrews and rookie left guard Joe Thuney. They even brought outside linebackers Jadeveon Clowney and Whitney Mercilus up the middle on blitzes.
Bud Dupree is athletic and fast enough to get to Brady quickly on stunts to the inside. James Harrison’s game is built around power, but he can still duck the shoulder and get there quickly. The Steelers also can bring their inside linebackers and will move defensive end Stephon Tuitt around to get the right matchups.
The Steelers can’t allow RB LeGarrette Blount to get rolling. That’s a recipe for a loss.
Julian Edelman finished with nine receptions but for only 60 yards. in the previous meeting Inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons was responsible for those crossing routes. Ryan Shazier was coming off a knee injury and didn’t start that game, though he played. Shazier and Timmons are working well in conjunction at inside linebacker. Shazier has an interception in four consecutive games, showing off great ball skills, which has allowed Timmons to blitz more and concentrate on stopping the run. The Patriots will test the Steelers again with those short crossing routes.
The Steelers won’t have to worry about Rob Gronkowski beating them in this one. Martellus Bennett isn’t bad, but he’s no Gronkowski.
The Patriots have worked Kevin Hogan into the lineup more as a deep threat. Steelers safety Mike Mitchell is going to have to be aware of not biting on play-action fakes to allow the Patriots to get behind him. You can bet the Patriots will go after rookie cornerback Artie Burns when they do go deep. The Chiefs misfired on some deep passes last week and Burns also broke one up, but he has to be aware of double moves.
Special teams: Neither team offers anything special in the return game. Neither had a return for a TD in the regular season, though Dion Lewis did return a kickoff for a score last week. But he also lost a fumble on his next return.
Edelman will likely handle the punt return duties and he averaged a solid 9.0 yards per return during the season, just below Brown’s average of 9.3 yards, so there’s no advantage there.
Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski is as solid as they come. He was 27 of 32 on field goal attempts, with two of the misses beyond 50 yards.
Pittsburgh’s Chris Boswell went 21 of 25 during the regular season with two misses from beyond 50 yards. He set a playoff record last week with six field goals. Boswell has made all seven of his field goal attempts in the postseason and is 14 for 14 in the postseason in his two seasons with the Steelers. n