We are all blinded by him, and what he says.Yeah guys but Lombardi. LOMBARDI.
We are all blinded by him, and what he says.Yeah guys but Lombardi. LOMBARDI.
Jones was OK, Brown got dinged up, Bell was running into a stout box, you were missing several defensive contributors, false start penalties – aside from the Patriots not bringing their A game, the Steelers left a lot of points and possibilities out on the field. With Roethlisberger and some breaks, and it's not close the other way.As a Steelers fan, I'd give game balls to Brady, Blount and Butler -- those were the guys who killed us.
This is the Steelers' 3rd loss by multiple scores. Granted, the injury to Roethlisberger was a factor in two of those three losses, but it's also possible that Pittsburgh simply isn't as good as the conventional wisdom supposes -- which explains why the Pats were able to beat them by two TDs on the road despite not bringing their "A" game.
Were these people watching the same game I watched? Remove the fumble on the first play of the game and 4 of the next 7 drives resulted in TD's. Two of the drives that failed only stalled because open receivers dropped easy catches.Reluctant to blitz through the first three quarters of the game, the Steelers dared New England’s receivers to beat them with a numbers disadvantage, and no one outside of tight end Rob Gronkowski was up to the task. The Pats’ passing game sputtered before a second-half Gronk explosion and some lumbering LeGarrette Blount runs put the contest away.
Pats win by two scores on the road despite losing the turnover battle, dropping key passes, and shitty (and uncharacteristic) special teams play, I'm not worried about the Steelers.Jones was OK, Brown got dinged up, Bell was running into a stout box, you were missing several defensive contributors, false start penalties – aside from the Patriots not bringing their A game, the Steelers left a lot of points and possibilities out on the field. With Roethlisberger and some breaks, and it's not close the other way.
I would not be at all confident headed to PIT in the AFCG.
And the 3rd non-scoring drive stalled due to 2 offensive holding calls (one declined). I agree that the Steelers defense did not do anything special.Does anyone think the defensive game plan for the Steelers was good?
We heard during the broadcast about how good of a game plan it was, and Robert Mays thinks it worked great till Gronk, Gronked.
Were these people watching the same game I watched? Remove the fumble on the first play of the game and 4 of the next 7 drives resulted in TD's. Two of the drives that failed only stalled because open receivers dropped easy catches.
The final two drives consisted of 5 runs into the line and that weird bomb.
Am I crazy to think that the only thing that stopped the Pats offense yesterday was the Pats, and relying on drops seems like a bad idea?
It was a weird game. I do think Pittsburgh made things a little more difficult than the numbers suggest. Brady had to pick up a few first downs with his legs and made another handful of plays on scramble drills, which you don't normally see. Pittsburgh did a better job in coverage than I would have expected heading into the game, but Brady made some nice out-of-structure plays and the Pats ran the ball much better than I would have expected.Does anyone think the defensive game plan for the Steelers was good?
We heard during the broadcast about how good of a game plan it was, and Robert Mays thinks it worked great till Gronk, Gronked.
Were these people watching the same game I watched? Remove the fumble on the first play of the game and 4 of the next 7 drives resulted in TD's. Two of the drives that failed only stalled because open receivers dropped easy catches.
The final two drives consisted of 5 runs into the line and that weird bomb.
Am I crazy to think that the only thing that stopped the Pats offense yesterday was the Pats, and relying on drops seems like a bad idea?
Those two holding calls happened because the offensive line got beat badly (which is the case most of the time with holding by offensive lineman). The alternative to the call isn't 'successful play' - it's 'sack'.And the 3rd non-scoring drive stalled due to 2 offensive holding calls (one declined). I agree that the Steelers defense did not do anything special.
Who were the jokers who just stood around while that punt sashayed into the end zone? Can they be fined?Cannon who has become arguably their best OL (which is a remarkable statement) had another outstanding game. Butler, Gronk, and Brady, are the top 3, with Bolden leading horrible special teams (bad kick coverage, fumbled punt, missed downing and easy punt inside 5, missed XP, etc.)
Seconded. Things appeared to be very vanilla yesterday. The same thing I thought coming out of the Green Bay game in Green Bay a couple seasons ago (except they lost that one). I would almost guarantee they knew they could run the ball well against Pittsburgh and planned to just do that a lot. In between, Brady and the offense got hot at times, Gronk was Gronk and they just put in a workmanlike effort. I would bet on much higher levels of execution at Buffalo this week.The execution at many times yesterday was not good, but I do wonder if sometimes Belichick and the coaches alter the game plan for teams they may be facing down the road in the playoffs - not to the extent that they jeapordize the game, but I wonder if they keep things up their sleeves for teams they think they might be facing down the road.
Just a thought, what the hell do I know.
Mentioned this on the game thread but part of me wonders whether the league has adjusted to the "kick it to the goal line and pin them deep" strategy. It worked extremely well the first few weeks but the Steelers weren't fooled by it at all, and I wonder whether we start seeing a lot more kicks out of the end zone again. I feel like it took the NFL about the same number of games to adjust to the Wildcat about 8 years ago.Bottom line, they played shit in special teams (first non awesome kickoff coverage game of the year, bad punting and Ghost).
What the hell do I know as well but fwiw I coach high school bball... and we withhold certain things within our conference the first time through. We also will put off certain adjustments until after halftime even if we have things figured out in the first half. Depends on the situation of course. If we're getting creamed in the first half, we'll make any and all adjustments asap. But, typically the goal is to get through halftime robbing the opposing coach the chance to address it at the break. We can also do the reverse and show something late in the second quarter or late in a game (especially in a blowout situation), though we have little intention to rely on whatever we're showing, in order to have the opponents spend time addressing it for either the second half or the second game. Now, I suspect this is largely a function of high school as this would be pretty ineffective against better and smarter players and coaches. Whether this happens in the NFL, IDK. But, I'd lean no unless BB feels he can dupe a particular coach.The execution at many times yesterday was not good, but I do wonder if sometimes Belichick and the coaches alter the game plan for teams they may be facing down the road in the playoffs - not to the extent that they jeapordize the game, but I wonder if they keep things up their sleeves for teams they think they might be facing down the road.
Just a thought, what the hell do I know.
The Steelers are average at best talent-wise on the defensive side of the ball. Against a powerhouse offense like the Patriots, the "game plan" consists of denying the big play, forcing the offense to gain yardage in small chunks. If the other team executes flawlessly, that won't be good enough, but if you force them to make enough reps, they will usually make some mistakes (ideally turnovers, but at least penalties, drops, etc., that let you get off the field).Does anyone think the defensive game plan for the Steelers was good?
Pittsburgh also has the worst sack rate in the entire league and was missing one of their best DL in Cam Heyward. The OL did well run blocking, however.That being said - despite the 1 sack, the offensive line scares the hell out of me. They got beat an awful lot yesterday. If we had a less skilled QB, that would have been a 6+ sack day IMO.
League average is 37% conversion rate on 3rd down, so 5 / 12 (42%) is nothing to write home about, especially against a backup QB. It's not terrible either, but if you were especially worried about New England's D on third down, I don't think Sunday should move the needle for you. FWIW, I see their struggles there as symptomatic of other problems (like, no pass rush).Everyone was bitching about them getting off the field on 3rd down last week. The Steelers were 5 of 12 on 3rd down conversions. I think that is called some progress. I also don't think they have even tried to blitz opposing QBs in a few weeks and it's worked out to the tone of being 3rd in points allowed.
One was definitely Slater but he had smartly realized there was no need to touch the ball as it was going to bounce OOB inside the 10. He is seen pointing at the ball to another player as if to warn him not to go in that direction. Then Bolden comes bumbling into the picture doing his best Leon Lett impersonation. I'd say Slater made the right call as the only way that punt wasn't getting downed inside the 10 is if another player made contact with it.Who were the jokers who just stood around while that punt sashayed into the end zone? Can they be fined?
PITTSBURGH — With all but one starter returning, most of which are entering the primes of their careers, the 2016 New England Patriots defense looked poised to ascend into the pantheon of the league's scariest units.
Like a Seattle or Denver, or what Minnesota has become. Nasty.
Thus far, this has not been the case in New England.
This 2016 Patriots defense does not overwhelm opponents. Then again, the 2016 Patriots defense has not been required to overwhelm opponents.
The Pats rarely blitzed or risked vulnerability in the secondary. They kept everything in front of them. The Steelers ran 42 plays in the second half, and none went for 20+ yards. The Pats did a fine job in the run game, holding stud tailback Le'Veon Bell to 21 carries for 81 yards.
The Patriots brought extra pressure — 5 or more rushers — on only eight of Jones' 47 dropbacks. They rushed three defenders or less on 28 dropbacks. Turns out all that extra time in the pocket did not make Landry Jones good, especially when the Pats had eight players to cover his five pass catchers. Jones threw one terrible interception in this game, and was inches away from throwing two or three more.
Jones didn't totally flop, but he was not consistent enough to put up the 28-30 points needed against the Pats.
As Devin McCourty told The Boston Globe after Sunday's 27-16 win, "I feel like every year it's something. We'll never be just, 'You're a good defensive team.' Nobody will say that to us. So, we don't care. Whatever we are in points allowed we know that's what's important. We know that is what the game comes down to."
As Malcolm Butler said, "It's not going to be perfect, we aren't going to stop everything. Stats only take you so far. It's about winning the game."
http://blog.masslive.com/patriots/2016/10/patriots_defense_week_7_steele.html#incart_river_home#incart_m-rpt-2What we saw Sunday was not a sexy gameplan from Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia. But it wasn't much different from the gameplan the Pats used to shut out the Texans in Week 3 (another team with vertical receiving threats and unstable quarterback play).
It's not as though Brock Osweiler was getting rocked that night. Save for a pair of Jabaal Sheard sacks, he was barely touched. When Osweiler was intercepted over the middle by Jamie Collins, the Pats only rushed three defenders. Osweiler faced a weak four-man rush when he sailed a ball over Ryan Griffin's head on an early 3rd-and-8. He didn't need to be pressured into stinking. He stunk anyway.
The Pats would not allow DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller to beat them deep on a single play, and Osweiler was unsurprisingly incapable of beating them consistently for an entire drive, let alone the entire game.
A sensible approach.
Against Andy Dalton and the Bengals in Week 6, the Pats played conservative defense early. Dalton, the only competent pocket passer they have faced since Carson Palmer, completed 18 of his first 22 passes. Then the Pats started using Dont'a Hightower to rush Dalton, a move that produced a momentum-swinging safety. They sent Patrick Chung after him twice. Logan Ryan blitzed from his cornerback spot and forced an errant Dalton throw. They adapted.
I don't disagree with your conclusion, though I do think there's a layer of the analysis related to game situation. For example, the Pats are happy to let a team down two TDs go on a long, multi-first down drive in the last 6 minutes of the game. Similarly, if they are up 3 TDs in second half they go into a semi-prevent by design. There's a bunch of game-plan and game-situation related factors in those stats, more for the Pats than most because 1) they have a great offense and are often up and 2) they tailor their decision making drive-by-drive more than most teams. To some degree, DVOA captures the above better than traditional stats and Pats are 21st there...illustrative of why I agree with your bottom line.Points allowed isn't a team defense stat, its a team stat.
Heading into this week the Pats were 15th in yards per drive allowed headed into this week and have been bad in the red zone, 27th or 28th depending on which stat you want to use. 20th in drive success rate. 20th in 3 and outs forced. 18th in plays per drive.
The stats where the team is performing very well are 1st in the league in starting field position allowed and 1st in the league in average lead at the start of a drive. Given the other components are relatively mediocre, those states seem to be driving a lot of the points allowed success, but I don't think it says that much about the defense.