Patriots vs Steelers Preview

One of the great rivalries of the last decade is renewed on Sunday afternoon. The Pats head down to Pittsburgh where they have routinely handled the Steelers in the Brady/Belichick era. Brady has lost to the Steelers once in his illustrious career and it was back in 2004. I would like to sit here and try and say how its going to be a tough game, that Pitt is tough to play in, that Ben Roethlisberger is a top fligt QB whos tough to beat, and its all true. I can't fear the Steelers and this game but I do love to beat them and hear them whine about it after. The Patriots always beat the Steelers and they do it the same way every time.


The Patriots are a game plan team. That means the game plan changes from week to week. One week it could be a running attack. The next it's a passing attack centered around Welker and then the next week Gronkowski and Hernandez. The Steelers, on the other hand, do what they do. Their going to blitz you and their going to blitz you often from a variety of spots. It's been the same way for years dating all the way to when Bill Cowher was first hired. Belichick has coached circles around the duo of Cowher and Dick LeBeau and now Mike Tomlin and LeBeau. What the Pats do is spread the field out, let Brady see where the blitz is coming from, and he just picks it apart. Brady has throw 1 interception in his career vs the Steelers and I've seen every Brady game and I can't even remember the game and situation when it happened. Look for a big game from Gronk. Last year, Gronk had his breakout game vs the Steelers, having 3 TDs and setting up his future career on twitter with Bibi Jones.


Another thing Brady and the Pats do is routinely catch Troy Polamalu out of position. They take advantage of his aggressive style with play action and bait him into jumping the deep in cuts and then hit the bomb over the top. He has always been a non factor vs the Patriots.


Big Ben has been known to make plays. Hes a huge guy, could play tight end that's how big he is. He hangs in the pocket and gets outside the pocket and makes big plays down field to Mike Wallace. The Patriots don't try to sack Roethlisberger like they would with other quarterbacks because he is so tough to bring down. They try to keep him contained and make him try and been a basic prototype pocket passer. When the play breaks down and he gets outside the pocket, that is when the Steelers will hurt the Patriots defense. Keep an eye out for that.


Brady probably enjoys beating the Steelers maybe more than any other team besides the Jets and the Colts (the real Colts, not the stink bomb team this year). It goes all the way back to Joey Porter, Jermome Bettis, Anthony Smith, and the SpyGate stuff that they still complain about. Its always fun beating the Steelers. Pats win.


Until next time...