All right before I get into what I really want to talk about credit to Mike Tomlin, Dick LeBeau, and the Steelers. They did what no one thought they would do and adjust. They changed up from the zone blitzes and switched it to man pressure. The cornerbacks maned up on Welker, Branch, and the Pats receivers and wouldn't allow them any space to operate. OK now lets get to the good stuff.
Yesterdays performance by the Patriots secondary was pathetic and sad. Big Ben and that offense came out throwing the ball all over the place as well they should. Every time there was a 3rd and long, the Steelers were converting with ease. The corners were so far off the receivers and just giving them free releases off the line, letting them run easy to a spot and letting Big Ben complete easy passes. Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown, and Heath Miller were just running their routes, just having a grand old time like their playing catch in the backyard. Devin McCourty has taken a huge step this year and has been useless. I could sit here and rip Phillip Adams and Moulden but no one knows who those guys are and I don't expect anything from them anyway. McCourty has zero confidence right now and it shows. Yesterday he was the king of playing all the receiver. If you iso'd on McCourty yesterday, like I did on many plays, he would be up on the receiver and then right before the ball is snapped he'd back up and give a free release. Watch Revis. He's up in guy's faces all day giving them nothing easy. Because I'm insane I'm gonna re-watch the game and count how many times McCourty was up close and then back off last minute. That defensive backfield was awful and it made the Steelers look like 1999 St Louis Rams. The secondary is just Pat Chung and a bunch of practice squad guys. Is Leighh Bodden available?
Brady and the offense only had the ball for 20 minutes and with that little time they still put numbers and points. With the way the seondary played, the offesne couldnt afford 3 and outs and they had a few of those yesterday. Another disturbing is that Pats wide outs cant get open vs man coverage. It goes back to the Jets playoff game. Ochocinco is on his last legs here. He cant even run a deep post without looking like a drunk frat kid on Halloween weekend. Talk about useless.
The call for the onside kick was awful. Down 6 just about 2:30 left with 3 timeouts and the 2 minute warning. I know the defense was awful but you have to trust them there. Chances are the Steelers were going to run and we are actually pretty good vs the run. That's telling how Belichick has no faith in the defense. Maybe they weren't going to stop them but it could be a learning experience for them down the road. The execution of the kick was horrendous. The kick went about three feet. Just the wrong call in my opinion.
Well that's that. The secondary is poop sandwich. Yesterday was frustrating to watch. Next up we got the New York Giants and you damn well that ESPN is going to love to show Super Bowl 42 highlights. Get ready to chance that channel.
Until next time...
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