The Good, The Bad & The Ugly - Week 14 - Ravens

I swear if the defense pulls any more of its soft-zone four-man rush crap again I'm going to lose it.

 

The Steelers will "lose it" too.

 

I don’t understand what Butler is trying to do, at all.

 

Agree with most of this, but as long as the offense is scoring like they should be against this defense at Heinz, that is the key. TOP is meaningless to me in this game because I expect NE to score every time they have the ball, we just have to keep up running whatever plays make that possible and if that means scoring quick then so be it

 

That ideology might work, but it concedes that your defense is basically powerless. The last time the Steelers beat the Patriots, the defense played their biggest corner on Gronk and jammed the Pats' receivers at the LOS, disrupting their timing. Meanwhile, the offense featured a heavy dose of Ben dumping the ball off to Heath Miller and moving the chains. Jesse James caught 10 passes against Balt, so there's no reason to believe we can't replicate that gameplan on offense with more dynamism.

The defense is obviously what concerns me. Even if the gameplan is good, Sean Davis has been playing like shit lately. Worst-case scenario is that the defense is made to look completely foolish and Brady does whatever the hell he wants. There's always the chance as well that Keith Butler takes his stupid pills this week, completely ignores the documented tried-and-true way to neutralize the pastry meats, and comes out with that fucking moronic soft-zone that he loves to play against the Pats as a DC.

 

Tomlin says the Steelers are better equipped to play man coverage against the Patriots this time.

Earlier this year Butler said he learned you can't play zone against Tom Brady and the Patriots.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...nse-tom-brady-new-england-patriots/530661001/

The Steelers have got to take their chances and play some man press so Brady can't dump the ball off quickly. Give the pass rush a chance to get there.

I'd rather see the Steelers get beat trying something different than watch them get picked apart and refusing to adjust.

 

I agree completely. Been saying this for years.

 

We need Watt to come up big

I think the over under is 53 right now (I could be very wrong not good at looking up betting lines). If 53 is the the over under Id say take the over I'm not sure either defense is stopping the other.

 

If I were a wealthy man, I’d enjoy betting on this stuff ... probably would just give me a another thing to complain about though lol

 

I didn't think the Steelers would be home underdogs, but I like it.

 

Given the history and opponent..........that number is probably right. I think it may even rise to -3.5 or -4 by game time.

 

The Steelers are 2-1 vs New England at home when they are one score underdogs. The only game they lost was last year when Jones started. Neat little factoid that means nothing.

 

I like the fact that we are underdogs this time. I never like when we're favored regardless of the opponent. Even if Keith Butler schemes well, I still think this will be a game that features a ton of yards and points. Even in that scenario, I like our chances.

 

Weather is showing 80% chance of a light rain on Sunday

 

If the Steelers defense can play with the same intensity and passion as beloved Demolisher’s and Techheart’s postings they will play a decent game.

If they can “contain” NE’s running game and pressure Brady up the middle they will have a good chance to win without the offense having to score 200 points.

If Joe Haden can play and play effectively it dramatically increases their chances of successful man-to-man coverage schemes

You have been advised

 

I wonder if Brady's achilles tendon injury is causing problems for him in the last two games. 1 TD and 3 INTs and 491 yards. Hope they can slow him down.

 

Interesting thought. I am glad we are meeting up with them at the end of the year and at Heinz. With the prices fans are paying for this game (check it out on stubhub and Ticketmaster , etc.) I hope our defense does more than they did last Sunday evening. My defib broke the 7th time I had to use it....