One thing that had me yelling at the TV during the Steelers/Patriots game was the consistent yardage that was given up on the underneath routes; which seems to be the only plays that are called by Josh McDaniels… that and the seam routes for Rob Gronkowski… and runs up the middle for LeGarrette Blount.

I can understand how hard it can be to defend the underneath routes, no matter who you’re playing, but the Patriots run it, and they run it well (I can’t believe I just complimented the Patriots on something).

However, the Steelers defense set the tone early against Tom Brady and company.

On the Patriots first offense snap, Jarvis Jones causes a fumble against Chris Hogan, and recovers it, after catching up to the play.

It’s very nice to see Jarvis Jones making an impact week in and week out.

Unfortunately the Steelers didn’t capitliaze on the New England turnover, and the Patriots marched down the field on the very next drive, in which the Steelers defense had multiple opportunities to get off the field on third down.

 

Nothing drives me up a wall more than when the defense has everything covered and the opposing QB runs for the first down. This exact play, and the others like it, had me throwing my Steelers hat across the room.

I don’t put any blame on the Steelers for this one. I’m not surprised they didn’t have a “spy” for Tom Brady: Brady running is just as awkward as Peyton Manning running.

I’m also not surprised Brady took off: he saw the Steelers were in man-coverage, which is the perfect opportunity for a QB to run for a first down.

Unfortunately, this was on third down with an opportunity to get off the field.

On the same drive, Brady breaks free again, and is able to find James White for a first down.

The pass coverage was actually good; so good, the defense should’ve gotten a sack here. Some credit has to go to a veteran quarterback making the play, as the defense did about as much as it could in this situation.

This play below was frustrating to watch. When I looked at this from the opposite view, it seemed Mike Mitchell got to Patriots RB James White a little too late.

It happens.

This was just a well executed play by the Patriots, and it caught the Steelers off-guard, as Tom Brady ran a hurry-up at the line.

After this loss, Cam Heyward said that the “defense quit,” which led to a response by defensive coordinator Keith Butler (he respectfully disagreed with him).

Now, I don’t want to disagree with a man like Cam Heyward, but from what I could tell, I don’t think the Steelers defense “quit.”

The score could’ve been a lot more lopsided. However, I can sense Heyward’s frustration, with plays like this 3rd and 1 situation, where Blount only needs a yard but gets nine.

He’s right: that is fairly inexcusable, especially for a team that’s usually good against the run.

Perhaps they miss Cam more than we realize: the Steelers have given up 362 rushing yards in two games without their star defensive end.

Regardless, the entire game was a chess match between the Steelers trying to shutdown the Patriots duo of tight ends (Rob Gronkowski and Martellus Bennett) while protecting against LeGarrette Blount and the run. In doing so, the Steelers were constantly cycling LB Lawrence Timmons out for an extra defensive back.

Most of the game, William Gay shadowed Gronk all over the field: the Patriots countered with running plays.

When Timmons would return to the field, Brady took his shots passing.

However, on this 3rd and 7 play, Brady saw safety Robert Golden lined up on Gronk, and the rest is history.

I mean, what could the Steelers really do on this play? Tom Brady placed the ball where only Gronk could get it. To me, that’s it. Golden still has to defend a shorter pass which could move the chains. This is just a well-executed play that took advantage of the defensive package on the field. (And once is all it really takes when you’re discussing Brady and Gronk.)

I don’t want to sound all doom-and-gloom, because as noted, the Patriots tight ends were kept out of a majority of the game. Gronkowski caught 5 of 7 targets for 109 against the Browns, while he put up 7 catches on 9 targets for 162 yards and a touchdown against the Bengals. That’s an average of 8 targets in the previous two games, but the Steelers defense held Gronk to half of those targets with a solid game plan.

Unfortunately, he caught all 4 of those passes that came his way.

Likewise, Martellus Bennett had been averaging 6 targets per game, catching an average of 4 passes for 60 yards in 6 games. He had 26 catches for 362 yards and 4 touchdowns heading into Sunday’s game.

On Sunday, the Steelers held Bennett to 1 catch on 2 passes thrown his direction: that lone catch went for 5 yards.

Once again William Gay was in coverage to prevent a first down conversion on Bennett’s only catch of the night.

In this way, I wouldn’t say the Steelers defense necessarily “quit”. The bye-week for our Pittsburgh Steelers couldn’t have come at a better time. Many players need rest both physically and mentally. Adding Cam back to this defense last Sunday may have had different results, particularly in the running game.

That said, I want our guys to get all the R&R they need before they play the Ravens on the road.

They’re going to need it, as the Ravens have had our number in recent years, and they too will be coming off a bye, following a 4-game losing streak.