Watch: Why Was Vance McDonald Shut Out?

[Shoes]

Vance McDonald didn’t receive a target until there was 1:22 left in the game, a moment where the contest was over and the Pittsburgh Steelers were going to suffer a blowout defeat. The offense stagnated and struggled to find a #2 receiver to compliment JuJu Smith-Schuster.
On paper, McDonald was as good an option as any. But the New England Patriots knew it too. And their plan was to not let either Smith-Schuster or McDonald win the day. In our weekly film room breakdown, we check out what Bill Belichick did to take #89 away. It was a similar gameplan as JuJu. Be physical at the line, shadow, and not give him any breathing room. We cover exactly what they do in this week’s video breakdown.

https://steelersdepot.com/2019/09/watch-why-was-vance-mcdonald-shut-out/

[Edman]

Belichick knows Ben's greatest strength and exposed his weakness. Ben thrived on going deep and extending plays for the big play. Ben rarely if ever takes what is given him. So just blanket the receivers, take away the deep stuff, and keep Linebackers in to spy and pressure him in case he tries to scramble.

At 3:36, Switzer is breaking open over to the Left, but Ben doesn't see it and just throws to Moncrief who has minimal chance with Six Pats defenders right there waiting on him. Pats only rushed three and he wasn't even pressured on the play, he zeroed in on MacDonald and dropped down to Moncrief. Put Brady in that spot and Switzer is running free for a first down if not more. Not completely Ben's fault of course, when you have a coaching staff that doesn't think about this kind of stuff or prepare for opponents, you have plays like this... all the time.