Steelers face challenge in beating Brady on the road

[hawaiiansteeler]

Steelers face challenge in beating Brady on the road

By DAN SCIFO, Associated Press
Sep 6, 2015

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Pittsburgh Steelers have had their struggles against New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in Foxborough.

The four-time Super Bowl winner has led the Patriots to three lopsided home victories against Pittsburgh and he's looking for another. He was cleared to play after a judge overturned the NFL's four-game suspension of Brady last week for his role in using underinflated footballs during last season's AFC championship game.

The Steelers' defense, even after a rough preseason, isn't putting much emphasis on past meetings with Brady.

Instead, the group welcomes the opportunity to open the NFL season Thursday on the road against Brady and the Super Bowl champions.

"It's a hostile environment that truly loves their team," Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward said. "We want to be able to go on the road and win games like that, so this is a great test for our team."

Brady spoke for the first time on Sunday since the "Deflategate" court ruling, noting that he's ready to move on and focus on Thursday's opener against Pittsburgh.

"It's time for me to do my job," Brady said. "Anything that's happened over the last seven months wasn't really my job."

He's had his way with the Steelers in the past, going 5-2 in the regular season, including a 3-0 mark at Gillette Stadium. Brady has thrown 18 touchdowns to just three interceptions with a QB rating of 109.7, third-best among any team he's faced.

"We've had some pretty good days in the past, but if we want to have a good outcome on Thursday night we're going to have to be at our best," Brady said.

The Patriots have been at their best against the Steelers at Foxborough when Brady's under center. The Steelers have never beaten Brady at Foxborough during his career, losing three times by an average of 20 points, including a 55-31 rout two years ago.

to read rest of article:

http://www.knoxnews.com/sports/steel...-road_22553305

[Cyphon25]

"The Steelers' defense, even after a rough preseason, isn't putting much emphasis on past meetings with Brady."

If this is true they are dumb. They should be putting nothing but emphasis on the past meetings. This is why he kicked our asses, this is how we should go about fixing it. This was us getting our asses kicked, it is embarrassing so let's not let it happen again. Etc etc

[ALLD]

The difference will be Belichick game planning while the Steelers will go with what they want to do, damn the torpedoes. Admittedly, we are missing 3 key players on offense too.

I see it more as the defense losing it, getting off to a slow start and never being in the game rather that the offense not pulling its weight.

[hawaiiansteeler]

"The Steelers' defense, even after a rough preseason, isn't putting much emphasis on past meetings with Brady."

If this is true they are dumb. They should be putting nothing but emphasis on the past meetings. This is why he kicked our asses, this is how we should go about fixing it. This was us getting our asses kicked, it is embarrassing so let's not let it happen again. Etc etc

[Steeldude]

In other words, Tomlin doesn't game plan?

[TD's & Beer]

"We'll just grab and hold Gronk to stop him"



Steelers' message to Rob Gronkowski, Patriots: We're jamming

The Steelers plan to defend Rob Gronkowski in Thursday night's NFL opener with "constant contact."

First-year DC Keith Butler's unit plans to apply press coverage to Gronk within the first five yards of the line of scrimmage. "He has success when people don't put their hands on him," claimed FS Mike Mitchell. "You just have to jam him up a little bit, mess with his timing,"

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/13...rob-gronkowski

[HollywoodSteel]

At least we know Cam Hayward pays attention during Tomlin's press conferences and is now talking like his coach:

"It's a hostile environment that truly loves their team," Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward said. "We want to be able to go on the road and win games like that, so this is a great test for our team."

I'm surprised Cam didn't go all the way with it and stress that the Pats will be defending every blade of grass but the Steelers have no intention of being the Indians in their cowboy movie.

[ALLD]

"We'll just grab and hold Gronk to stop him"



Steelers' message to Rob Gronkowski, Patriots: We're jamming

The Steelers plan to defend Rob Gronkowski in Thursday night's NFL opener with "constant contact."

First-year DC Keith Butler's unit plans to apply press coverage to Gronk within the first five yards of the line of scrimmage. "He has success when people don't put their hands on him," claimed FS Mike Mitchell. "You just have to jam him up a little bit, mess with his timing,"

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/13...rob-gronkowski

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndiJdx2Jrtk

[TD's & Beer]

They sure are doing a lot of yapping.

Anyway, Mitchell would miss the jam and let him run by wide open down the middle for a 50 yd TD

[HollywoodSteel]

"We'll just grab and hold Gronk to stop him"



Steelers' message to Rob Gronkowski, Patriots: We're jamming

The Steelers plan to defend Rob Gronkowski in Thursday night's NFL opener with "constant contact."

First-year DC Keith Butler's unit plans to apply press coverage to Gronk within the first five yards of the line of scrimmage. "He has success when people don't put their hands on him," claimed FS Mike Mitchell. "You just have to jam him up a little bit, mess with his timing,"

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/13...rob-gronkowski

Has Mitchell ever shut down a healthy Gronk? Sure, messing up his timing is a good first move, but he is so talented and strong (and so in sync with Brady) that he'll make most catches anyway, even if his very first step is disrupted. And he better be jammed by someone other than the actual pass defender assigned to cover him because there's a good chance that it will be Gronk doing more of the disruption and knock the defender on his ass, or at least knock him to a place where he'll never catch up to the play when the ball comes.

I hope Mitchell understands this and isn't relying on this strategy alone or Gronk will have a monster night. Even with a small receiver who can be pushed around, stalling him only works if there's a pass rush that can use that extra second to get to the QB.

[TeeTee]

"We'll just grab and hold Gronk to stop him"



Steelers' message to Rob Gronkowski, Patriots: We're jamming

The Steelers plan to defend Rob Gronkowski in Thursday night's NFL opener with "constant contact."

First-year DC Keith Butler's unit plans to apply press coverage to Gronk within the first five yards of the line of scrimmage. "He has success when people don't put their hands on him," claimed FS Mike Mitchell. "You just have to jam him up a little bit, mess with his timing,"

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/13...rob-gronkowski

Yea no one has ever thought of trying to jam him before. We were the first team that thought of it. So Mitchell is gonna jam the 6-6, 265 lb Gronk with his 200 lbs? Hmmm, let's see how that works.

Again, why is this team running its mouth?

That's great. Giving out cocky quotes has really worked when this team faces the Pats.

[tube517]

At least we know Cam Hayward pays attention during Tomlin's press conferences and is now talking like his coach:

"It's a hostile environment that truly loves their team," Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward said. "We want to be able to go on the road and win games like that, so this is a great test for our team."

I'm surprised Cam didn't go all the way with it and stress that the Pats will be defending every blade of grass but the Steelers have no intention of being the Indians in their cowboy movie.

It's not his first rodeo.

[fansince'76]

Yea no one has ever thought of trying to jam him before.

LeBeau never did and we've seen the results of that, haven't we? The one time he actually did change things up and use press man against them (2011), the Steelers won.

[vasteeler]

if i see ten yard cushions i am going to scream!!

[fansince'76]

if i see ten yard cushions i am going to scream!!

Tackle the catch! (Who gives a damn if they move the sticks all night long)

[TD's & Beer]

if i see ten yard cushions i am going to scream!!

Worst case - after they get burned deep repeatedly trying to play press coverage they'll be going to a 15-20 yd cushion

You might as well take this and use it for your ave

[fansince'76]

Worst case - after they get burned deep repeatedly trying to play press coverage they'll be going to a 15-20 yd cushion

I'd rather see them try and be aggressive and fall on their face than sit back in a deep zone while Brady plays catch with his receivers all night underneath (for the thousandth time), but that's just me, I guess. Especially since they don't exactly have any really credible deep threats.

[TD's & Beer]

I'd rather see them try and be aggressive and fall on their face than sit back in a deep zone while Brady plays catch with his receivers all night underneath (for the thousandth time), but that's just me, I guess. Especially since they don't exactly have any really credible deep threats.

I'm not saying we can't beat the Pats, you're right, their WR group is about the weakest we face all year (other than Gronk), but LeBeau played it for a reason - he knew our CB's couldn't play up and hope our safeties could cover deep last year. He knew.

Other than Brice being replaced by Boykin, our secondary is the same as last year. It's a long year, not just one game. they will be exposed.

[Psycho Ward 86]

i remember reading that for the 2014 season tom brady had the biggest drop in QB rating while under pressure vs no pressure. ultimately, this isnt even about stopping Gronk. We need to make sure we're in brady's face all night.

[Count Steeler]

It is hard to be optimistic coming out of this past pre season. We expect the offense to be ready to go, but they haven't played much together. Against a schemed defense and missing 2 of the front liners and 1 to injury, it is hard to predict what will happen this game. The defense is a complete puzzle and I am hoping Butler has the solution key, but I am expecting a 4-5 game learning curve.

Plus, this is in NE, the Pats* will have a chip on their shoulder, especially Brady. And I wonder how well our communication devices will be working. I really don't see us starting the season with a victory.

[Mach1]

I'm just hoping we hold em under 40.

[salamander]

I'm just hoping we hold em under 40.

This.

Sorry, but it's going to be an ugly night for the Steelers.

[86WARD]

Patriots Center could be out with an injury...

[TD's & Beer]

Patriots Center could be out with an injury...

This might help


Patriots center Bryan Stork in concussion protocol

NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday that he is mired in the league's concussion protocol, according to a source informed of the blocker's condition.

The Patriots have yet to issue an injury report, but Stork has been absent from the start of New England's last two practices, per ESPN.com's Mike Reiss.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300...ssion-protocol

[hawaiiansteeler]

Steelers think they know how to slow Rob Gronkowski down

Posted by Josh Alper on September 7, 2015



When Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has been healthy during his career, attempts to stop him by opposing defenses have generally ranged from futile to laughable.

The Steelers are hoping to change that on Thursday night when they open their season against the Patriots in New England and they feel like they have the right plan to make it happen. While their opponents would almost certainly keep such plans to themselves, the Steelers aren’t being shy about sharing that plan days ahead of kickoff.

Safety Mike Mitchell says that Gronkowski is successful “when people don’t put their hands on him” and linebacker Ryan Shazier said that the Steelers don’t plan on giving him that kind of welcome to the 2015 season.

“You just have to jam him up a little bit, mess with his timing,” Shazier said, via ESPN.com. “If you mess up their timing, they are really time-oriented. You have to mess up their timing and get in his face with pressure, then I feel we can slow him down a little bit.”

to read rest of article:

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...onkowski-down/

[TD's & Beer]

Steelers' message to Rob Gronkowski, Patriots: We're jamming

The Steelers plan to defend Rob Gronkowski in Thursday night's NFL opener with "constant contact."

First-year DC Keith Butler's unit plans to apply press coverage to Gronk within the first five yards of the line of scrimmage. "He has success when people don't put their hands on him," claimed FS Mike Mitchell. "You just have to jam him up a little bit, mess with his timing,"

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/13...rob-gronkowski

Has Mitchell ever shut down a healthy Gronk? Sure, messing up his timing is a good first move, but he is so talented and strong (and so in sync with Brady) that he'll make most catches anyway, even if his very first step is disrupted. And he better be jammed by someone other than the actual pass defender assigned to cover him because there's a good chance that it will be Gronk doing more of the disruption and knock the defender on his ass, or at least knock him to a place where he'll never catch up to the play when the ball comes.

I hope Mitchell understands this and isn't relying on this strategy alone or Gronk will have a monster night.

I hope we don't think scheme can fix the lack of talent at any position in the secondary - you still have to tackle and defend the pass.

and no, I don't think the Steelers have ever stopped a healthy Gronk

[hawaiiansteeler]

James C Wexell ‏@jimwexell

Antwon Blake on whether he'll take the first snap at cornerback Thursday vs Tom Brady: "I believe so."

https://twitter.com/jimwexell

[Edman]

First Patriots drive of the game:

Brady hits Gronkowski for a long Touchdown.

[86WARD]

First Patriots drive of the game:

Brady hits Gronkowski for a long Touchdown.

I said that somewhere too. Down the seam to Gronk...lol.

[LLT]

The Patriots are beatable. They are woefully thin at the skill positions. Outside of Edelmen they have no depth at Wide Reciever, and with Blount suspended, they have three RB's that would be third down backs for most teams.

Also take into consideration that their offensive line is in shambles with two new guards and a center who may or may not play due to a cuncussion...AND their defensive secondary is also in a transitional phase with the loss of Revis and Browner.


Keep your heads up folks....we may have some bugs that need to be worked out...but the Patriots are not exactly the powerhouse that the media puts them up to be.