Tom Brady has been cruel in treatment of Steelers' D

[hawaiiansteeler]

Tom Brady has been cruel in treatment of Steelers' D

By Dan Hanzus
End Around Writer
Published: Dec. 13, 2017

This is a wild collection of data that should keep every Steelers fan from getting too overconfident as we approach The Biggest Game Of The Season. If you're a super optimist, you can point out that this is a superior Pittsburgh defense compared to what we've seen in recent years, which is very true. The unit is ranked sixth in yards allowed entering Week 15, up from 12th last season and 18th in 2015.

But Brady sliced up some very good Steelers defenses earlier this decade as well. It doesn't seem to matter who's in front him -- Tommy gonna tap some Himalayan pink salt on you and eat. Add to that the unfortunate absence of Ryan Shazier and the fact that Pittsburgh couldn't find a way to slow down the Ravens last week, and well, I'm guess I'm saying Tom Brady is a must-start in all fantasy formats. Free advice for you there.

to read rest of article:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300...-of-steelers-d

[hawaiiansteeler]

Steelers' man-to-man plans against Patriots may be unrealistic

Phil Perry,NBC Sports Boston

FOXBORO -- It's time for Keith Butler to make good on his promise.

"We can't always play zone, especially against people like the Patriots," the Steelers defensive coordinator told Pittsburgh's 93.7 The Fan over the summer. "You look at the people who have beaten the Patriots in the past and a lot of them played man-to-man. I think the last time we beat them [in 2011], we were playing a lot of man-to-man coverage."

If the Steelers were to play tight man-to-man Sunday -- taking a page from the Dolphins, Texans and others who've given Tom Brady trouble in the past -- they'll be giving the Patriots something different than what they saw last year in the AFC title game.

But so far at least, according to Bill Belichick, they're essentially running the same scheme they were a year ago.

to read rest of article:

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/steeler...155723327.html

[steelreserve]

The article is right - as long as you play soft zone, you will get killed no matter who you have on defense. The Patriots' entire system is designed specifically as a hard counter to the kind of coverage we've always played. Yet we (and most of the league) still runs exactly that same kind of coverage. It's unreal - like they all say "here you are, just go ahead and score whenever you want." And this has been going on for over a decade.

I don't even think it matters that much if it's Brady; sure, he's probably a little better running that offense than most, and it's second nature to him at this point. But it's really worked pretty well with any halfway competent players, including the QB or any other skill positions.

On the flip side, the Dolphins proved pretty convincingly that you don't need 11 All-Pros on defense to fuck them over. Just don't play directly into their hands and you've got a great shot at winning. Probably 50-50 if you don't play soft zone, but it's an automatic loss if you do. So it figures that since they get about 10 teams a year that try to beat them with plain vanilla defense, that's 10 free wins and they're about a .500 team otherwise. While that obviously brings up some fundamental questions about whether that even qualifies you for the discussion of "greatest of all time," the more important question immediately is whether we will continue to be one of the stupids.

[86WARD]

Problem is...Steelers DVs play into their hands everytime...