Quick Hits: Patriots* @ Steelers

[stillers4me]

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I'm kinda still in shock myself....

[FrancoLambert]

Wait...we beat the Patriots?

[vader29]

[steelreserve]

If I used a photo of sad Brady as my wallpaper, that still means I'd have to look at his sniveling face every day and want to punch it.

[stillers4me]

[GBMelBlount]

Love This!

[vader29]

[stillers4me]

Bbbut but...the Patriots* are so much more disciplined than the Steeeeeeelers...........

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[stillers4me]

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[AtlantaDan]

Fire Belichick & McDaniels! Cut Brady!

[AtlantaDan]

Thanks Artie!

[Craic]

Thanks Artie!

I don't know. As I watch that it seems Hogan was being handed off to one of the two inside DBs and one of them failed to cover. Tomlin took the blame for this mistake, so I don't think it's Artie's fault. Then again, he didn't really see the field after, so . . .

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

I don't know. As I watch that it seems Hogan was being handed off to one of the two inside DBs and one of them failed to cover. Tomlin took the blame for this mistake, so I don't think it's Artie's fault. Then again, he didn't really see the field after, so . . .

True, I thought they were in man coverage and if you look at the play, Burns is on the bottom of the screen, on the Steelers left side of the defense and matched up with Josh Gordon. I think its Haden who is in coverage with Hogan and fails to follow him from the slot and across the field.

Now, if they were in zone and there is some kind of communication about the cross that was missed...that might explain not seeing Burns the rest of the game.

[steelreserve]

True, I thought they were in man coverage and if you look at the play, Burns is on the bottom of the screen, on the Steelers left side of the defense and matched up with Josh Gordon. I think its Haden who is in coverage with Hogan and fails to follow him from the slot and across the field.

Now, if they were in zone and there is some kind of communication about the cross that was missed...that might explain not seeing Burns the rest of the game.

It looked like everyone was playing man coverage, except Haden and Davis who were playing zone. Probably because they were directly behind the CB who lined up against Hogan, who blitzed instead of covering him.

Burnett is pretty clearly shadowing Gronkowski's movements in man coverage, but since the tight end stayed back to block, that meant Burnett was just sort of standing around near the line of scrimmage. Williams - who would've been the underneath help on that side of the field - was shadowing Edelman, who came around for a fake reverse. Of course, there's another whole line of debate about whether having your slow ILB covering a wide receiver (either Edelman or being the underneath help on Hogan) is the smartest idea in the world, but in this case it didn't matter.

So basically, the two guys playing zone coverage were both on the left side of the field, and there was only one safety deep because Burnett was manning up on the tight end - so on a left-to-right crossing pattern, if Davis doesn't pick up the receiver coming across, you're dead. If anything, Davis was the one who botched that. But it probably would've been a good 20-yard completion anyway, because unless Davis anticipates the play and reacts perfectly, there is an unavoidable window where the receiver is going to be open.

The big problem is that we had three guys standing around with no one to cover because of unfortunate formation matchups (Haden, Burnett, Williams) and the one guy who could've most likely prevented the big play (Sutton) was rushing instead. A bad time for a biltz, an imbalanced scheme because of that, and a missed read by the safety who was the last line of defense, even though that would've been a difficult play under any circumstances. Basically everything went wrong.

Side note: This is exactly the kind of defensive alignment that you could take advantage of if you were, for example, a coach watching the pre-snap movements from upstairs and communicating to the quarterback all the way up to the snap. If you had a second radio in the quarterback's helmet, and the tendency to employ it early in the game to try to establish a lead, and late in the game to pull off "miraculous" comebacks, it would fit right in with that pattern. But I don't know of any team that does that. Do you?

[fansince'76]

Side note: This is exactly the kind of defensive alignment that you could take advantage of if you were, for example, a coach watching the pre-snap movements from upstairs and communicating to the quarterback all the way up to the snap. If you had a second radio in the quarterback's helmet, and the tendency to employ it early in the game to try to establish a lead, and late in the game to pull off "miraculous" comebacks, it would fit right in with that pattern. But I don't know of any team that does that. Do you?

[st33lersguy]

Pats still technically haven't clinched their shitty ass division yet either. They will (they still have the Bills and Jets at home), but still

[AtlantaDan]

[86WARD]

But he didn’t call him a number one receiver...right?

[vasteeler]

Careful JuJu. It's a trap

[Fire Goodell]

TJ Watt was in Brady's face all game, or close enough to make him hear footsteps. Dude's definitely one of our best draft picks in recent memory. He's gonna be a perennial pro bowler if he keeps this up

[Lady Steel]

TJ Watt was in Brady's face all game, or close enough to make him hear footsteps. Dude's definitely one of our best draft picks in recent memory. He's gonna be a perennial pro bowler if he keeps this up

I agree. I love Watt. He gets so wound up and excited.

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As JuJu would say, "That's lit!"

That was pretty awesome of Belichick to pay that compliment to JuJu. I'm sure JuJu will remember that forever.

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Careful JuJu. It's a trap

That thought actually went through my mind too. Like, hmmm, what's Belichick up to?

[pepsyman1]

TJ Watt was in Brady's face all game, or close enough to make him hear footsteps. Dude's definitely one of our best draft picks in recent memory. He's gonna be a perennial pro bowler if he keeps this up

conversely, Bud Dupree with one of the biggest disappearing acts in recent memory. Not a single stat on the stat line. Not even an assist on a tackle. ZERO stats for the game. If we hadn't seen him on the TV screen, we wouldn't even be able to tell he played...lol

[GoSlash27]

conversely, Bud Dupree with one of the biggest disappearing acts in recent memory. Not a single stat on the stat line. Not even an assist on a tackle. ZERO stats for the game. If we hadn't seen him on the TV screen, we wouldn't even be able to tell he played...lol

He got some decent pressures and (IIRC) 2 drive stopping deflections. He was out there.

[fansince'76]

He got some decent pressures and (IIRC) 2 drive stopping deflections. He was out there.

He came extremely close to picking Brady off once as well.

[Mojouw]

He got some decent pressures and (IIRC) 2 drive stopping deflections. He was out there.

He came extremely close to picking Brady off once as well.

He had a decent game for a guy with a torn muscle and picking up a bone bruise. There was a noticeable drop-off between Dupree and Chickillo. That wasn't there last season. Is Dupree a world beater? Nope and he likely will never perform to his draft status, but he is a legitimate average staring option at the position.

[steelreserve]

conversely, Bud Dupree with one of the biggest disappearing acts in recent memory. Not a single stat on the stat line. Not even an assist on a tackle. ZERO stats for the game. If we hadn't seen him on the TV screen, we wouldn't even be able to tell he played...lol

He did have that one deflected pass that they caught anyway.

[Born2Steel]

conversely, Bud Dupree with one of the biggest disappearing acts in recent memory. Not a single stat on the stat line. Not even an assist on a tackle. ZERO stats for the game. If we hadn't seen him on the TV screen, we wouldn't even be able to tell he played...lol

I didn’t look at any stat sheets but I did watch Dupree the entire first half. Bud was in on several tackles. Most he had to chase into the middle. He had outside contain on his side and turned everything back inside. Dupree did his job. This allowed the rest to do their jobs. Was not a disappearing act at all. He had a very good game from what I watched of him.

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

I didn’t look at any stat sheets but I did watch Dupree the entire first half. Bud was in on several tackles. Most he had to chase into the middle. He had outside contain on his side and turned everything back inside. Dupree did his job. This allowed the rest to do their jobs. Was not a disappearing act at all. He had a very good game from what I watched of him.

Great analysis. Sometimes football isn't played on the stat sheet or Fantasy football as you describe here.

[pepsyman1]

I didn’t look at any stat sheets but I did watch Dupree the entire first half. Bud was in on several tackles. Most he had to chase into the middle. He had outside contain on his side and turned everything back inside. Dupree did his job. This allowed the rest to do their jobs. Was not a disappearing act at all. He had a very good game from what I watched of him.

We'll have to agree to disagree on that one. I didn't see what you did. The Pats only ran the ball 19 times averaging 5 yards a carry an almost all of them were straight up up the middle. 1 or 2 off right guard and the same to the left. Brady did throw the ball 36 times. All I saw of Dupree was him consistently doing what we had previously seen, just getting ridden beyond the QB 5 yards into the backfield and out of the play. He played half the defensive snap counts and Chickillo played the other half. Chickillo had 4 assists (and I don't think he's anything special) and seemed to be involved. Other than the pass that Brady thru past him, I didn't see Dupree close to being involved in a play anywhere.

[Born2Steel]

We'll have to agree to disagree on that one. I didn't see what you did. The Pats only ran the ball 19 times averaging 5 yards a carry an almost all of them were straight up up the middle. 1 or 2 off right guard and the same to the left. Brady did throw the ball 36 times. All I saw of Dupree was him consistently doing what we had previously seen, just getting ridden beyond the QB 5 yards into the backfield and out of the play. He played half the defensive snap counts and Chickillo played the other half. Chickillo had 4 assists (and I don't think he's anything special) and seemed to be involved. Other than the pass that Brady thru past him, I didn't see Dupree close to being involved in a play anywhere.

All I can offer is rewatch the first half and watch Dupree exclusively.