Digging Deep: Analyzing the New England Patriots’ Offense in their 28 to 21 Victory Over the Pittsburgh Steelers

Passing Offense:

Sep 10, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) runs onto the field prior to a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

What was there left to say about Tom Brady? He completed 25 of 32 attempts for 288 yards and four touchdowns (all stats from NFL.com unless otherwise noted). Many of the passes he missed were put in spots where only the receiver could get it and it skipped off their fingertips or the receiver could not stay inbounds. At one point, Brady had completed a New England Patriots record of 19 straight passes. He finished the game with a 143.8 quarterback rating.

Brady looked to be in vintage form despite a preseason that had many fans wringing their hands in worry after his off-field issues seemed to be affecting his on-field production. Proving once again that preseason performance has little bearing on the regular season, Brady worked quickly and effectively and put the Pittsburgh defense in a tough situation by controlling the tempo and match-ups.

As usual, the 38 year old quarterback was least effective on his deep passes, particularly throwing to his right. He missed on all three passes travelling more than 20 yards through the air. However, Brady needs only to be effective in the intermediate passing game, and he was 6 of 7 for 122 yards on passes 10-19 yards through the air (per PFF– subscription required).

Feb 1, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; New England Patriots tackle Nate Solder (77) in Super Bowl XLIX against the Seattle Seahawks at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Brady was surgical and got the ball out quickly. Pittsburgh right outside linebacker Jarvis Jones gave New England left tackle Nate Solder some headaches early on, but Solder improved as the game went on. He played much better against senior citizen James Harrison. Sebastian Vollmer had a strong game and the Patriots rotated Marcus Cannon on the right and left side. Cannon was blamed for having missed a blitz pick-up at left tackle stalling a third quarter drive, but it was clear safety Will Allen was not part of his blocking assignment.

Josh Kline had a strong game at left guard holding up in pass protection although rookies Tre’ Jackson at right guard, David Andrews at center, and Shaquille Mason subbing at both left and right guard had some loss of leverage allowing pressure in pass protection. Fortunately, Brady was able to exploit the Steelers’ secondary before the pressure reached him.

The Patriots focused on attacking the Steelers secondary with tight end Rob Gronkowski and wide receiver Julian Edelman. Aaron Dobson played 50% of the snaps as the second or third wide receiver and Danny Amendola started and played just over 50% of the snaps on offense. Edelman did most of his damage against Pittsburgh cornerbacks Cortez Allen and Antwon Blake who allowed 7 catches on 7 targets for 74 yards in coverage of him.

Edelman had 11 receptions for 97 yards while Gronkowski had 5 catches for 94 yards and three touchdowns. Tight end Scott Chandler had just one reception, but it was a touchdown in the third quarter from one yard out. Chandler and Gronkowski were too much for Pittsburgh to handle in the red zone as linebackers Lawrence Timmons, Terence Garvin, Bud Dupree and safeties Will Allen and Robert Golden just could not match-up with the titanic tight ends.

William Gay was the best performer for Pittsburgh, but he is not a real number one cornerback. Brandon Boykin, who was brought in from Philadelphia for a draft pick to bolster the Pittsburgh secondary did not play at all. With a reputation as a premier slot cornerback, it seemed he would play a key role in stopping Edelman and Amendola. Instead, the Steelers never put him on the field. It was probably the strangest sight of the night.

Next: Patriots Rushing Offense Analysis