New England Patriots vs Pittsburgh Steelers: 5 Matchups to Watch
By Hal Bent
Le’Veon Bell vs Dont’a Hightower
The Patriots finished the 2016 season with one of the top rushing defenses in the NFL. The Patriots ranked third in the league allowing just 1,417 yards, first in the NFL with just six rushing touchdowns allowed, and eighth in yards per attempt at 3.9 yards per rush.
They faced a number of strong rushing teams including Jay Ajayi and the Miami Dolphins (twice), Lamar Miller and the Houston Texans (twice), LeSean McCoy and Buffalo Bills, David Johnson and the Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland and their top ranked rushing offense at the time in Week 5, Todd Gurley and the Rams, and Bell in Week 7.
With Dont’a Hightower healthy and on the field at linebacker the Patriots have not missed the rapidly declining run defense from Jamie Collins before shipping him out of town. They have had the ability to keep an extra safety or cornerback on the field and still be able to prevent opposing offenses from running on them in the nickel defense.
Rookie Elandon Roberts has used his speed and surprising strength to make an impact in limited playing time. Kyle Van Noy and Shea McClellin have helped out in the running game as the few Patriots’ linebackers have had the ability to stop any opposing running game.
Bell had just 81 yards on the ground in the first matchup as he averaged less four yards per rush as he needed 21 carries to get to that number of yards. Most of his damage was in the passing game as he had ten receptions for 68 yards.
On the defensive line, the Patriots have had some issues with controlling the edge as defensive ends Jabaal Sheard and Chris Long often got caught upfield or pushed inside and failed to set the edge. With the return of Rob Ninkovich to the defensive end position after his four-game suspension and increased playing time for second-year defensive end Trey Flowers the Patriots quickly went back to defending the run on the outside.
Add in the strong run defense of defensive tackles Malcom Brown–who is blossoming into a well-rounded defender in his second season–and veteran Alan Branch who has been a rock in the middle and the run defense being strength is no surprise. Even rookie Vincent Valentine has been effective in his limited snaps.
These defensive linemen need to maintain gap control and allow linebacker Dont’a Hightower to do what he does best: stuff the run.
This week the Patriots will face a Steelers offense with a running back in Le’Veon Bell who is averaging 4.9 yards per carry and 105.7 yards per game. Bell has contributed both running the ball and as a receiver this year. Just 24 years old, Bell has been able to be one of the best players at his position when healthy or not suspended.
Before the first matchup, New England head coach Bill Belichick went out of his way to complement Bell. He said, “He’s a tremendous player, great hands, catches the ball, very quick, makes people miss, strong, breaks tackles, excellent balance, tough, doesn’t run out of bounds, fights for extra yardage, a great player… They have a lot of depth at running back and it doesn’t matter who’s in there — they’re a problem. But Bell’s as good as anybody we’ll play.”
The Steelers’ offensive line has been fantastic with center Maurkice Pouncey healthy at center and veterans David DeCastro and Ramon Foster the interior of the line is strong at the point of attack and solid. Left tackle Alejandro Villanueva is solid in the running game and right tackle Marcus Gilbert’s return to health has jumpstarted the offense .
Bell has piled up some big games on the ground, but often against bad rushing defenses. He lit up Kansas City’s overrated run defense last week and before that piled up big yards against Buffalo, Miami, Indianapolis, and Cleveland. However, not to knock Bell, he also topped 100 yards against Baltimore and the New York Giants–two very good run defense.
Stopping Bell is a challenge that will require the entire defense staying disciplined to slow him down. From the defensive line maintaining gap integrity to the linebackers filling their lanes, every player on defense has to do their job and tackle well. One way to prevent big plays is to have the defensive ends and cornerbacks maintain the edge and funnel Bell back inside to Hightower.
It is not easy to eliminate Le’Veon Bell and the Steelers’ rushing attack, but an entire team effort and strong tackling by Dont’e Hightower will make it possible for New England to slow him down.