New England Patriots vs Pittsburgh Steelers: 5 Matchups to Watch
By Hal Bent
Trey Flowers vs Alejandro Villanueva
The Pittsburgh Steelers have been excellent on offense this season due in large part to their top-notch offensive line. For all the Le’Veon Bell carries and long passes from Ben Roethlisberger to Antonio Brown, the quartet of Alejandro Villanueva, Ramon Foster, Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro and Marcus Gilbert have been doing the dirty work up front to allow them to shine.
The tackles Villanueva and Gilbert shook off a slow start (Villanueva) and nagging injuries (Gilbert) to turn this unit around after an inconsistent first half. DeCastro and Foster are above-average at guard and Pouncey is consistently excellent in both pass and run blocking.
New England has generated pressure on opposing defenses through their rotation of pass rushing defensive ends. Second-year defensive end Trey Flowers has been a force rushing the quarterback from the outside and sliding inside on obvious passing downs. Fellow defensive ends Jabaal Sheard (five sacks), Chris Long (four sacks) and Rob Ninkovich (four sacks) also provide a solid pass rush.
Generating pass rush against the Steelers is difficult as the offensive line allowed just 21 sacks for 175 yards. In the two playoff games, the Steelers allowed just two sacks for 15 yards.
A key matchup will be Trey Flowers on the outside against Villanueva. Villanueva is likely the weakest link of the offensive line–although that is more of a complement of the other four blockers as Villanueva has been excellent recently but is just a smidge below their level of high play.
Flowers needs to contain the running game by staying strong on the edge and keeping Le’Veon Bell from leaping outside for big gains. In addition, he needs to pressure Roethlisberger in the passing game to keep him from having time to sit in the pocket and wait for his younger, speedy wide receivers getting downfield behind the coverage.
Next: 5 Reasons Why Pats Will Win Super Bowl 51
Flowers has played well but is essentially a rookie after playing just one game for a handful of snaps last year. Flowers had a big game last week with three pressures in the passing game and six rush stops (per ProFootballFocus.com). If Flowers can replicate that performance, it will put the Patriots in position to advance in the playoffs.