New England Patriots Preview: Exploiting the Pittsburgh Steelers Secondary

The Pittsburgh Steelers (7-5-1) are hosting the New England Patriots (9-4) this Sunday at 4:25 PM ET (CBS) following a three game losing streak. The Patriots offense will have a weakness to exploit in this game. Let’s explore it here:

It’s been a rough past three weeks for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The last three games have resulted in close, tough losses to the Denver Broncos, the Los Angeles Chargers, and the Oakland Raiders.  Now with the playoffs on the line and the division title up in the air, the Steelers enter their game against the Patriots in a must-win situation for their crumbling playoff hopes.

The New England Patriots come off of a tough loss as well, this one to their division rivals, the Miami Dolphins.  On a crushing final play of the game, labeled by media as the “Miami Miracle,” Dolphins running back Kenyan Drake was able to scoot past the arms of Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski to score the game sealing touchdown with no time left on the clock.

The Steelers have a crucial weakness that their opponents have been able to take advantage of the past three weeks. Before we dive into that, let’s look at the recent history of these two great franchises matching up against each other.

The Recent Past

These two franchises have been on collision courses for the past two decades. The era of dominance from Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has been one of the most enthralling and incredible dynasties in NFL history. Belichick’s Patriots have appeared in eight Super Bowls, including three of the last four, winning five of them during the almost two-decade span.

During that time, the Steelers have been in the hunt themselves almost every year, appearing in three Super Bowls of their own and winning two. Normally colliding in the regular season, these teams have matched-up just three times in the playoffs.

The Steelers have lost the last five games against the Patriots by a combined total of 63 points. In other words, this might not be much of a contest according to history.

Remember, the Steelers do have Strengths.

Pittsburgh has one of the most prolific offenses in the NFL right now, with big Ben Roethlisberger, the longtime starting quarterback, at the helm.

He has a good receiving group to throw to right now. Antonio Brown has dominated the league in each of the past four seasons, JuJu Smith-Schuster has played extremely well since being drafted in 2017, and now the Steelers have dual tight end threats in Jesse James and Vance McDonald.

Running back James Connor has been a viable threat this year with star running back Le’Veon Bell holding out due to contract issues. Conner, unfortunately for Steelers fans, is questionable though for this game.

Jaylen Samuels, the second year pro out of North Carolina State, has played the majority of snaps at running back the last couple of weeks. Stevan Ridley, the former Patriot, has also played some of the snaps. Both players are averaging just 2.6 yards per carry.

On defense, the front seven has played very, very well. T.J. Watt has been a dominating force, making effort plays so often that he has 10 sacks on the season and 4 forced fumbles. Bud Dupree is playing some of the best football of his career, and the defensive front has eaten 43 of the team’s 45 sacks so far. Five players on the team have double digit QB hits. It’s been a hellish front for opposing offenses to face up against.

Now after dishing out all of this praise, here are the weaknesses that have held this Steelers team to three straight losses in the past three weeks.

The Steelers secondary is very weak.

The Steelers secondary hasn’t done their job very effectively this season. Not only are they struggling to contain opposing receivers, but they offer little to nothing in the running game.

The secondary has intercepted just 4 of the team’s 6 interceptions this entire season.

Let that stat sink in just a little bit. 4 passes in 14 games. 

A defense capable of generating a pass rush like the Steelers’ front seven should be generating turnovers a whole lot more than they are. They’ve defended 38 of the team’s 53 passes defended as well.

It’s not like they are playing all great quarterbacks either. There’s been Ryan Fitzpatrick, Baker Mayfield, Joe Flacco, Blake Bortles and Andy Dalton, just to name a few of the interception-prone quarterbacks that they’ve faced.

They’ve had opportunities, too. Two weeks ago, on Sunday Night Football against the Chargers, there was this beauty that ended up a touchdown:

It’s almost sad how poorly the secondary has fared this season. The play above really summarizes everything you need to know about their substandard performance in 2018.

What the Patriots can do to attack them.

First and foremost, the Patriots need to establish their passing game.

Because of the pressure the Steelers can generate, this would probably be done best by using short, quick, timing routes to try and get the ball out of the pocket as fast as quarterback Tom Brady can.

Next, the ball needs to be run outside. Running backs Sony Michel and James White are both effective speed backs. Get them the ball on the perimeter and force the Steelers secondary to come up and make big plays.

Once the Steelers defense adjusts to man to man coverage to combat the short routes and outside runs, and moves the secondary into press coverage, use Josh Gordon, Cordarrelle Patterson and Rob Gronkowski on deep routes and torch this secondary in one on one coverage situations.

To summarize…

The Patriots are equipped with all of the tools necessary to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers and hand them their fourth consecutive loss. It should be an entertaining game, possibly the game of the week, as the Steelers try desperately to stay relevant in the playoff hunt and seal their divisional title.

The Patriots, in the meantime, still have a chance to earn themselves a bye week in the playoffs. This is a crucial, must-win game, and it’s up to the Patriots offense to allow them to move by.