Below you’ll find my notes and some detailed formation information from Mike Reiss as to what the Patriots did defensively against the Steelers in 2010. Granted the Patriots had the lead for much of the game and the Steelers were throwing on pretty much every down in the fourth quarter as they tried to come back.
I believe the Patriots should have a similar plan this year that they had two weeks ago against the Cowboys where they played really only two packages, the 4-3 and a 4-2-5 nickel, although the return of healthy of players like Josh Barrett, Ras-I Dowling and hopefully Jerod Mayo could influence this to change a bit.
The thing that jumps out to me about the Steelers are three things. They love to run to the right side (alert Shaun Ellis), Mike Wallace cannot be allowed to get deep (attention Patchung and McCourty), and when the pressure gets to Big Ben they need to wrap him up and finish (attention Andre Carter, Mark Anderson and Ninkopoop).
Another player to focus on will be Brandon Spikes. If he stays at MLB in the 4-3 with Mayo back he’ll have a lot of pressure on him in pass coverage as the Steelers love to throw the ball to the middle flat. Expect that to be an area they’ll try to exploit especially with pass coverage not being Spikes’ strength.
2010 Pittsburgh Steelers
Surprisingly the Patriots played a great majority of sub defense against the Steelers, but were still able to shut down the Steeler ground attack. The pass rushing package featured Crable-Wright-Warren-Banta Cain. Sergio Brown continued to see more time even with Patrick Chung back in the fold. Chung played a lot of nickel corner, with Jonathan Wilhite getting a reduced role.
Sub: 61 of 78
Base: 15 of 78
Short-yardage: 2 of 78Defensive Third Downs (1st down allowed): 5/12 = 41%
1. Base defense. When the Steelers played with two receivers, the Patriots countered in their base 3-4 alignment. This package primarily had Brandon Deaderick (DE), Vince Wilfork (NT) and Ron Brace (DE) up front, with Jermaine Cunningham/Rob Ninkovich at OLB and Brandon Spikes and Jerod Mayo at ILB.
2. Nickel package. When the Steelers played with three receivers, the Patriots often countered in their 4-2-5 nickel. This package had Tully Banta-Cain/Shawn Crable as the primary ends, Mike Wright/Gerard Warren as the primary interior rushers, Jerod Mayo/Gary Guyton as the linebackers, with safety James Sanders the extra defensive back.
3. Dime package. The Patriots also played a 3-2-6 dime package at times. They took out one inside rusher – usually Warren – and added rookie safety Sergio Brown.