PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

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The last time the two teams played, Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau surprised the Patriots with a seldom-used scheme of playing press-man coverage and not allowing the receivers a free release off the line of scrimmage. It worked wonders as Tom Brady was held to 198 yards passing in a 25-17 Steelers victory.

Steelers notebook: Press coverage caught Pats off guard in previous meeting | TribLIVE

https://www.patspropaganda.com/the-last-time-the-two-teams-played-steelers/

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According to ESPN Stats & Information tracking, the Patriots had sent five or more rushers on 59 snaps through the first seven games of the season, which was an average of 12 percent of their overall snaps. That ranked them 29th in the NFL in terms of blitzing. But against the Dolphins, the Patriots sent five or more rushers 29 times. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a similar total Sunday against the Steelers, because similar to the Dolphins, their offensive line has struggled at times this season.

Quick-hit thoughts around NFL & New England Patriots – ESPN Boston

https://www.patspropaganda.com/according-to-espn-stats-information-tracking/

The news about Tommy Kelly is pretty brutal. In an effort to find a silver lining in all this bad news, do you think that struggling against all this adversity (and still managing to rack up W’s) will pay dividends in terms of their staying power in the play-offs?

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We riding with Sopoaga, Vellano, Smith and Forston. Maybe Armstead. The only positive I see is that there will be some experienced young guys going into camp next season. But are any of them long-term building blocks? I like Vellano and Smith and think there could be a rotational spot for both. But Wilfork isn’t getting any younger and will be coming off a major injury. Maybe Kelly is back too, but he’s another year older as well. Who knows what injury he’s coming off, possibly an ACL?

Now I’ve been looking closely at defensive tackles for the last three drafts and I don’t think they will be able to put it off any longer next April.

As for this year, let’s just hope to see continued improvement from the DTs. Who knows maybe, they’ll carve out a solid niche and transform the Pats defense a bit for the better.