New England Patriots: 5 observations from Week 15 win over Steelers

The New England Patriots all but secured the top seed in the AFC yesterday as they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-24.

I honestly can’t believe what I witnessed yesterday. A New England Patriots win will never surprise me, but the way they won yesterday shocked me. What a game. What a game indeed.

I can put about 57 and a half minutes of the game into words, but everything in the remaining 2 minutes and 30 seconds rendered me speechless. I sunk into my chair and I was reading tweets from the future. They read “Tom Brady is done.” They read “The Patriots dynasty is over.” I was, to put it lightly, devastated.

Listen, the best teams lose. It happens. Even though we don’t look into the past here in New England, we’re all aware that the Patriots lost a game just 7 days ago.

But yesterday?

That would have been a painful one to lose.

I’m no literature buff, but I seem to recall a specific circle of Dante’s Inferno in which the heretics are trapped inside flaming tombs. To make matters worse for the sinners, yesterday’s New England Patriots game is playing on a loop inside of those tombs. At the end of the game, Ben Roethlisberger completes a TD pass as the clock expires and the Steelers clinch the top seed in the AFC. That, my friends, is hell.

Fortunately for those of us who have yet to enter the Inferno, the Patriots kept the Steelers out of the end zone and walked off Heinz Field as victors. It was emotionally taxing, but rewarding in the end. Best game of the season.

Welcome back to my weekly column where I put into words 5 observations I made during the game. It could be anything from a busted coverage to a man in the stands dressed as Santa with a discolored beard (did you guys see him? Disgusting!). In the words of Dewey Finn from School of Rock, “let’s get rockin’”!

Stopping the outside run

Don’t let the title of this slide mislead you. The New England Patriots did not, in any way, shape, or form, stop the outside run. As a matter of fact, they haven’t been able to stop the outside run for the past two weeks.

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Today, Le’Veon Bell ripped through the Patriots defense like a cat with a new roll of toilet paper. Don’t get me wrong, not many teams have been able to contain Bell this season. He’s leading the NFL in rushing, and he’s undeniably the best running back in the league.

Bell torched the Pats defense for 117 yards on 24 carries. That’s 4.9 YPC. I’d be willing to bet, however, that only 15% of his yards came on runs up the middle.

The Patriots are rock solid between the hash marks, but when the running back chooses a side, it’s game over. When Bell was able to get around the edge he couldn’t be stopped. It’s a problem the Patriots seriously need to address if they’re going to contain teams with strong run games.

Of course, the Patriots defensive line is struggling due to some injuries to key players such as Alan Branch. In addition, the entire defense is missing Kyle Van Noy dearly, who is one of the key run stoppers for the New England Patriots.

In any case, containing the outside run is one of the Patriots biggest weaknesses right now. A rematch with the Steelers is looming, and the Patriots need to get their run defense on track. That’s priority number one right now.

Finish the Job

Ben Roethlisberger is a big dude. Not just tall, but… wide. There’s a reason they call him Big Ben, afterall. Due to his size, Roethlisberger is incredibly hard to take down.

With that said, the Patriots must bring him down when they have him dead to rights. For the amount of times the Patriots got hands on Ben, the amount of sacks they recorded was embarrassing. They only had two sacks on the day.

Historically, the Patriots have been burned by QBs who have narrowly avoided a sack. A certain catch involving a man, a helmet, and super glue comes to mind.

Yesterday, the Patriots had Big Ben wrapped up multiple times, and multiple times he put together an escape that would make Harry Houdini jealous. That can’t happen moving forward.

When the Patriots have the opposing quarterback wrapped up, they have to bring him down. Plain and simple. I get that Big Ben was named after a giant tower in London, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be taken down.

Often, when Ben escaped the arms of the Patriots defensive line, he found an open receiver and hit him for a big gain. Again, unacceptable. The Patriots should have had at least 5 sacks.

If the Patriots put Roethlisberger on his tuchus, the game would have been totally different. Of course, I’m speaking retrospectively. But in the future, the New England Patriots need to finish the play. When he’s wrapped up, don’t let him out of your grasp. That’s how games are lost.

Third Down woes, part 2

Last week, the story of the game was the Patriots’ incompetence on third down. The offense didn’t convert a single one in Miami. This week, the 3rd down struggles continued on the opposite side of the ball.

It seemed like every single time the Steelers were in a 3rd down situation, long or short, they converted. As a matter of fact, they almost did. They ended the game 10-16 on third down, and the New England Patriots stopped them on their final 3 third downs. That means the Steelers were 10-13 on third down at one point.

The Steelers third down efficiency kept them in the game. The Patriots greatest strength is when Tom Brady is on the field, and forcing punts is the best way to make that happen. Because of their inability to make third down stops, the Steelers had possession for 35 of the game’s 60 minutes.

I’m no mathematician, but that’s more than half of the game. Did I do that right? I didn’t have a calculator on hand but I’m pretty sure about my math on that one.

Third downs almost did the Patriots in for the second week in a row. Luckily, the offense had more success with the dreaded pre-punt down. They were able to score and bail out the defense, which ultimately secured a win.

Expect a more efficient third down performance on both sides next week, as Bill Belichick will undoubtedly hammer the message home during this week’s practices.

The end of the game

In lieu of analysis, I’m just going to walk you through the Steelers final drive of the game and how I felt during it. To make it as accurate as possible, feel free to include profanity where you see fit.

*0:52 remaining: JuJu Smith-Schuster catches a pass across the middle and turns it into a 69 yard reception*

“Alright get him. Okay he’s going towards the sidelines push him out. Tackle him. TACKLE HIM WHAT ARE YOU DOING. Was he out? He had to have been out. Get him. Get him! Finally! Are you serious? One play and the Steelers are in the red zone? All you had to do… Ugh. This is a joke dude. Unbelievable.”

*0:34 remaining: Jesse James 10 yard touchdown reception, REVERSED, incomplete pass*

“Come on put some pressure on him. Is he in? He’s in. Are you serious? What a joke dude. All they had to do was tackle JuJu. This is ridiculous.”

I sink into my chair with my hands on my head.

“Wait, wait that’s not a catch. They’re reviewing it, the ball came out. Look, right there. He didn’t have control. He didn’t. INCOMPLETE! We’re still alive! Another life! Let’s take it to OT!”

*0:28 remaining: Darrius Heyward-Bey catches a short reception across the middle*

“Gotta get him. Don’t let him get out of bounds. Don’t let him. Nice tackle Malcolm! That’s what I’m talking about. Now they have to rush. Don’t let them in the endzone. Please. Force overtime. One more stop and this game is going to OT. Come on. Let’s go.”

*0:05 remaining: Fake spike, Ben Roethlisberger throws an interception*

“He faked it! Fake spike! Why are you not moving, rush him! It’s a fake spike! Stop him… … … Pick it! Pick it! YES! We did it! Oh my god what a stupid play, what an idiot! Oh my god we won.”

I have goosebumps. I hope you do too.

Brady to Gronk

What we have here is some good ole fashioned dominance. The whole day, Rob Gronkowski was Tom Brady’s go to option. Why wouldn’t he be? If I was a QB I would throw to my 6 foot 7, 285lb tight end all the time.

Move aside Aaron Judge, sit down Lebron, because Gronk is the most physically dominant athlete on the face of the earth. He showed it yesterday.

During the game, Gronk recorded a career high in receiving yards with 168. His 9 receptions led the team and he was the entire New England Patriots offense during the final 2 minutes of the game.

Everyone in the stadium knew who Tom Brady was throwing to, and it wasn’t Brandin Cooks. On the Patriots’ final drive, Brady was 3-4 passing for 69 yards, all to Gronk. In the words of Billy Madison, “Ha! 69”. It was a fitting number of yards for Gronk to gain on the final drive, if you ask me.

He carried them into the red zone and then capped off the drive with a 2 point conversion.

Gronk’s biggest highlight of the night came on that drive, when he snagged the ball a split second before it hit the ground. Gronk has the hands that Jack Kelly from Always Sunny wishes he has.

Brady to Gronk is the scariest phrase an opposing team can hear, and for good reason. The duo has made a lot of history so far, and in the words of Frank Sinatra, “the best is yet to come”.

Moving forward

I’m still riding high after yesterday’s win. It was an incredible game and it was a roller coaster of emotions. Those games remind us why we love sports and why, sometimes, we hate them. It’s all part of the fun.

While we might remember that game for a long time, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots have already forgotten about it. They’re focused on preparing for next week’s competition.

Next Sunday, the New England Patriots welcome the Buffalo Bills to Foxborough. The Bills are coming off a big AFC East win over the Miami Dolphins, so they shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Though they’re not the best team in the league, they pose a dangerous threat to a Patriots team coming off their biggest win of the season.

The Patriots won’t get complacent thanks to a culture of leadership and preparation that they’ve cultivated over decades. A win is on the horizon, the New England Patriots just have to take it.

Next: It’s not up for debate, Tom Brady is simply the greatest

And they will. Thank you guys for tuning in to my 5 observations blog again, I hope you enjoyed. I’m confident I’ll be writing to you next week about another victory. Go Pats.