Brady rich with assets
QB shrewdly manages wealth of talent
The Steelers probably figured they formulated the blueprint to stop the Patriots’ offense Sunday at Heinz Field.
But this isn’t the first time Tom Brady has taken scissors to something this season.
The Patriots have continued to show they’re smart enough to adapt and talented enough to be patient with Brady orchestrating an offense than can capitalize in far too many fashions. They hung 27 points — two more than their season average — on the Steelers, despite losing two fumbles and dropping a pair of easy third-down passes, because they’re capable of scoring in any capacity they see fit.
The Steelers, who were borderline inept at stopping tight ends in their first six games, were determined to keep Rob Gronkowski and Martellus Bennett from burning them during the 2716 affair, and they succeeded for the most part. But Brady hit Gronk (four catches, 93 yards) three times for 86 yards on the Steelers’ only three mistakes against the big fella. Bennett was held to a 5-yard catch as the odd man out (30-of-57 snaps) as the Pats preferred to roll with three receivers for much of the day.
Compared to the tandem’s first two games with Brady, when they had a combined 23 catches, 386 receiving yards and four touchdowns, the Steelers probably would have been happy beforehand if they knew they’d keep the duo to fewer than 100 total yards.
It happened that way because the Steelers stacked the seam over Gronk, typically with a linebacker in his face and a safety over the top. It was nothing new or overly creative, but the Steelers remained more dedicated to that plan than most defenses.
The Pats recognized it immediately and discussed their counter moves with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels on the sideline. Brady was content to sit tight and wait for a mistake, and the quarterback’s ability to strike during those three moments of vulnerability is the reason why he’s a Hall of Fame decision-maker.
But make no mistake, LeGarrette Blount and Julian Edelman played a major role in the Patriots’ willingness to remain calm, especially in a hostile road environment where the Steelers nearly erased a 14-0 deficit. Blount rushed 24 times for 127 yards and two touchdowns, and he had nine carries for 76 yards (8.4 yards per carry) when the Steelers lightened the load with their nickel defense. (James White’s 19-yard touchdown on a screen pass also beat a nickel package.)
There was a pivotal stretch in the third quarter when the Steelers cut the deficit to 14-13. The Steelers opened the next series in the nickel, and Blount had runs of 11 and 25 yards on back-to-back plays to settle down the whole operation.
Three plays later, the Steelers finally cracked. Safety Sean Davis should have stayed over Gronk’s route in the left seam but chose to double a wellcovered Danny Amendola toward the sideline. Gronk easily beat the one-on-one coverage against safety Robert Golden for a 36-yard touchdown to make it 20-13.
Gronkowski added a 37yard catch in the fourth quarter when he was again left alone with Golden. Amazingly, Gronkowski never looks like the fastest guy on the field, but he spun around Golden with some subtle footwork and created about four strides of separation against a much quicker player for the long gain. Gronk’s first catch, by the way, went for 13 yards in the second quarter when the Steelers had some zone confusion on third-and-9. The Pats turned that drive into a Blount touchdown, so the Steelers’ first coverage mistake was pricey.
Blount, who had 15 carries for 51 yards (3.4 yards) and two scores against base and goal-line packages, followed blocks by Gronkowski, Bennett and Edelman for a 5-yard touchdown that made it 27-16. Blount isn’t the ideal passing-down back, but the Patriots don’t care about that stuff when he bounds through sub defenses and bulldozes past the heavier sets for the scores.
Edelman’s nine catches for 60 yards showed the danger of selling out to clog up lanes for Gronk and Bennett. Edelman caught six passes for 53 yards when one-onone with a linebacker, including five receptions for 44 yards against 30-year-old, 234-pound Lawrence Timmons. Edelman also torched Timmons before his drop. And Edelman caught two early passes for 15 yards because the defense was overly focused on Bennett.
Go figure: Blount was coming off his two lowestyardage outputs of the season, and Edelman had a relatively quiet start with Brady. But Brady has too many assets at his disposal, and the Patriots will always have one or two easy mismatches on any given play because there aren’t enough linebackers or safeties around the league who can offer reliable coverage from wire to wire.
Brady surgically dismantles those shortcomings better than anyone.