Turn up the pressure
If the key to stopping Brady is to pressure him — whether hitting him or sacking him — then the Steelers would appear to be well equipped to accomplish that task. They are second in the league in sacks with 41, trailing only the Jacksonville Jaguars (47).
“It doesn’t have to be sacks,” said defensive end Cam Heyward, who leads the team with nine sacks, fourth most among defensive linemen in the AFC. ‘If you hit him or pressure him, you can throw off the timing of a route, he might not be able to follow through. If you can get that early, that can set your team up very nicely. Your corners can play with more confidence.”
That appeared to be the case in the AFC championship when nose tackle Javon Hargrave burst through the middle of the line, tossed aside guard Joe Thuney like a rag doll and sacked Brady on the second series. But that was about the extent of the pressure. Brady was able to stand in the pocket, looking as though he were waiting for the 56C to McKeesport, and wait for his receivers to flash open through the secondary.
What’s more, despite their sack totals, the Steelers are not a team that sets the tempo with their pressure. Of their 41 sacks, only 13 have come in the first half. They have had more than one sack in the first half in only three games this season — Cleveland (3), Kansas City (2) and Tennessee (2). Not surprisingly, those are three of their best defensive performances of the season.
“It’s pressure,” said former Steelers coach Bill Cowher, who lost to the Patriots in AFC title games in 2001 and 2004 at Heinz Field. “It’s not giving up the big plays. The biggest thing you have to do versus New England is you have to disguise very well. In the back end, you have to tackle well. They have a lot of guys who are good in space. If you can tackle well and eliminate big plays you can frustrate them.”
Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler was asked if it’s too simplistic to say the key to beating the Patriots is pressuring Brady.
“I think that’s a big key to it, but it’s also the coverage part, too,” Butler said. “You got to have both. The coverage has got to be good and the rush has to be good. It’s the combination of both, that’s exactly what it is. If you do get both, then maybe you can make it hard on them and hopefully get a pick or two, even though he don’t throw many.”
That, though, is what has concerned Clark. He said he has seen the Steelers bust all different types of coverages in the past six games, going back to the Detroit game. Since then, the defense has allowed 13 pass plays of at least 33 yards and an average of 283.1 yards passing per game. That is 116 more yards per game than they allowed in the first seven games (167.7).
“The big plays given up in the secondary is astronomical,” Clark said. “That’s a problem I thought was fixed.”
To create pressure, Ryan said he would like to see the Steelers isolate Heyward on Thuney by stacking guys on the right side of the Patriots offensive line, forcing Brady to slide his protection to that side and leaving Thuney on Heyward and left tackle Nate Solder on outside linebacker T.J. Watt.
“When you can disrupt him and get him to move his feet … it’s easier when you got great players rushing him,” Ryan said. “That makes it a helluva lot easier. We saw last week where Miami was able to get pressure, and consistent pressure, on him. That’s the key.”