The All-22 came out early this week, quickly squashing my dilemma of reviewing the AFC Championship or moving on to start getting familiar with the Falcons. Overall, this was everything we’ve come to expect this season out of the Patriots defense. They bent at times, but it was near impossible to break them.
The two goal-line stands were key moments in the game and really two sequences where the Patriots defense can hang their hat. They were consistently physical at the point of attack and even when they made mistakes, those mistakes were quickly tackled and the defense was refocused entirely on the next play.
Here’s some thoughts on what else stood out from the defense in the AFC Championship…
— After starting out with mostly man defense in the first half, they started to mix in zone and that’s when the Steelers started moving the ball on back-to-back drives that went 13 plays, 84 yards for a touchdown and 15 plays, 70 yards for a field goal. Butler was almost exclusively over Antonio Brown, but as soon as the Steelers saw zone, they tried to get it to Brown underneath.
— Obviously Bell got hurt early, but I think the Pats showed they were well-prepared for his running style and for his receiving skills. Really, his delayed style plays right into the Pats two-gappers upfront. Branch and Brown did an excellent job most of the time with holding their ground at the line of scrimmage. That gave Bell nowhere to run. I was especially impressed with how Trey Flowers holds his ground. He’s undersized but really does a good job of getting low and maintaining his leverage. Flowers gets a lot of love for his pass rush stuff, but his game is really well-rounded.
— It looked like the Pats were ready to throw a combination of coverage options at Bell when he released including one double team by Ninkovich and Van Noy, as well as a coverage snap from Devin McCourty. McCourty’s really proven this year he can do it all as a safety, whether he’s in coverage on the back end or manning up a receiver.
— It wasn’t surprising that those two successful Steeler drives were keyed off of passes underneath, especially leaning on Jesse James and Eli Rogers. That was what they had to do all game to win this one and the Pats snuffed all of that out in the second half.
— The goal line stand at the end of the first half that went from a called-back Jesse James touchdown (excellent tackle by Duron Harmon and Patrick Chung) to settling for a field goal. On the first two run stops from just a yard out, the entire line dominated the trenches. On second down Vincent Valentine had a nice lateral move before bursting upfield and making the tackle for a loss.
— Not sure there’s anything better than a three-and-out to start the second half. Such a huge boost. It was all pressure by Trey Flowers on third down that forced the punt.
— I know there will be plenty of pass rush complaints about this game, especially going against Matt Ryan, but it’s hard to complain when they were mostly sticking with Brown and Branch and not often trying to actually all-out rush the passer. Especially when it’s just a three man rush. In some ways I think they conceded their pass rush wasn’t going to get there so they leaned more on coverage and oh, it worked.
— Nice anticipation by Van Noy on the 3rd quarter forced fumble that was another huge moment. Nink of course was on the spot to grab it. It’s funny how everyone was talking about Van Noy the pass rusher when he got here, but he’s really just taken over Collins’ passing down linebacker role. That does include some blitzing but he’s been used far more for his coverage and this FF was a good example.
— The last meaningful drive the Steelers got down the field quickly with some nice quick throws by Roethlisberger. But it was 33-9 at this point, still early in the fourth quarter so the goal line stand was still pretty necessary. Especially after the 2006 AFCCG, I feel like no lead is safe. Here was the breakdown:
- 1st and Goal from 6: Draw play stuffed by immoveable Alan Branch and McClellan knifing in from the edge.
- 2nd and Goal from 5: Same draw to other side, Hightower and Flowers get the stop after three yards.
- 3rd and Goal from 2: Pats rush just three, Ben has time, throws to Hamilton but he stepped out of bounds.
- 4th and Goal from 2: Pats send five rushers, it’s a fade all the way, but Ryan gets a great jam and disrupts the timing.
— The Steelers did put up another touchdown and two-point conversion cutting the score to 36-17 but it was meaningless. Only allowing nine meaningful points is just outstanding and a true sign of how strong the Patriots defense is. They might not have flashy pass rushers but they’re all on the same page and can get the job done against anyone.
The Super Bowl will be an even tougher challenge, but again, what the Patriots defense is good at — playing sound fundamental defense — translates regardless of opponent. They’ll make Atlanta work for every yard.