No Surprises Behind Curtain
Filed Under Curtain Rods | Posted on November 30, 2008
A lot has changed in the NFL since 1995, but the Pittsburgh Steelers haven’t changed a lot.
He found that while the names have changed, from Barry Foster to Willie Parker and from Greg Lloyd to LaMarr Woodley, the scheme is still largely the same: same blitzes on defense, same blocking scheme on offense, same excellent execution.
Pittsburgh is the polar opposite of the Patriots, who tailor their game plan and personnel on a week-to-week basis based on the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. The Steelers play one-size-fits-all football. They have no interest in trying to outfox opponents. They’re trying to flatten them with aggressive, physical, efficient play.
The Steelers are going to try to run right through them, whether they have the services of Parker (questionable, knee) at running back or not. Pittsburgh uses the run to set up the play-action pass for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to take shots down the field to wide receivers Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes and tight end Heath Miller.
“They’re going to run the ball,” said defensive end Ty Warren. “We’ve just got to play the game the way we’ve been doing it as far as stopping the run and doing that consistently and try to make it a one-dimensional game because we know the run sets up everything they do offensively. That’s our priority.”
Pittsburgh’s priority is simple: do what it does better than the other team.
“I would compare them to a Denver because Denver does what they do,” Warren said. “Schematically, it’s a different deal, but it’s equivalent, where they’re going to do what they do.”
Warren said that in some ways preparing for a team like Pittsburgh is preferable to getting ready to go up against teams like the Dolphins and Jets, who always seem to have an extra wrinkle or two to throw at New England.
That’s why Pittsburgh presents a different type of challenge, one that defensive end Richard Seymour said the Patriots are looking forward to meeting.
Tags: curtain, dimensional game, dolphins, game plan, greg lloyd, hines ward, jets, new england, opponent, patriots, pittsburgh steelers, play one, richard seymour, santonio holmes, strengths and weaknesses, tight end, ty warren, wide receivers, willie parkerRelated posts
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