New England Patriots - NESN.com
The New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers are set to do battle on Sunday at Gillette Stadium, and there are many storylines to keep an eye on. One of those narratives involves an area of the Steelers that is undeniably vulnerable: their run defense.
Ahead of this Week 3 clash, Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon talked about Pittsburgh’s problems with stopping the run.
“A run defense that was supposed to be better this year … gave up 182 yards and three touchdowns on the ground against the Jets in Week 1 before allowing Kenneth Walker III to put up 8.1 yards per attempt in a triple-digit performance in a Week 2 loss to the Seahawks,” Gagnon wrote.
**“**The good news is they could have some time to work on this because they don’t play a strong rushing offense for quite a while,” Gagon continued.
New England’ running back room would beg to differ with Gagnon’s last assertion.
Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson (not to mention Antonio Gibson, although his greatest contributions have come on special teams thus far), will be looking to expose Pittsburgh’s run defense on Sunday, and the Patriots are hoping that their offensive line can perform well enough to enable such a scenario.
Of course, the Patriots’ own defense — and its performance against Aaron Rodgers — will also dictate how Josh McDaniels proceeds to attack. If Rodgers has considerable success in the air and the Steelers put up multiple touchdowns in the first half, this might become the type of game in which Drake Maye will have to throw the ball a ton.
New England’s first quarter drives will be crucial. By establishing the run game and getting multiple first downs, the Patriots can minimize the time of possession for Rodgers early on and keep Pittsburgh’s defense guessing.
With ample protection along then line, Stevens and Henderson should have no problem putting the Steelers in a compromised position.
