Pats Pulpit
Do you remember the last time the New England Patriots won back-to-back games? The answer is November 2022, when the team of then-head coach Bill Belichick won three in a row. A lot has happened in Foxborough since then, and most of it not necessarily positive.
This Sunday, however, the Patriots will finally get another shot at breaking their almost three-year drought without consecutive victories. In order to do so versus the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers, however, they will need to build on their win over Miami last week and also come out on top as far as the game’s X-factors are concerned.
The Patriots’ tackling issues over the first two games of the season have been well-documented, and have prompted the team to put a special emphasis on it this week. Whether that emphasis will lead to improved results remains to be seen, but the team is under pressure to perform this week.
Not only is having the second most missed tackles in football an issue in itself, the unit of stand-in defensive coordinator Zak Kuhr also will go up against a team well-equipped to exploit them: Pittsburgh entered Week 3 ranked first in the NFL total yards after catch (320) and in yards after catch per reception (7.6). That success does not extend to the running game — 20th in yards after contact per run (1.6), 25th in total yards after contact (65) — but the point still stands.
Missed tackles are a sure-fire way to get into trouble against Pittsburgh’s offense.
While the Patriots have had their fair share finishing tackle attempts so far, head coach Mike Vrabel is not ready to push the panic button yet — in part because he was happy with his team’s performance in practice. He did, however, acknowledge the challenge that Pittsburgh presents.
“The only thing that matters now is how we tackle in the game. How we’re able to tackle [Jaylen] Warren, Jonnu [Smith] and DK [Metcalf] and [Calvin] Austin and those skill players, that’s what matters,” he said. “There was a lot of times of good tackling and then some – I think probably other than [De’Von] Achane, I can’t really think of a missed tackle that led to some significant gain. So, that means we’re swarming to the football. There’s good evidence of that, which will always help miss tackles.
“e have to be able to not miss as many tackles, but also track what those lead to. The yardage, the amount of yardage that they lead to. So again, we’ve continued to practice it. We’ll continue to work it and look for positive results on Sunday.”
OT Morgan Moses: The Patriots’ right tackle has been up and down so far this season, but the team will need him on his A-game come Sunday. Waiting on the other side of the line of scrimmage, after all, will be four-time first-team All-Pro T.J.Watt. The former NFL Defensive Player of the...
