One game, Steelers Nation. The Steelers are one game away from the Super Bowl. But, there’s only one tiny problem – Tom Brady and the New England Patriots- at home- and at night. No one ever said it was going to be easy to get to the Super Bowl, and everyone knows the road to the Super Bowl in the AFC runs through New England.
Hardly anyone is giving the Steelers a fighting chance to advance to the Super Bowl, but that’s just the way they like it. When expectations are low, they are bound to be exceeded. Here are the Pittsburgh Steelers keys to winning the AFC Championship and advancing to their ninth Super Bowl.
Pittsburgh Steelers AFC Championship Keys to Victory
Let Le’Veon Eat
No surprise here. I’ve led off with Le’Veon Bell in every Steelers Keys to Victory. And that’s for good reason. The Pittsburgh Steelers offense goes as far as Le’Veon Bell can carry it.
The Steelers haven’t had a dominating run game like this since Jerome Bettis was terrorizing opposing defenses. Bell led the NFL in rushing attempts per game and that trend has only increased since the postseason began.
The Pittsburgh Steelers team MVP has carried the rock 59 times in two games for 337 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Bell will need to see in the area of 30 carries on Sunday if the Steelers wish to play in their ninth Super Bowl.
Bell and the offensive line will have their work cut out for them as the Patriots boast the third best rushing defense in the NFL. New England holds opponents to only 88 rushing yards per game, and haven’t given up a rushing touchdown since HALLOWEEN. HALLOWEEN! That’s one of the most absurd stats in the NFL this year and will be broken by Le’Veon Bell on Sunday.
Not only is Le’Veon Bell the focal point of the offense, if he receives in the ballpark of 30 touches on Sunday, that’ll help keep Tom Brady and the New England offense off of the field. If the Steelers win the time of possession battle by more than five or six minutes they’ll have a great chance of stealing a victory in Foxborough.
Brady’s Dominance against Pittsburgh
Let’s be honest here, Tom Brady has been the Steelers defense kryptonite since 2002. Brady owns a 9-2 career record against Pittsburgh (2-0 in playoffs) and absolutely dominates the Steelers secondary. The Steelers are 1-4 against New England since 2010.
Listen to these stats; 2,826 passing yards, 70% completion rate, 24 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions with a QBR of 114 in the regular season. They are a bit more modest in the post-season (2-0) – 322 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions for a QBR of 109. With that being said, all that matters is winning in the post-season, and Brady has never lost to the Steelers in the post-season.
To put it bluntly, Tom Brady owns the Steelers secondary. He once again commands another potent offense this post-season. The Patriots scored 27.6 points per game (third best), threw for 269 yards per game (fourth best), rushed for 117 yards per game (seventh best). All told, the Patriots averaged 386 yards per game, good for fourth overall in the NFL.
The ageless James Harrison and young gun Bud Dupree will be essential to disrupting Tom Brady’s rhythm in the pocket. The two outside linebackers have been on a tear as of late and the Steelers will need to see much of the same on Sunday.
In their previous game, the Houston Texans were able to knock down a couple of Brady’s passes at the line of scrimmage and it clearly had an effect on the signal caller. Hopefully, Pittsburgh has been practicing batting balls down at the line all week in practice.
Big Ben and the Receiving Corps Need to Step Up
Log that statement into the “things I never thought I’d say” category. For countless seasons, Ben Roethlisberger has been the catalyst for the Steelers success.
The signal caller started 2016 on fire until his knee injury in Miami. Although Roethlisberger will never admit it, it sure looks like the injury has affected his play for the remainder of the year.
Roethlisberger has thrown for 421 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions in two post-season games this year (albeit, both games were played in below freezing temperatures). Of those 421 yards passing and two touchdowns, 232 have gone to Antonio Brown.
One of the reasons Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is considered a defensive genius is because he takes away the opponent’s best offensive weapon. It forces teams to get out of their comfort zone and beat the Patriots with their second and third best options. It will be a coin-flip who the Patriots will try and take away (Bell or Brown), but I have to think it’s going to be Le’Veon Bell.
With that being said, the Patriots secondary will focus the majority of their attention on All-Pro Antonio Brown. That leaves the “other” Steelers wide receivers to pick up the slack against the Patriots secondary.
Wide receivers Eli Rogers, Cobi Hamilton, and Darrius Heyward-Bey will be counted upon to make important and timely catches. The second-year tight end Jesse James took a huge step forward last week in Kansas City as he caught five balls for 83 clutch yards. With the Patriots trying to stop the run and clogging the box for Le’Veon Bell, the Steelers will need to be successful throwing the football.
Prediction: Steelers 28, Patriots 27
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