PLAYER NOTES
CB Jason McCourty: McCourty struggled in space when he covered Dolphins WR Kenny Stills who had eight catches. Look for the Steelers to attack McCourty. The Patriots could put McCourty inside and J.C. Jackson outside.
–DL Lawrence Guy/Malcom Brown: The two defensive linemen must be more physical in the run game.
–RB Sony Michel: Michel must run better than he did last week when he averaged less than three yards per carry.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: K Stephen Gostkowski. Gostkowski missed two kicks last week. He must rebound well in a hostile environment. Head coach Bill Belichick expressed full confidence in Gostkowski on Wednesday. Gostkowski has never been one to let bad games linger. He has amnesia, which is a great quality for any kicker.
GAME PLAN: Offensively, the Patriots will need to protect well against the blitz schemes of the Steelers. The Steelers do a good job of getting pressure on the quarterback. The Steelers lead the league in sacks with 45. The Patriots are tied for 29th with 24 sacks. The Steelers are strong inside with Bud Dupree and Sean Spence. Tom Brady will likely use play-action fakes to draw the linebackers in and throw over the top. If the Steelers play zone with their signature zone-blitz scheme, Brady will pick them apart. The Patriots will likely attack the Steelers by hitting Julian Edelman in the middle of the field and throwing quick slants to Josh Gordon. The Patriots hope that the Steelers cover Gronkowski with linebackers so they can hit Gronkowski for some big plays.
Defensively, it is simple. The Patriots must stop wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Antonio Brown. Smith-Schuster is fast and Brown is physical. They are extremely tough to defend. Putting Gilmore on Smith-Schuster given his speed and doubling Brown with J.C. Jackson and Devin McCourty over the top must be the best way to go. Jackson should try to be physical with Brown at the line of scrimmage.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
–Steelers WRs Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster vs. Patriots CB Stephon Gilmore. Gilmore must take away one of the Steelers two wide receivers for the Patriots to win.
–Patriots RT Marcus Cannon vs. Steelers DE Cameron Heyward. Cannon must block Heyward who has six sacks this season and 12.5 sacks last season.
