When the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots played on Thursday Night Football, nobody expected the Patriots to score 21 points in the first half. That is more than they had scored in the previous three weeks combined. But that is exactly what happened with QB Bailey Zappe leading the Patriots offense to 209 yards and 21 points in the first half.
Current Steelers CB Patrick Peterson and former Steelers CB Bryant McFadden talked about this on their weekly podcast All Things Covered.
“Honestly, just us miscommunication and getting beat to the flats for the most part,” Peterson said during the podcast posted on YouTube. “JuJu [Smith-Schuster] made one good catch on that first drive, but other than that catch, I just think the other plays that they made on us was just miscommunication for the most part. The touchdown to 85 [Hunter Henry], the touchdown to Zeke [Elliott]. So for the most part just miscommunication. And we came out, like I talked about early on in the show, we came out in the second half and pitched a shutout. Our margin of error is very, very, very small.”
Miscommunication has been a theme of this season on both sides of the ball. The defense has been particularly tested in this area of late due to the rash of injuries suffered at the inside linebacker position. The Steelers entered the season with Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander in a three-man rotation with Elandon Roberts. Now they have Roberts playing primarily next to Mykal Walker, who was only signed to the team’s 53-man roster four weeks ago ahead of the Cleveland Browns game.
Walker has been picked on by opposing offenses a bit with tight ends and running backs finding a lot of success in the short-to-intermediate passing game, including these two touchdowns I compiled into a clip with Walker the primary guy in coverage.
The Steelers’ defense tightened up over the second half, forcing five punts and intercepting the ball once on six drives. Over those drives, the Patriots only gained 69 yards and were held scoreless in the second half. But the damage was already done, and the offense couldn’t come back. The way this offense is built, an 18-point deficit is a death sentence. The second-half adjustments are great and all, but the defense will need to play a full 60 minutes against the Colts, who are right in the thick of the playoff hunt alongside the Steelers.
