New England Patriots
Whereas Maye is within the early phases of his profession, his Steelers counterpart is within the reverse part.
Welcome to Season 14, Episode 3 of the Unconventional Preview, a severe but lighthearted, nostalgia-tinted have a look at the Patriots’ weekly matchup . . .
Properly, that’s bizarre. Haven’t heard a single soul counsel this previous week that the Patriots ought to have taken J.J. McCarthy quite than Drake Maye with the No. 3 decide within the 2024 NFL Draft. Marvel what occurred.
Ah, we all know what occurred. Maye played the best game of his young career last Sunday in the Patriots’ 33-27 victory over the Dolphins, and higher, he did it when the noise questioning how lengthy it might take for him to stay as much as his promise was louder than it has been since he arrived.
Maye accomplished 19 of 23 passes for 230 yards and a pair of touchdowns, with no turnovers. He was poised within the pocket, correct, decisive, thriving in a Josh McDaniels recreation plan that performed to his strengths.
Maye additionally delivered a few spectacular highlights, together with an important 55-yard reference to Rhamondre Stevenson.
It was the signature win of his profession. Now the hope for Patriots followers is that Maye steadily bumps the memorable victory in Miami down that record of signature wins because the Sundays and seasons go and his promise is fulfilled.
Whereas Maye is within the early phases of his profession, his Steelers counterpart is within the reverse part.
Aaron Rodgers is among the most achieved quarterbacks in NFL historical past, no much less an knowledgeable than Tom Brady says he’s one of the best pure “thrower of the soccer” the league has ever seen.
Final Sunday in opposition to the Seahawks, Rodgers tied former Packers teammate and anti-mentor Brett Favre for fourth in passing touchdowns (508) in NFL historical past.
Rodgers has been a sitting duck this season, enduring 15 quarterback hits and 7 sacks, however he has demonstrated that at 41 years outdated, he can nonetheless dazzle together with his arm, firing an ideal 60-yard go whereas on the transfer that tight finish Pat Freiermuth couldn’t safe. I’m positive Rodgers didn’t maintain it in opposition to him.
Kick it off, Borregales, and let’s get this factor began . . .
Three gamers value watching aside from the quarterbacks
T.J. Watt: Watt, a four-time All-Professional, three-time NFL sack chief, and 2021 NFL Defensive Participant of the 12 months, doesn’t have a single sack in his final 5 video games, relationship to Week 15 final season.
This season, he has 9 tackles, two quarterback hits, and a go breakup — and but, an enormous ol’ zero within the class that he’s greatest identified for.
A part of the rationale, after all, is that Watt, who turns 31 subsequent month, virtually at all times attracts the eye of a number of blockers when he strains up in his typical spot on the left aspect of the Steelers’ defensive position.
The eye is nothing new — Patriots proper deal with Morgan Moses will certainly have assist Sunday — and but Watt has overcome the additional consideration previously to stay terribly productive and disruptive.
The Patriots have executed a tremendous job containing Watt via the years. In 4 matchups, he has only one sack. The Steelers have simply three sacks as a group and are already coping with an assortment of accidents on protection.
The Steelers, who’ve the Twenty ninth-ranked protection (394.5 yards per recreation), desperately want Watt to return to dominant kind.
Marvel if his brother J.J., who will name Sunday’s CBS broadcast with Ian Eagle and Evan Washburn, may have any perception on what’s occurring.
Robert Spillane: When Mike Vrabel stated Wednesday that “we now have to deal with higher,” the picture of Spillane flopping round making an attempt in useless to deal with the Dolphins’ De’Von Achane got here instantly to thoughts. For you, too, huh?
The Patriots’ protection has 19 missed tackles through two games, tied for fifth-most within the league. Spillane, an eighth-year linebacker and former Steeler, has seven of them, together with 5 in opposition to the Dolphins.
By some means, he truly has extra missed tackles than precise tackles (six). Final season with the Raiders, Spillane stacked up 158 complete tackles whereas lacking simply 11. Hopefully that means his struggles are an outlier and he escapes these early similarities to 2005 Monty Beisel.
The Patriots’ run protection has been sturdy statistically, permitting simply 58.5 yards per recreation, third-best within the league. However that’s deceptive, as a result of the Raiders and Dolphins had their method with the Patriots’ go protection, which is final within the NFL, permitting 315 yards per recreation.
The Steelers can be clever to check Spillane and the Patriots’ linebackers and safeties in go protection with operating again Jaylen Warren, who had a spectacular 65-yard catch-and-run in opposition to the Seahawks and has extra yards via the air this season (108) than as a ball provider (85).
Jabrill Peppers: Undecided why the Patriots determined to chop one in all their extra achieved gamers on Sept. 9, however the prevailing idea appears to be that there was some concern that he wouldn’t deal with a decreased position as gracefully as fellow security Kyle Dugger has.
Nonetheless suppose the Patriots — who’ve been the one group within the NFL permitting greater than 300 passing yards per recreation in star cornerback Christian Gonzalez’s absence — may use Peppers, whilst a de facto linebacker on passing downs.
However he’s a Steeler now, and possibly a vengeful one, although he’s going to require significantly extra enjoying time than he had in his just-get-acclimated debut in opposition to the Seahawks (no defensive snaps, seven on particular groups) to hang-out the Patriots.
The flashback
Because the Patriots are carrying their spectacular Pat Patriot-era pink throwback jerseys this week, it’s solely becoming that we choose our flashback recreation from the period — 1984-92, particularly — after they wore them each week.
Seems that the Patriots performed the Steelers 4 instances from 1984-92 — and received simply as soon as. The losses got here in consecutive seasons from 1989-91, which wasn’t precisely the golden period of Patriots soccer.
The win? Oh, that was fulfilling, a 34-0 throttling of the Steelers on Oct. 19, 1986.
Steve Grogan, who was in the course of a wonderful stretch filling in for Tony Eason, accomplished 18 of 26 passes for 243 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception. Grogan’s 121.2 passer score was the Twelfth-best of his 149 profession regular-season video games.
His greatest? An ideal 158.3 when he went 15 for 19 for 281 yards and 4 TDs in a 55-21 victory in October 1978. The opponent? The Jets, clearly.
Grievance of the week
The Patriots pulled off the uncommon Saturday afternoon commerce of a man on injured reserve final weekend, sending receiver Ja’Lynn Polk and a 2028 seventh-round pick to the Saints for a 2027 sixth-round pick.
I suppose probably the most embarrassing final result for a second-round decide is to get minimize in his second season, however being traded together with a late-round draft decide for a barely higher late-round draft decide isn’t far behind.
Polk, the No. 37 choice out of Washington within the 2024 draft after the Patriots shrewdly traded down with the Chargers and missed out Ladd McConkey within the horrible course of, had a very dismal rookie season, catching 12 passes (on 33 targets) for 87 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Since hitting the jackpot with Deion Department within the second spherical of the 2002 draft, the Patriots have had a wretched historical past of spending excessive draft picks on broad receivers.
In that 23-year span, the Patriots have drafted 9 receivers within the first three rounds, eight which have come and gone. (Kyle Williams, a third-rounder this 12 months of some promise, is excluded from this train.)
It’s shut, however I believe Polk is the worst of them. Let’s present our work and rank them, greatest — make that “greatest” — to worst.
Bethel Johnson, second spherical, No. 45 total, 2003: His lack of maturity drove veteran receivers on the group nuts, and he caught simply 30 passes for 450 yards and 4 touchdowns in three seasons in Foxborough. However he contributed his share of vital performs, together with a 92-yard kickoff return for a landing simply earlier than halftime in a 38-34 win over the Colts within the 2003 season, and a landing catch in opposition to the Titans within the 2004 divisional spherical.
Aaron Dobson, second spherical, No. 59, 2013: Had an honest rookie 12 months (37 catches for 519 yards and 4 TDs) and an occasional knack for the spectacular, however he was inefficient (these 37 catches got here on 72 targets). Lasted three seasons.
N’Keal Harry, first spherical, No. 32, 2019: He was an honest runner after the catch. The issue was he didn’t have many catches (57 for 598 yards and 4 TDs in three seasons) as a result of he couldn’t have gotten open if his defender was carrying a blindfold. Present Steeler DK Metcalf was among the many productive receivers that went after him in that draft.
Brandon Tate, third spherical, No. 83, 2009: Contributed two kickoff-return touchdowns in his second and last season as a Patriot.
Tyquan Thornton, second spherical, No. 50, 2022: Had 39 catches with the Patriots, which is about 37 greater than I keep in mind.
Chad Jackson, second spherical, No. 36, 2006: He was mainly the Polk of his time, catching 13 passes for 152 yards and three touchdowns as a rookie, then getting traded in his second 12 months.
Taylor Worth, third spherical, No. 90, 2010: Simply 5 catches for 80 yards in 4 video games and two seasons. However he was a late third-rounder. Polk’s draft place makes him the larger flop, I say.
Godspeed to you, Kyle Williams, as you attempt to finish the merciless, merciless cycle.
Prediction, or right here’s to Invoice Parcells lastly getting his due from the Krafts . . .
Considerably surprisingly, the Patriots have received their final three matchups with the Steelers, most just lately 21-18 on Thursday evening in December 2023. The lingering optimism from final week’s wild win over the Dolphins makes me consider that ex-Steeler Vrabel’s squad will reduce on its errors and penalties, swarm Rodgers, and win back-to-back video games for the primary time since they received three in a row in the course of the 2022 season. Patriots 27, Steelers 20.
