Steelers defensive strategy vs the Patriots

I don't understand why they didn't use the press man to man defense they were successful at in 2011 against the Patriots. Because the game plan yesterday was crap in the first half the smallest defender on the field William Gay was matched up against Gronkowski, even Phil Simms didn't understand the matchup he said Cortez should be covering Gronkowski. There were way too many receivers running wide open.

 

To alter the great Dennis Green "WE ARE WHO THEY THOUGHT WE WERE!!!" LOL!

 

I love him too and I still think he is just as great as he ever was but I think he has a bunch of one dimensional guys that are also aging and there's not really a lot of changing it up at this point. We just are gonna have to dance with the ones that brought us til at least the end of this season. IF we were gonna fire him I would almost want him to go to NE just because I would be morbidly curious of what a team that has him and Bill would look like. It would be scary for sure. IF we fired him do you think he would generate interest elsewhere? I do. But IF he says he wants to retire do you still think teams will reach out to him?

 

But here's a list of the 24 defensive players drafted by management over the last 6 years: Mike Humpal, Ryan Mundy, Bruce Davis, Ziggy Hood, Keenan Lewis, Joe Burnett, Ra'shon Harris, Jason Worilds, Thaddeus Gibson, Crezdon Butler, Stevenson Sylvester, Doug Worthington, Cameron Heyward, Curtis Brown, Cortez Allen, Chris Carter, Sean Spence, Alemeda Ta'amu, Terrence Frederick, Jarvis Jones, Shamarko Thomas, Terry Hawthorne, Vince Williams and Nick Williams.

 

What's interesting from that list is the number who I remember as basically being drafted as initial back ups, quality-wise - Mundy, Gibson, Butler, Sylvester, Carter, and the like - because we didn't need an imemdiate replacement at that spot, and could afford to see how they developed.

Problem was, they didn't develop, or we let them go. (Still not sure why Crezdon Butler was let go, but still).

The actual starter calibre picks there - i.e. guys who you would expect to go from day one, if needed - are very thin on the ground: I'd argue that Lewis, Worilds, Jones, and Thomas fit that mould, but not many others.

Vince Williams has, at least, been a nice surprise.