FOXBORO — The Patriots melted in Miami last weekend, suffering a shameful and significant setback that postponed their division-clinching, playoff-qualifying party.
But it’s on to Pittsburgh, where the Patriots will face the equally reeling Steelers at 4:25 p.m. Sunday at Heinz Field.
"That’s the way it is every week, turn the page and move on to the next team," coach Bill Belichick said Friday. [...]
FOXBORO — The Patriots melted in Miami last weekend, suffering a shameful and significant setback that postponed their division-clinching, playoff-qualifying party.
But it’s on to Pittsburgh, where the Patriots will face the equally reeling Steelers at 4:25 p.m. Sunday at Heinz Field.
“That’s the way it is every week, turn the page and move on to the next team,” coach Bill Belichick said Friday.
The Patriots are 9-4 and hold a two-game lead over the Miami Dolphins in the AFC East. They can clinch the division title with a win and a Miami loss or tie, or a tie and a Miami loss.
The Steelers are 7-5-1 and remain in first place in the AFC North despite having lost three straight — all on the last play and by 13 total points. Like the Patriots, they’re also looking ahead.
This marks the 12th time in the last 17 seasons these perennial pigskin powers have met in the regular season with the Patriots holding an 8-3 edge. Their odds of expanding that advantage would improve if they can rediscover their run game and right their run defense.
The former definitely won’t be easy and the latter certainly won’t be if running back James Conner, who is questionable to play with an ankle injury, returns to the Steelers backfield after a one-game absence.
The Steelers come in ranked sixth in the league against the run, allowing 96.9 yards a game. They’re tied for eighth in yards per carry (4.0) and tied for 11th in runs of 20-plus yards (8) thanks to a combination of physicality and trickery.
“They switch it up a little bit — stunts here and there — so you’ve got to have that part right,” said Rob Gronkowski, the league’s best blocking tight end. “And then you’ve got to block the guys, you’ve got to block the defenders, and they’re good players, so you’ve got to be mentally and physically ready to be prepared to be able to have a run game.”
Meanwhile, the Patriots — minus a couple of jet sweeps by receiver Julian Edelman and three goal-line plunges by fullback James Develin — have seen a dramatic reduction in run production the past two games.
They stuck with it in a win over the Minnesota Vikings and the aforementioned loss at Miami with 39 and 30 carries, respectively. But the trio of Sony Michel, Rex Burkhead and James White only averaged 3.1 yards a carry with three runs of 10-plus yards and no touchdowns on 58 totes.
“I mean, there are always things we can improve upon every single week,” said Burkhead, who can be excused for being rusty after missing eight games with a neck injury before returning against Minnesota.
“Whether that’s certain reads or other little things, there are things that we can clean up and that’s all we’re going to do. We know what we’re capable of, but we have to go out there and execute.”
Conversely, the Patriots have been uncharacteristically porous against the run on a near weekly basis. That they rank 15th in yards allowed (113.0) is only because teams have typically and inexplicably veered away from the ground game.
Opponents are averaging 23.2 carries against the Patriots, the fifth-lowest figure in the league. The biggest outliers were the Detroit Lions, Tennessee Titans and the Week 14 Dolphins, who handed the Patriots three of their four losses.
More telling is that the Patriots are allowing a staggering 4.9 yards a carry, which is tied for 29th. The Dolphins, who came in 24th in the run game, checked in with a ridiculous 9.0 average last Sunday.
“The run game’s been something that we need to do a much better job of coaching, do a better job of playing,” de facto defensive coordinator Brian Flores said. “We’ve got to do a better job of getting off blocks, got to do a better job with our angles in the secondary.
“It’s something we’re going to spend a lot of time on. It’s something we have spent a lot of time on. Teams are going to keep running the ball or attempting to run the ball until we do something to stop it.”
The absence of three-time All-Pro running back Le’Veon Bell due to a season-long holdout has been mitigated by the emergence of Conner, a Western Pennsylvania native who played at Pitt and was drafted in the third round (105th overall) by the Steelers last year.
The 6-foot-1, 233-pound Conner has run for 909 yards, caught 52 passes, scored 13 touchdowns, and tallied 82 points — or 22.3 percent of the Steelers’ total in 12 games. He’ll be a tough test with his physical style if he suits up Sunday.
“He doesn’t spend a lot of time going sideways,” coach Bill Belichick said. “He finds space, gets into the defense and is hard to tackle. … Good vision, excellent, excellent runner with good power, good hands.”