The Patriots did not have much to complain about after Sunday's win against the Steelers. However, offensive linemen Logan Mankins and Matt Light agree that some Steelers were taking unnecessary shots after the whistle.
The reason for the unnecessary shots was due to the excellent protection Tom Brady received from his offensive line. The only time the Steelers defense was able to get to Brady was when the play was over. What really made Mankins upset was when Brady went in for a 3-yard touchdown on a quarterback sneak. After Brady was clearly down, Steelers safety Troy Polamalu tried to stuff his head past the goal line.
Mankins had some words of wisdom for the safety.
"We don't care how long your hair is, we're not going to let you do what you want to our quarterback," Mankins said.
And the Steelers' defense definitely did not have the opportunity to do want they wanted to Brady due to the offensive line's work. Brady wasn’t sacked once the whole game as he completed 30 of his 43 attempts for 350 yards.
Light felt there was an excess of shoving, grabbing and twisting after the whistle from the Steelers.
"There was a lot of extra sugar being tossed out around there, late in these plays," Light said. "The guy would be down on the ground and you'd see unnecessary stuff happening, like they're torquing his head when the play is clearly over. Those are the kind of things that get you fired up."
But if this is all they have to complain about, nothing to do with their performance, then the Patriots are on the right path. As Brady explained after the win, "we haven't been this happy in a long time."
