FOXBORO, Mass. — The New England Patriots’ defense will have its hands full this Sunday, to say the least.
Fresh off a crushing Week 14 loss to the Miami Dolphins, the Patriots will be tasked with trying to rebound at Heinz Field against the Pittsburgh Steelers’ high-flying offense, which currently ranks second in the NFL in pass yards per game and fourth in points per game.
It’s been the usual suspects for Pittsburgh this season, as both Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster are putting together stellar campaigns. Smith-Schuster, in just his second NFL season, boasts the fourth-most receiving yards in the league with 1,234, while Brown’s 12 TD catches are tied for the league-best.
New England has gone up against some formidable pass-catching tandems this season, most recently in Week 13 against the Minnesota Vikings’ Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs. But if you ask Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, the duo of Brown and Smith-Schuster is in a class of its own.
“You’re not going to get anybody better than these two guys, plus the quarterback,” Belichick said Wednesday. “They got a lot of other guys, too, but these two receivers are elite. Elite, elite.”
Sunday will mark almost a year to the day of the last Patriots-Steelers showdown: a Week 15 tilt in Pittsburgh that saw New England squeak out a win by the skin of its teeth. Brown wasn’t long for the contest after suffering a calf injury in the second quarter, but Smith-Schuster turned in one of the best games of his rookie season, catching six passes for 144 yards. Nearly half of those yards came on a 69-yard catch-and-run with under a minute remaining in the fourth quarter that put the Steelers in position to potentially win the game.
The 22-year-old’s vast skill set isn’t lost on Belichick.
“He’s a dynamic player, tremendous player,” Belichick said. “Very good with the ball in his hands, great hands. Makes some spectacular catches, hard to tackle. He’s very good.”
So while run defense will be a point of emphasis for the Patriots this week after their ugly showing in Miami, New England’s defensive backs will need to be at their best in hopes of the club getting back in the win column.
