New England Patriots celebrate another trip to Super Bowl
The New England Patriots are on their way to a NFL-record ninth Super Bowl appearance after they dismantled the Pittsburgh Steelers 36-17 on Sunday night. This is the seventh AFC crown for New England in the Brady-Belichick era. Brady was spectacular against the Steeler’s soft zone coverage, picking them apart all night as he finished with a postseason career high 384 yards. He completed 32 of his 42 passes with three touchdowns and zero interceptions.
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Mike Tomlin was once again thoroughly outcoached by Belichick throughout the evening. The Patriots basically abandoned the running game once they realized that Tomlin had zero interest in altering his defensive game plan. It was a game plan that focused on minimal pass rush and soft zone coverages. The result? Tom Brady standing in the pocket untouched, allowed to dissect the young Steelers’ secondary. “We didn’t do a good enough job or a quick enough job adapting to the circumstance,” Tomlin said after the game.
Belichick also continued to reinforce the cliché that he takes away his opponents’ best weapon. Antonio Brown was constantly shadowed by New England’s two best defensive backs, Malcolm Butler and Devin McCourty. Brown had a very pedestrian game by his standards finishing with 7 catches for 77 yards and no touchdowns. The Patriots dared anyone else on the Pittsburgh offense to beat them and none could. It is worth mentioning that New England didn’t have to worry about running back Le’Veon Bell after the first quarter because of a groin injury that forced him to the sidelines.
Chris Hogan had the game of his life, setting a Patriots’ postseason record with 180 receiving yards on nine catches and two touchdowns. Hogan was constantly finding open spots in the Steelers’ zone defense leading to several big plays. One of the big highlights of the night was a second quarter 34-yard flea flicker from Dion Lewis to Brady to Hogan. Not to be totally outdone by Hogan, Julian Edelman also had a very good performance finishing with eight catches for 118 yards and a touchdown.
Up next is a Super Bowl showdown with the NFC Champion Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons have one of the most explosive offenses in the game featuring quarterback Matt Ryan and wide receiver Julio Jones. They present a very balanced attack on offense and an underrated defense. They’ve already defeated two former Super Bowl winning quarterbacks in Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers en route to their NFC title. Brady and company will definitely have their hands full when they head to Houston to face the Falcons on Sunday, February 5th.
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