Steelers DC Keith Butler seriously outcoached in AFC Championship game
By: Curt Popejoy | January 23, 2017
There was a point in Sunday’s loss to the New England Patriots that it was abundantly clear the plan of attack that Pittsburgh Steelers DC Keith Butler had in place wasn’t going to work. But once this became abundantly clear, did Butler adjust? Nope. This isn’t the first time stubbornness has put the Steelers’ defense behind the eight ball, but there couldn’t have been a worse game for egos to get in the way of trying to win a football game.
What was the problem? For whatever reason, Butler and the Steelers’ coaches chose to give Patriots quarterback Tom Brady exactly what he wanted. Brady is a lock to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and the Steelers felt it was a sound strategy to only rush three and drop eight into soft zone coverage. If you listen to pretty much every NFL analyst over the course of the week leading up to the game, this was the one thing they almost universally said was the worst-case scenario.
If Keith Butler only rushes three all night, New England might score 113 points.
— Colin Dunlap (@colin_dunlap) January 22, 2017
Blitzes were rare and the Patriots showed no fear in what Butler threw at their offense. Every time there were only three rushers and one of them was DL L.T. Walton you had to look at it as a two-man rush.
Additionally, it didn’t appear that the Steelers’ film study was thorough and this was especially the case on the flea flicker the Patriots scored on. According to safety Mike Mitchell, that play wasn’t part of their film study at all. It showed.
Mike Mitchell said a flea-flicker wasn't on film study. "We were expecting some type of trick plays…like screen-and-gos and what not."
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) January 23, 2017
Brady to Lewis back to Brady…
DEEP to Hogan!
The PERFECT Flea Flicker! #PITvsNE #NFLPlayoffs https://t.co/u2pvVvcCEA
— NFL (@NFL) January 23, 2017
Speaking of that play, the inability to adapt to defending WR Chris Hogan was disconcerting. But on a night when the Steelers had conceded there would be little or no pass rush, Butler should have looked to the Patriots defense for guidance. The Patriots had a plan to press the Steelers wide receivers and grab and hold at every opportunity. The officials made it clear very early that no matter how blatant it was, they were going to let them play.
The Patriots had a plan to press the Steelers wide receivers and grab and hold at every opportunity. The officials made it clear very early that no matter how blatant it was, they were going to let them play. It was hard to watch, but harder when you realize that the Steelers never caught on and played more man coverage. If the refs are going to let holds and pass interference go, you might as well get on board with it.
Overall this was a defensive game to forget. Young or not there is too much talent on this team to play as timid as they did. If they were so intimidated by the Patriots that they felt like playing not to lose was the only option, this needs to change.