Steelers vs. Patriots: What's the Game Plan for Pittsburgh?

No Le’Veon Bell? It’s time for DeAngelo Williams to step up.

No Maurkice Pouncey? Career backup Cody Wallace is an adequate replacement for the time being.

No Martavis Bryant? That could be a huge problem in Thursday’s prime-time Week 1 contest between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

With Bell and Bryant suspended for off-field incidents, the Steelers have lost roughly half of their scoring from 2014. Add in the loss of Pouncey to a leg injury in the third preseason game against the Green Bay Packers, and the expected top-flight offense might have trouble getting off the ground against the Patriots without some key players.

Despite the holes left by the losses of Bell, Bryant and Pouncey, the Steelers still have star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and top-five wide receiver Antonio Brown in the mix to try to knock off the Patriots at home to start the season.

While the offensive game plan heading into tonight’s showdown is a bit murky, the defensive game plan is quite clear: get pressure on Brady early and often, tackle the catch for minimal gain and try to negate the splash plays.

The Steelers on Offense

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

Without Bell and Bryant, the Steelers will have to be very creative by helping Roethlisberger get the ball to Brown, Williams and Markus Wheaton in space.

Although Williams isn’t as explosive as Bell is in the open field, the Steelers will still deploy Williams in a similar fashion to Bell by lining him up out wide in certain packages to space the field. Unlike Bell, Williams won’t be the No. 1 target in those packages, but the Steelers will still feel confident that he can get the job done when his number is called.

To make up for the loss of Bell and Bryant, Brown, Wheaton, Darrius Heyward-Bey and rookie receiver Sammie Coates will all have to take on an added workload to make up for the loss of half the offense.

The Steelers know exactly what they’ll get from Brown in Week 1. Expect a lot of short completions to allow the dynamic Pro Bowler space to operate and create plays by racking up yards after the catch, which is where Roethlisberger and Brown made a killing last season.

Wheaton will work off the space created by the added attention to Brown, as will do-everything tight end Heath Miller, especially in the red zone, where Bell and Bryant were so good just one season ago.

Missing a key deep threat in Bryant, Heyward-Bey and Coates—both deep-threat burners in their own right—will have to step up and keep the Patriots secondary honest on play action with deep vertical routes to try to blow the top off the defense, which will open up room underneath as well.

Don’t expect Heyward-Bey and Coates to have a huge role in the game plan tonight, but they’ll both see time on the field and could be enough to scare the Patriots secondary.

Along with play-action shots deep, the Steelers will still run their regular short and intermediate routes underneath while looking to create splash plays after the catch, on top of zone-read runs and running back screens. Despite Bell's and Bryant's absences, the Steelers won’t drastically change their offense to try to beat the Patriots.

The Steelers on Defense

Associated Press

During his 15-year NFL career, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has always handled the pass rush quite well off the edges. However, Brady really struggles and becomes jumpy in the pocket when the rush comes straight at him up the middle and gets in his face.

Fortunately for the Steelers, Patriots starting center Bryan Stork will miss tonight’s game due to the aftereffects of a concussion, so right guard Ryan Wendell will have to shift to center, making reserve Josh Kline the starting right guard against the Steelers.

With the loss of Stork, the Patriots offensive line is slightly more vulnerable up the middle, which is where the Steelers defense under new coordinator Keith Butler will want to attack, especially the A-gaps.

For the Steelers to have any chance at beating the Patriots, Pittsburgh’s defense will have to rattle Brady early and often with pressure up the middle. Key blitzes from middle linebackers Lawrence Timmons, Ryan Shazier and Vince Williams have to create pressure as much as possible, but the real key to creating pressure comes from the defensive line, especially nose tackles Steve McLendon and second-year pro Daniel McCullers.

With Butler allowing the defensive line to be more aggressive and creative when rushing the passer, McLendon and McCullers have to push the middle of the pocket into Brady’s lap as much as possible, forcing the Super Bowl MVP to drop his eyes and focus on the rush instead of looking downfield for one of his weapons.

Along with the interior of the defense, outside linebackers James Harrison, Arthur Moats, Bud Dupree and Jarvis Jones must do a good job of running the arc and putting heat on Brady off the edge. Add in Cam Heyward and a healthy Stephon Tuitt providing disruption up front, and Brady could be in for a long night behind a makeshift offensive line.

However, expect Brady and Bill Belichick, along with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, to counter the aggressive pass rush by dinking and dunking down the field and forcing the Steelers secondary to tackle the catch for minimal gain.

Judging from some of the performances from the preseason, that could be a problem tonight for the Steelers. With Antwon Blake and Cortez Allen on the outside and William Gay in the slot, the Steelers have experienced, physical corners on the outside but are prone to missing tackles and allowing big plays after the catch.

That simply can’t happen tonight.

Along with the dinking and dunking the Patriots are expected to do, the Steelers secondary must look out for the play-action shots the Patriots take, especially to tight end Rob Gronkowski down the seam. This is the area where Mike Mitchell, Shamarko Thomas and others must be at the top of their games.

It’s no secret that Gronkowski is the best tight end in football and routinely eats up the Steelers in head-to-head matchups, but limiting the big plays and shots that Brady takes to Gronkowski should keep the Steelers within striking distance late.

Matchup X-Factors

Getty Images

Rob Gronkowski vs. Steelers defenders

Expect Butler to throw a number of defenders at Gronkowski tonight in attempts to slow the All-Pro tight end down.

Dating back to a 2011 matchup against the Steelers, then-defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau deployed Cortez Allen on Gronkowski in one-on-one coverage. In that game, Gronkowski pulled in seven catches for 94 yards but was held out of the end zone in a 25-17 Steelers victory.

Although five years have passed since that matchup worked and both parties involved are much different players, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Butler attempt to try something that worked once before.

Former Arizona Wildcats teammate Robert Golden told Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the Steelers defense just needs to get physical with the Patriots tight end:

"

You just have to get your hands on Gronk. He’s aggressive and you have to be aggressive with him. He’s athletic. He gets better and better every time he plays. He’s definitely not the player he was in college. But if you can get your hands on him, it can disrupt the timing and throw him off.

"

Good luck with that, Robert.

If Allen doesn’t shadow Gronkowski, a host of Steelers defenders, namely Ryan Shazier, will draw the tough task of trying to cover the mammoth tight end. Shazier has the speed and athleticism to shadow Gronkowski, but his coverage skills are question marks.

Kelvin Beachum vs. Chandler Jones

Beachum has burst onto the scene in the last year or so for the Steelers. Pro Football Focus graded him out as one of the best left tackles in football last season, and he allowed just 2.5 sacks last season after Week 4, with the sacks coming against Houston’s J.J. Watt and Kansas City’s Justin Houston.

There’s nothing to be disappointed about with that company.

Jones isn’t in that company with Watt and Houston, but he’s an excellent athlete off the edge who can combine speed and power to give tackles fits.

Keeping Roethlisberger upright and clean is the No. 1 priority heading into tonight’s game. How Beachum does against Jones will go a long way toward the success or failure of the Steelers offense.

Antwon Blake vs. Patriots receivers

Blake gets the start on the outside over former Eagles cornerback Brandon Boykin.

Maybe it’s because of his experience in the Steelers defense. Maybe it’s his physicality that Butler liked over Boykin’s, or maybe it’s the fact that receivers just don’t like being tackled by the 5’8” Blake, who hits like a freight train in the open field.

While that’s a nice compliment on paper, doing it on the field on a consistent basis tonight will play a factor into the Steelers' attempts to slow down Brady and Co.

Julian Edelman has made a career out of working in space and running after the catch. That’s something the Steelers want to negate as much as possible. That all starts with tackling after the catch.

Blake has to step up and set the tone early when the Patriots start to dink and dunk.

Darrius Heyward-Bey/Sammie Coates vs. Patriots secondary

As mentioned before, Roethlisberger loves to take deep shots off play action and pump-fakes as much as possible. With no Martavis Bryant around to catch those deep bombs, somebody is going to have to step up and challenge the Patriots secondary deep.

Luckily for the Steelers, Heyward-Bey and Coates carry tons of experience in that department at both the collegiate and professional ranks.

Both are tall, athletic freaks who can turn on the jets and run away from most corners. Add in physical frames and the ability to outjump defenders, and it’s easy to see that Roethlisberger will continue to take deep shots despite missing his favorite deep threat.

One of Heyward-Bey or Coates is going to make a big catch down the field in this game that could turn the tides. How consistently they can draw attention will play a factor into the Steelers' ability to move the ball down the field.

Prediction: Patriots 38, Steelers 24

Associated Press

Missing Bell, Bryant and Pouncey will prove to be too much for the Steelers offense to overcome. Asking a career journeyman and an inexperienced rookie to step up in place of your best deep threat is asking a lot, especially in the Steelers' high-flying offense.

Add into the equation a rejuvenated Tom Brady, who seems to be out for blood, and it could get ugly early for a Steelers defense that struggled to stop the pass last season.

Plus, like they have nearly every time out against the Steelers, Brady and Gronkowski will put together impressive outings in leading the Patriots to the large win while kicking off the defense of their fourth Super Bowl title.