New England Patriots: How Do They Match Up with Pittsburgh Steelers?

The match-up between the Patriots and Steelers is the usual showdown of a high-flying offense against a stifling defense. The Steelers haven't had the toughest of schedules and have won four games against teams that are a combined 7-23—not exactly impressive wins.

The Patriots, on the other hand, have won their five games against teams that are a combined 15-17 overall—and one team, the Dolphins, count for six of those losses.

It's easy to look back on the history of this rivalry and say that with the recent domination of the Patriots over the Steelers, but every game is different, and with Pittsburgh's top-ranked pass defense up against New England's top-ranked pass offense, this is a game that could legitimately go either way.

Football is a game of match-ups, so let's see how the match-ups break down between the two teams.

Patriots Pass Attack vs. Steelers Pass Defense

The ballyhooed match-up between the league's No. 1 passing offense and the No. 1 passing defense isn't as important as you might like to think. Volume stats don't indicate any level of performance on a down-to-down, or even a game-to-game level. For this reason, efficiency stats are way more useful in discerning a team's effectiveness overall in any given area.

In the ultimate battle of efficiency, the Patriots are in prime position to impose their will on the Steelers. Tom Brady's 104.8 passer rating ranks second behind only the historic start of Aaron Rodgers. Pittsburgh's defensive passer rating is 80.98, just 13th in the NFL.

Overall, the Steelers haven't been what they have come to be known as on defense. They have just 17 sacks through seven games, and that doesn't figure to change this week—the Patriots have let Brady go down just 11 times.

The Patriots have dominated the passing game against the Steelers in the past. Only this time, they're fully expected to.

Advantage: Patriots

Patriots Rush Attack vs. Steelers Rush Defense

New England has solidified their running game in the past two weeks, having rushed for 4.3 yards per carry against the Jets, and 4.0 against the Cowboys.

In another break from their dominant days of old, the Steelers have also been slipping in run defense. An average of 4.49 yards per carry doesn't look too good on their record and isn't what we're used to seeing in Steel City (3.0 yards per rush against ranked first last season).

BenJarvus Green-Ellis is no Arian Foster, but it's worth noting that just last year, the Law Firm brought Pittsburgh's defense to justice and ran for 87 yards on 18 carries. Doesn't sound like much, but the 4.8 yards per carry average was enough to keep the Steelers on their heels and to complement a stellar day from Brady.

Advantage: Patriots

Steelers Pass Attack vs. Patriots Pass Defense

The Steelers have been one of the league's more inconsistent offenses. Ben Roethlisberger has looked great against some pretty bad defenses (115.7 passer rating vs. Seahawks, 121,8 vs. Cardinals) but has looked bad against some pretty good defenses (52.9 vs. Ravens, 61.3 vs. underrated Texans).

Make no mistake, the Patriots defense has improved dramatically over the past two weeks (267 passing yards per game in the past three contests).

But they haven't looked a lot better against opposing quarterbacks doing so. In fact, their season-long defensive passer rating of 91.9 isn't far off from the 93.3 they picked up against Dallas and the NYJ.

That being said, New England was able to put the brakes on the Steelers offense last time with a solid pass rush, logging five sacks. The Steelers offensive line is once again in shambles, having let up 20 sacks on Roethlisberger in just seven games. 

New England's ability to cover tight ends will once again be put to the test against Heath Miller, and if the first six games of the season are any indication, they should at least slow him down a bit. 

More importantly, though, Mike Wallace will warrant double teams from New England's secondary. Wallace is pulling in passes at 20.3 yards per reception and leads the league in that category over the past three years. He's one of the rare track stars on the football field who can just outrun everyone consistently.

Advantage: Steelers

Steelers Rush Attack vs. Patriots Rush Defense

If you haven't abandoned the memories of the Steelers' dominant rushing attack of old, let these numbers do the trick: 4.4 yards per rush ranks 12th in the NFL, in the top half, but barely; four rushing touchdowns ranks 20th; 189 rush attempts ranks 15th. It's clear that not only is running the ball fading from the game plan, it's also fading from the skill set of the offense.

As average as the Steelers rush attack has been, so, too, has been the Patriots rush defense. In another scenario of misleading stats, they are a top 10 run defense but give up 4.4 yards per carry, ranking 17th. 

The Patriots slowed down a much better back than Mendenhall in Oakland when they shut down Darren McFadden just a few weeks ago. Other than his 41-yard scamper, he averaged just 2.6 yards per carry. 

The Steelers likely won't be running the ball very much, because they'll be too busy playing catch-up in the passing game. Thus, while this match-up won't have much of an impact, the edge still belongs to New England.

Advantage: Patriots

Special Teams

On a pure percentages basis, Stephen Gostkowski (90.9 percent) is way ahead of Shaun Suisham (71.4). More of Gostkowski's have been chip shots (6-for-6 from 20-20 yards), but that's a credit to New England's offense and their ability to set up the kicker with reliable field position to make the kick.

In the punting game, Zoltan Mesko and Daniel Sepulveda have been nearly identical. Mesko averages 45.8 yards per punt, Sepulveda averages 46.8. 

I won't even pretend like the kick return game is even a factor—the Steelers have returned the ball just 13 times to the Patriots 20.

The punt returners haven't stood out for either team, though Julian Edelman has some "wiggles" and averages 11.7 yards per return. Still, he hasn't had a big one yet with his longest just 18 yards, but we've seen that capability from him in the past.

Antonio Brown has also been a solid punt returner, and though he hasn't hit paydirt yet, his 41-yard return showed that he can take one to the house if given a legitimate shot.

The two units look like they should hold up well against one another.

Advantage: Draw

Coaching

This season more than almost any other in Bill Belichick's tenure, he is proving that he can build a game plan to beat an opponent by taking away their best threat. There are few signs of a coach that are more telling than their team's ability to execute a game plan.

One thing, however, would be turnovers. The Patriots have 10 through six games, and that's considered quite a bit for them to start a season—they had 10 all of 2010. They are in good company, however, as the Steelers have 12 turnovers in seven games.

Although this falls mainly on philosophy, the difference in the turnover battle comes on the defensive side of the ball. New England is at it again with the turnovers, forcing 11 (three fumbles, eight interceptions). The Steelers are the polar opposite, having generated just three turnovers (one fumble, two interceptions).

For a head coach that likes to wait for his opponents to make mistakes, the fact that Belichick's Patriots are doing the trick in the early-going must be an encouraging sign.

Advantage: Patriots

Conclusion

Just two final points to make on this match-up.

• The Patriots have won eight straight off a bye week; they are 9-1 off byes under Belichick.
• The Patriots are 4-2 against Ben Roethlisberger, but 4-1 when Brady plays.

It all adds up to a Patriots win on Sunday.

Patriots 24, Steelers 17

Erik Frenz is the co-host of the PatsPropaganda and Frenz podcast. Follow Erik on Twitter @ErikFrenz.