Projo Pats Blog

What is your first impression of Pittsburgh? The same blitzing Pittsburgh Steelers that you’ve faced in the past?
They blitz us. They blitz us quite a bit. Their style is pretty much the same. They’re a good defense, obviously, the best in the league according to the statistics and if you ask them they’ll tell you that. It’s going to be a great challenge for us, so hopefully we go out and play well.

What did you think of the bold prediction by their corner back [Anthony Smith]?
Coach always says we do our talking on Sundays. I’m glad they feel that way. I hope they feel that way. I hope they do, I hope they feel like they can win. I’d hate for them to come in here and feel like they can’t win any games. We’ll see, we’ll see who comes out ahead on Sunday.

Is it fair to say that it might be talked about a little bit this week? It might find its way on a wall somewhere? [Anthony Smith’s victory guarantee]
I’m sure yeah. We heard about it, I think everybody on the team has heard about it. It always comes down to who plays better. Well done is always better than well said -- that’s been the motto of this team.

What do you know about Anthony Smith?
I didn’t know who he was until we started preparing for them. He’s a young player and it’s obvious that [there are] guys that we’ve played in the past that we really respect on that team, Deshea [Townsend], Troy [Polamalu], Aaron Smith, Casey [Hampton] -- those guys aren’t the ones that say it. It’s a great challenge for us we’ve had a great history with them, we’ve played some very meaningful games and they’re a great team. They’re really well-coached both offensively and defensively. I just hope we play well.

Do you consider the source when you hear things like that?
I don’t know if we’ve ever come out and predicted victory or anything and we’ve won a lot of games. Whether you predict it or not, he’s got to show up on Sunday and try to guard us, play his role, do his job and we’ve going to try and make it hard for him.

Are the Steelers are doing anything differently on defense with Mike Tomlin as head coach?
Not really, not really. To me it looks like it’s the same defense, the same group of guys, same style. They blitz a lot. It’s the same blitzes. It’s the same style of play that they’ve played in the past. They always seem to play it well. I think their players are very comfortable in their scheme and I think they have players that really play their scheme well. It’s a challenge to run it. It’s a challenge to throw it, it’s a challenge to protect and get open. It’s a lot of man coverage from the outsides. We all have our work cut out for us.

What needs to improve offensively going forward?
It’s a team-wide thing and I think we all need to focus on doing our job the best we can. Not to try to correct everybody’s mistakes, we all have our own mistakes we need to correct. I need to throw the ball better, make better reads, make better protection calls and lead a bit better. I think for each of us we need to look at ourselves individually and try to make improvements for ourselves. If we do that, collectively as a team there will be improvements. We’ve won these games, it’s been exciting to win them, it was a great game the other night but at the same time you realize we made mistakes in the game that we need to correct.

Is everybody kind of refreshed after a day and a half?
Oh yeah. Can’t you see the bright and sunny faces in here? It’s a long season and I think there’s moments when you feel a little drained and moments when you feel really reinvigorated. Going into my eighth year I really felt like every year, “OK, I have it a little more figured out this yea,” and you just realize it’s a grind. Everyday you come in here you’re coming in to work hard and give everything you’ve got. When you give everything you’ve got and it’s Monday, Tuesday morning at four in the morning you are drained but you find a way over the next day and a half to prepare yourself and come in here bright-eyed and bushy-tailed ready to get to work. There is no better team for us to be excited about than the Steelers and the challenges they present. There’s been a lot of excitement in our locker room. We’re back home playing in front of our crowd and hopefully we play the best game we have all season.

Along those lines, every team goes through the long grind of the season, but how much easier is it for this group to get back their energy back with your record being what it is and knowing that you’re playing for something?
I think you’re always playing for something. Whether you’re 12-0 or 0-12 you have a lot of reasons to be motivated and I think we’re motivated by playing a team that presents a lot of challenges for us. We’ve got to play our own style of game, understanding what they really do well and understanding what we need to do well. It’s a very motivated group we have. [We’ve] got some veteran players that try to work hard and take the coaching and we’re coached very hard around here. I really hope we’ve listened to what has [been] preached this week and can go out there and show it on Sunday.

They are number one in a lot of different defensive categories, but particularly in pass defense. What do you guys have to do to operate at your optimum level against their pass defense?
Yeah, they play the run well. They play the pass well. I think they create disruption with their front and they get to the quarterback and push the pocket. They’ve got some guys who can really rush. It’s a lot of man coverage on the outside and they’re on those guys tight and you’ve to find ways to get open. You don’t have all day. That’s the hard part. It’s a little bit of a challenge.

Coach Belichick talked a lot about Ed Reed last week. What do you see out of Troy Polamalu? How does he affect the Steelers defense?
He really sets the tone for them. In the times that I’ve played against him, he always makes a huge impact on the game. He’s very aggressive and he’s always focused on the ball and he can really make a lot of plays. He’s a really explosive athlete. We have to account for him on every play. Every week, we’re facing guys that are the best in the league and he’s… I don’t think there are too many players better than Troy.

Have you seen more and more creative ways each week in trying to bring pressure against you?
It’s different. I think different teams have different styles. For example, Baltimore blitzed 17 times so it wasn’t a big blitz game. They dropped a lot of guys into coverage. Every team looks at different ways to approach us and some want to cover, some want to pressure. Some want to play man. Some want to play zone. It’s probably based on what they do well and what they think they have to do to stop us. I think I know how to defend us, but I think I know how you wouldn’t defend us, too, so we’ll see if they’re right.

Well, along those lines, how do you defend against you guys?
There’s your chance. You’ve got to study the film, buddy. You’ve got to study the film.

Seriously though, you set the standard so high in the first 10 games, but the last two games do seem a little bit different from the passing production standpoint. Has there been a difference? Is it because of what teams are trying to do against you? What’s been the deal in terms of what you’ve seen in the passing game?
Well, I don’t think we’ve been executing as well. I think that’s what it comes down to. We’ve been playing good defensive teams that don’t give you a lot of opportunities, or much margin for error. When you get those opportunities, you have to take advantage of them so we’ve got to play better.

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