Challenge ahead for Patriots in Pittsburgh

Dec 14, 2017 - 3:53 AM FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The New England Patriots (10-3) are coming off their worst defensive performance in months, allowing the Dolphins to throw and run the ball equally productively in New England's 27-20 in Monday night's loss in Miami.

The defeat snapped an eight-game winning streak that had seen the Patriots defense allow 17 points or fewer in all eight wins after opening the season allowing 33 points or more in three of the first four weeks.

Now, the unit has to clean up its issues from the Miami game while preparing for its biggest test of the season in Sunday afternoon's trip to Pittsburgh for the big AFC showdown with the Steelers (11-2). It's a game that will likely decide the No. 1 seed in the conference playoff picture.

After its struggles against the likes of Jay Cutler, Kenyan Drake and Jarvis Landry, New England follows it up having to deal with Ben Roethlisberger, Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown, the latter two arguably the best running back and receiver in the game, respectively.

"Those two guys are both fabulous players on the same team, very hard to defend - Brown and Bell -- just dynamic players that have the ability to do so many things, do them so well consistently," head coach Bill Belichick said. "They're there every week. They make big plays every week. Two-thirds of the offense with two guys -- that's a lot of offense."

While Belichick spends time each week fluffing up the coming opponent, his comments on the Steelers weapons are a bit more believable. Bell leads the NFL with 1,105 rushing yards and, as arguably the most versatile weapon in football, also ranks ninth in the league with 75 receptions. Brown leads the NFL with 99 catches for 1,509 yards. The duo has combined for 16 touchdowns.

No coach-speak here; Pittsburgh fields weapons like no other team.

"Bell, one of the best backs in the league," New England defensive coordinator Matt Patricia said, breaking down the challenge. "(He's a) very explosive, dangerous guy not only in the run game but in the passing game. I think you saw the other night how hard he runs and how physical he is as a player even though he has a very patient running style. When that determination that he has to burst through a hole or take the edge or cut back or make a play, you've really got to do a great job of just tackling and driving and playing physical because he's a tough guy to get a hold of.

"Antonio Brown is a great player. He's one of the best wide receivers in the league, so obviously he gets a lot of attention which frees up some opportunities for some of those other guys and the quarterback will do a great job of exploiting those situations whether it's a check down to the back or get the ball to the tight end quickly."

Certainly, Sunday afternoon's battle between these longtime rivals won't be settled in any one area. New England's offense also has to play much better than it did in Miami, where it went 0-for-11 on third down.

But New England's defense, one that rose from early-season struggles to become a top-five scoring unit, will be very much in the spotlight in Pittsburgh trying to prove itself once more. It's not going to shut down the Steelers Killer Bs, but it has to be competitive against a unit that just passed for more than 500 yards and has scored 30-plus points in three of the last four weeks.

"Pittsburgh is having a great year, very talented team, playing very well right now," Belichick concluded. "We've got a lot to get ready for."