Tomorrow, the New England Patriots will arguably face their toughest test of the season: The defending world champions will take on the Steelers on the road in Pittsburgh. New England's upcoming opponent features top 10 units on both defense and offense – and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick took a closer look at the latter in the latest installment of patriots.com's Belestrator:
A closer look at the Steelers ahead of #NEvsPIT.
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) December 15, 2017
BB on the Belestrator: pic.twitter.com/XK70LIXfNB
The segment begins with Belichick taking a look at one of the NFL's best running backs, Le'Veon Bell. New England's head coach analyzes the NFL's leader in scrimmage yards – Bell has gained a league-high 1,684 yards from scrimmage this season – as both a ball carrier and a receiver, praising his patience and vision as well as his smooth route running and ability to shed tacklers.
Belichick also dissects one other of the Steelers' offensive weapons, but not the one one might expect: Instead of Antonio Brown, the future Hall of Fame coach looks at receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. The rookie is questionable to play tomorrow due to a hamstring injury but when active, he provides Pittsburgh with another dangerous pass catcher.
It is therefore not a surprise that Belichick concludes by saying that the Steelers, who own the NFL's eight-best scoring offense, “can score from anywhere on the field”. Consequently, New England's defense better bring its A-game to slow down the AFC North champions.