FOXBOROUGH, Mass. \u2014 Take it from Wade Phillips, slowing down Tom Brady is a goal often sought, but seldom achieved.
\u201cGood luck,\u201d the new defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams said this week when asked about the difficulty of taking the Patriots quarterback out of his comfort zone. \u201cHe\u2019s good no matter what.\u201d
And that\u2019s coming from a guy who\u2019s had at least some recent success bothering Brady.
Brady enters Sunday\u2019s matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers with a 6-4 record in AFC championship games, including 4-1 at home.
But the constant in each of his losses has been when he\u2019s faced a defense that has applied pressure up front and forced him into quick decisions in the pocket.
The Broncos, with Phillips serving as defensive coordinator, did it during last season\u2019s 20-18 win in Denver in the AFC championship game. Led by Von Miller, they made Brady\u2019s life miserable, sacking him four times and registering another 17 quarterback hits.
\u201cBefore we played them, they said I couldn\u2019t stop him,\u201d Phillips said. \u201cIt\u2019s a combination of things, but you\u2019ve just got to play great defense. Yeah, you\u2019ve got to put pressure on him, but you\u2019ve got to be able to cover. \u2026 The pressure you get, you have to get it 1-on-1.
\u201cYou\u2019re not going to fool him and get a free runner on him. You know, you don\u2019t see anybody just come and hit him in the back. He sees everybody. He\u2019s special that way, too.\u201d
The Steelers will be the latest to try to test that blueprint, albeit with a defense that has been more pedestrian than \u201cSteel Curtain\u201d when it\u2019s come to pressuring quarterbacks.
They also haven\u2019t had much success against Brady historically. Pittsburgh has sacked him just 21 times in 11 games. Brady hasn\u2019t thrown an interception against the Steelers since 2005, while throwing 19 touchdown passes.
But Brady will face a much healthier pass rush than he did in Week 7\u2019s 27-16 road win. Pittsburgh linebacker Ryan Shazier was returning from a knee injury; James Harrison played only 42 percent of the snaps, and Bud Dupree was on injured reserve because of a groin injury.
The improved health since then has been a boost to Pittsburgh in its nine-game winning streak. The Steelers had 13 sacks over their first nine games, but have 31 during the streak.
\u201cI think just getting after him in general is going to be big,\u201d Shazier said. \u201cEvery team wants to get after the quarterback; when you get the quarterback rattled or just out of position, it definitely helps out the defense, helps out the team.
\u201cIf we can make him feel uncomfortable and make him play a game he\u2019s not accustomed to, it\u2019s going to help out our defense \u2026 .\u201d
It may be good timing for Pittsburgh.
The Patriots did a much better job protecting Brady during the regular season, compared to last year (17 sacks allowed in the 12 games he played after giving up 38 in 2015).
But New England\u2019s offensive line showed some cracks in last week\u2019s divisional-round win over the Texans, allowing Brady to be sacked twice and hit eight times. Houston also had two interceptions.
Brady said the change in the Steelers\u2019 defense from Week 7 is stark.
\u201cThey\u2019ve been dominant,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019ve been great just rushing the quarterback, making plays for their team, strip sacks, forced interceptions, a lot of big plays. \u2026 It\u2019s a big challenge for us.\u201d
Left tackle Nate Solder said the vulnerabilities that were exposed last week by the Texans aren\u2019t necessarily a bad thing.
\u201cThe things that you didn\u2019t do right sometimes can be a gift. If you can get them right, it can help you for the next game,\u201d Solder said. \u201cOne quarterback hit is too many. \u2026 (But) you can\u2019t worry about every little thing that goes wrong.\u201d
Dupree, who had his first career sack during the Steelers\u2019 season-opening 28-21 loss to the Patriots in 2015, said he isn\u2019t expecting Brady to stand around waiting to get hit.
\u201cTom Brady is on a different level. He\u2019s playing great,\u201d Dupree said. \u201cEven though he\u2019s older he\u2019s still doing a great job. We\u2019ve got to continue to trust our game plan, trust our training and be the best team on the field.\u201d
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