Many fans and experts are already deeming this weeks game versus the New England Patriots a loss. While the cards may be stacked against the Steelers with their abundance of injuries, there’s no doubt they are going to try their hardest to win this week.

There are many important keys for this game if the Steelers are to end the game with a victory, one of them being player match-ups. It is vital that the Steelers put their players in positions to succeed.

An example of them failing at this was last week versus the Miami Dolphins when Jesse James was assigned to block Cameron Wake by himself. You can see the results of the match-up yourself…

Ew.

For some context on how good Cameron Wake is, Pro Football Focus ranked him as the 28th best player in the NFL in 2014, also earning the highest grade among all 4-3 defensive ends. He was also honored as a First-Team All-Pro in 2012. In the 2015 season he got hurt in October and was out for the remainder of the season, but his tank clearly isn’t empty yet even at the age of 34.

Jesse James on the other hand has been criticized for his blocking all season and hasn’t proven that he can be left on an island with a player. Though he’s had some bright spots, he’s had a multitude of instances where he blows his assignments and allows a tackle.

I have no idea why anybody would think James, a 2015 fifth round draft pick, blocking an all-pro defensive end is a good idea. As expected, James gets eaten alive by Wake and allows him to get to the quarterback. This type of match-up deserves to be in our WTF Moments series.

Another example of a poor match-up came when Pittsburgh played the Patriots in 2015. The Patriots were in their goal-line offense, but motioned and sent Rob Gronkowski out wide. The player who followed him… linebacker Terrence Garvin. This was an obvious mismatch that allowed Gronk to predictably score.

Like Jesse James earlier, Garvin never had a chance versus Gronk. For those who don’t remember him, Garvin made his money as a special teams ace, not because of his play on defense. But hey, at least somebody was covering Gronk on that play… 

The Steelers cannot afford to make these types of mistakes on Sunday. If they have players like Vince Williams or Tyler Matakevich one-on-one with Gronk, the results will likely be the same as last year. This is where players like Ryan Shazier, Mike Mitchell, Rob Golden, and Sean Davis will be valuable. These players are both tough and athletic and are much more fit to cover tight ends. Many of these guys are hurt though at the moment, so hopefully we’ll be able to have them on Sunday. Gronk is one of the biggest mismatches in the NFL, but our only chance of slowing him down is with the right personnel.

New England is a team built for mismatches. On offense they have big and powerful tight ends in Gronk and Martellus Bennet, as well as small and shifty receivers like Julian Edelman. Even their running backs are dynamic with the infamous LaGarrete Blount being a big, punishing running back while James White is a quicker receiving back. Scheme and assignments will be a huge factor for stopping this offense.

Their defense can be tricky as well because of its hybrid nature. The Patriots have a strong front seven and the Steelers must put an emphasis on keeping Landry Jones off the ground. This means using tight ends to assist with blocking, as well as our fullbacks and running backs in pass protection. Le’Veon Bell and DeAngelo Williams are both very skilled in pass protection so the Steelers would be wise to utilize their abilities to protect the quarterback. Landry doesn’t have the mobility of Ben so giving him a clean pocket must be a priority.

The Steelers have a tall task on Sunday. Very few analysts, and even Steeler fans on Twitter have any faith in the Steelers beating the Patriots with Landry Jones. If they want to have a chance, player match-ups are one of the many keys that can lead them to a victory. The Steelers must put their players in a position to succeed, not in match-ups where they are destined to fail.