Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is a fan of one particular New England Patriots position group ahead of Thursday night’s matchup. Tomlin praised the safety group, specifically Jabrill Peppers and Kyle Dugger.
Peppers and Dugger have both played crucial roles on the defensive side of the football this year. Peppers has 66 tackles and an interception this season, while Dugger has recorded 74 tackles and two interceptions.
Tomlin knows what both guys bring to the table, and he is not taking them lightly, as transcribed by NESN.com’s Sean T. McGuire.
“Both guys are capable of playing in deep defense and do,” said Tomlin. “Both guys are capable of playing at the linebacker level and functioning on the second level of defense, and capable tacklers, good at shedding blocks, big blockers, offensive linemen. They’re not foreign to playing in the trenches.
“Both guys are really capable blitzers. They get opportunities to do that in all phases of the game — first, second and third down. If we’re talking about moving the ball and moving with fluidity against these guys, we better locate those two.”
Both Dugger and Peppers will be tasked with slowing down a struggling Steelers offense with Mitchell Trubisky as the starting quarterback. Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. ET.
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