FOXBORO — This has nothing to do with Tom Brady’s nine victories in 11 tries against the Steelers.

Joey Porter and Troy Polamalu and Anthony Smith will be irrelevant tomorrow. As will Troy Brown and Corey Dillon and even Rob Gronkowski.

Rather, this has everything to do with the Steelers’ defensive personnel that will share the Gillette Stadium turf with the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.

They’re in trouble.

The Steelers defense is predictable, too slow over the middle to contend with the Patriots’ lateral quickness and yields too great of a cushion on the perimeter to contend with the receivers’ strengths. They aren’t built to stop Brady’s offensive machine, and the 39-year-old quarterback will unleash hell on his visitors tomorrow.

“We have to play our best game of the year,” Brady said. “I think that’s what it comes down to. We’ve got to all do whatever it takes to be at our best for those three hours (tomorrow) night.”

It starts over the middle, as it typically does with the Patriots. They will isolate receivers Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan and Danny Amendola and running backs Dion Lewis and James White with linebackers Lawrence Timmons and Ryan Shazier as frequently as possible. Edelman caught nine balls for 60 yards against the Steelers in Week 7, and beat a linebacker six times for 53 yards.

Brady won’t have any issues recognizing the Steelers’ coverage plans before each snap because so little changes. This will be a stark contrast to the Chiefs, who stubbornly stuck with their gimmicky offense Sunday night and got very little, if any, checks at the line from quarterback Alex Smith.

So when Shazier and Timmons get lost with their zone assignments or react too slowly while Edelman and Hogan are breezing across the middle, Brady will pounce. Safeties Mike Mitchell and Sean Davis haven’t shored up those holes, and they’re also susceptible to the big play, or at least the possibility of one because they get caught staring at the quarterback too frequently.

Because Shazier and Timmons aren’t exactly fleet of foot with lateral movement, they tend to act overaggressively in coverage to compensate. If the Patriots flash Lewis or White in front of them while using Edelman or Hogan on over routes, they’ll open up huge holes throughout the game. The Pats should truly run crossing routes play after play after play because the Steelers aren’t equipped to stop it, and cornerbacks Artie Burns, Ross Cockrell and William Gay allow free releases at the line to compound the issue.

The onus is on the offensive line to make it all work a week after Brady was hit eight times, including two sacks, the second-worst beating he took all season, but the majority of that pressure was rooted from the inside.

The Steelers have 36 sacks in their last 11 games so they’re flying around, but edge rushers James Harrison and Bud Dupree are their most dangerous weapons.

“They’ve been great just rushing the quarterback, making plays for their team, strip sacks, forced interceptions, a lot of big plays,” Brady said. “They’ve been exceptional.”

The Steelers would be stupid not to mix it up by moving Harrison and Dupree over center David Andrews on occasion, but that will alert Brady to the pattern of Pittsburgh’s zone coverages. He’ll reroute his receivers to counter the blitzes, so it’s a double-edged sword for the Steelers.

“Anytime you play in a game like this, there are always a lot of adjustments,” Edelman said. “Everything can change. Not everything is going to be what you’ve seen, so you’ve got to be prepared for that.”

The question is whether the Steelers can mix it up the way they did in Week 7 to clog the seams against Gronkowski but without dropping Harrison or Dupree in coverage, which would negate their rushing ability. The Steelers don’t have the quickness or zone recognition to take away the quickest routes that Edelman, Lewis and White are so efficient at running. Again, the Patriots’ strengths are poorly suited for the Steelers’ scheme.

The Steelers, who have allowed an average of 56.5 rushing yards per game in their two playoff victories, were susceptible to the run during the regular season, particularly against the Patriots. LeGarrette Blount had 76 of his 127 rushing yards against Pittsburgh’s nickel defense, and White also caught a 19-yard screen pass for a touchdown against their lightened sub package. So the Pats will test them again, especially to chew up some clock.

And finally, since the Patriots have a one-sided advantage against the Steelers defense, they have to be smart with the ball. Edelman and Brandon Bolden, who hasn’t touched a ball since, dropped passes that would’ve been easy third-down conversions in Week 7, and Edelman and Hogan both lost fumbles in the same game. The Patriots’ three giveaways last week allowed the Texans to stick around longer than was necessary.

So long as he remains upright and the Patriots aren’t charitable with the ball, Brady will toy with the Steelers, who have little shot of slowing down the four-time champ.

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