Shortly before the start of the playoffs, the New England Patriots addressed their biggest weakness: The Pats signed in James Harrison, who had previously been sacked by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Harrison had previously gone through Waiver Wire after his release in Pittsburgh, where no team had claimed him. The Patriots then struck on Tuesday: according to information from the NFL network, New England wanted to take a close look at the passport rousher before it was committed. Within a few hours, this happened.
Harrison has only played 38 snaps this season, but the release in Pittsburgh came as a surprise: A situational pass rusher can be worth gold in the playoffs, and the patriots can also throw an X-factor into the race late in games at their biggest construction site.
The fact that the Steelers used Harrison so little suggests that they don’t trust him too much anymore. The pats where no player in the current season has more than 6.5 sacks (Trey Flowers) can now prove the worst conference playoff rivals wrong.