Box_O_Rocks

I've been reading the anti-Kaczur rants and scratching my head. You graded him out with the fewest demerits in week one. I've not focused on him, probably because our interior line had me covering my eyes and whimpering, but up until he was injured Sunday, how did the five starters grade out for the season? My impression, backed up by very little time to re-watch games this season, he's done a solid job - in fact I'd say he and Light have been the strength of the O-line thus far.

__________________
"Avert thine eyes! You're not hot enough to be looking at me."
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

unoriginal

That's my impression too, but I've only looked at the Jets and Chiefs games closely.

I should temper that assessment some by stating he in particular - and the tackles in general - have tended to draw easier assignments now than in years past.

Teams seem to playing 7 and 9 tech with both their ends to spread the Pats pass protection out, so they can send twists and blitzes through the interior gaps with maximum space.

This all goes back to early last year when (to pat myself, you and pats1 on the back, among others) some were cautioning against the Move-Mankins-To-Tackle-Now lobby that pass protection in space is much harder than when your sides are covered. Teams are trying to crush Koppen, our weakest point-of-attack lineman, with nose tackles and draw our tackles wide so they can send linebackers into space against our guards and running backs, who with the exception of Faulk don't excel in blitz pickup.

The Pats have been holding their tight ends in a little more on pass plays because of this, to try to add some width to the line and shorten the area each interior lineman is responsible for. The problem is our primary tight end so far - David Thomas - is not very effective blocking against DEs.

What I'm trying to say here is that teams aren't targeting our tackles like they were most of last year. They've discovered, after years of trying, that our interior is the belly of our line. No doubt the fresh meat aspect of playing Yates has only made the issue clearer for opposing defensive coordinators. Additionally, the addition of the tight end in the running game over last year - against these wide spread defensive lines - means Kaczur is often drawing assignments on linebackers, in both zone and man, while Thomas et al. have to move the defensive end. They are much easier to move around than defensive lineman - of course, providing you're athletic enough to reach them. I'm sure if Kaczur was consistently failing to block them, a la Billy Yates, I'd be a lot less flippant about the difficulty of that task.

Again, long story short, teams aren't targeting Light and Kaczur with their rush schemes, and they seem to be getting easier draws in the running game based on defensive alignments.

Caveat emptor, I'll probably be correcting these impressions once I do subsequent weeks, if it can ever be said I had an accurate understanding of these things in the first place.

Box_O_Rocks

There is that!

__________________
"Avert thine eyes! You're not hot enough to be looking at me."
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Mike the Brit

Just to say "thank you" for this thread.

Unoriginal, I think I understand pretty much everything that you're saying (and it checks with my limited visual impressions) but would you mind defining "7" and "9" technique?

__________________
My prized possessions: Our family pictures; my dad and me getting doused by Bruschi in Super Bowl XXXIX [Shalize Manza Young Up Close with ... Bill Belichick]


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Well, Pats fans should be invincible by now. [Fitzy, 16 November 2009]

Still here to learn

PatsWickedPissah

Absolutely excellent.

I do not understand lineplay to any depth but I'd come to believe that the league had finally figured out Dante's approach and found the weakness and was exploiting it. Combine this with the departure of blocking TE Graham and the failure of the newbie TEs to block and we have the present situation.

More than ever I'm regreting that we did not add at least 1 upgrade to the OL this off season, even a blocking TE.

PATSNUTme

Up until the other night I said that Koppen was our best OL. I have never seen an OC jacked up and knocked back 2 yards by a NT the way Koppen was by Williams.

Evidently Williams saw something with Koppen which allowed him to get under Koppens pads and knock him back. That is the only way he could have done what he did.

I'll say that it was the most impressive technique execution that I have seen from a NT in a very long time.

cavtroop

I learn more from these threads, than I do anywhere else on the 'net. Just want to toss out a huge thank you for the breakdown threads you do, and the analysis like this thread - it really helps me to understand more about the game, and helps me know what to look for on game day (what you can see at full-speed anyways). Thanks again, I love it, and I'm sure a ton of other posters do, too.

EDIT: Having said that, when teams pressure the tackles, you can usually chip a TE in there. What can the Pats do about inside pressure like this - is it up to the RB to help there?

__________________
What doesn't kill us only makes us stronger...

JSn

Agreed. There are a few guys on here that should be writing for legit NFL mags. Um... is that an oxymoron?

I wish I had DVR'd the game (sort of). I'm wondering how much time Cassel had in the pocket vs. Rivers. I'm betting somewhere like 1-3 seconds less.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Box_O_Rocks

An Uncle Boxter analogy:

Rivers = rocking chair

Cassel = flash flood

__________________
"Avert thine eyes! You're not hot enough to be looking at me."
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

cavtroop

Yeah, I made a comment in the game day thread about this - if Cassel had as much time in the pocket as Rivers (or say, ANY QB we've faced so far), he'd look like a stud.

__________________
What doesn't kill us only makes us stronger...