Pats playing a game of "Pepper" - New England Patriots Forums

***Box_O_Rocks*** · 09-04-2006, 09:23 PM

http://www.bostonsportsreview.com/20...y_patriots.asp

Quote:

..."ball disruption."

Your New England Patriots didn't quite invent the term, but they do have a pretty respectable claim to being ardent practitioners of the "art." Understandably, in the seasons when the Pats do the most stripping, pass-deflecting and flat-out intercepting, they have traditionally had their most success.
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Here at the Big Razor, though, those scales get tipped with heavy thumbs. And a dash of Pepper.
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...New England Patriots 2006 media guide...offers the insufficient heading of "defensive line" coach for 42-year-old Detroit native Thomas "Pepper" Johnson, the 20-year NFL veteran (13 seasons playing and seven as a Belichick assistant).

While Johnson most certainly spends the bulk of his time with the D-line (anchored by four-year Pro Bowler Richard Seymour), it may be his role as the ball disruption instructor (BDI, for our purposes) that most accurately represents his significance to this Patriots "reign."

"Peps is Peps," cornerback Randall Gay said with a smile to fill his facemask. "The drills he does is to get us to focus on the ball â€” stripping it, tipping it.
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So exact is the art of ball disruption, that Seymour told the Boston Globe in 2003 that the team watched video specifically to assess ball-carrying vulnerabilities in opponents: "Pepper is in charge of ball disruption. It's fresh in our minds who we can get the ball out of, how the quarterback holds the ball when he's running trying to scramble around. So we're conscious of it. It's definitely a conscious effort to try to take the ball away."

***Tunescribe*** · 09-04-2006, 09:34 PM

That's why I don't wear boxer shorts.

CrazyDave · 09-04-2006, 10:44 PM

Thanks for the link. Good read.
Ball disruption. Turnovers were conspicuosly absent last year. Or so it seemed. Studying the way different players carry the ball? Far Out.

patsfan55 · 09-05-2006, 12:12 AM

all jokes aside, thats pretty amazing

PlattsFan · 09-05-2006, 06:40 AM

Every once in a while, sort of by accident, we get a glimpse at the way Belichick really thinks about things. Here in this article, we get:

Quote:

We set up different drills to make our players aware of those situations so they can try to, what we call, disrupt the ball or take the ball off whatever course it is on, whether it be a runner carrying it or a quarterback passing it or whatever, it is to be somehow disruptive specifically to the ball, how to dislodge it, how to affect the passing lanes.

That's a good insight into how the man thinks about defense. The offense wants to follow a certain path, and the job of the defense is all about disrupting that path, whether it's setting a good edge on a running play to redirect the path the ball is taking, making receivers take different paths in a route, or even disrupting the play-calling flow of an offense by taking away the one or two things it does best.

That's a good look at how his defense, with its read-n-react linemen, is different from a smaller, one-gap style defense. Those defenses are all about attacking the ball with as many people as possible and flowing to the play, meeting the ball carrier at the point of attack of the play. Belichick's defenses are about a big, strong front seven destroying the shape of the play so that the point of attack never really forms.

It's why the LBs in his system take on the guards rather than just attack the ball carrier. They're taking on the play, not the running back. It's why, when the Patriots defense is really on, you don't see guys running free to make big hits as much as you do in other defenses when they are playing well. You just see huge pile-ups at the line, chaos in the offense, and QBs gesturing to their receivers about the route they were supposed to take (Peyton Manning, anyone?). The offense has no shape to it. Too many offenses make the mistake of thinking that they could've just executed their plays better, but what really happened is that the Patriots D destroyed the plays the offense was running on a fundamental level, it disrupted the path the ball was supposed to take.

The reporter wrote a story about ball disruption making the usual mistake of thinking that "ball disruption" equals turnovers. What Belichick is trying to tell the guy is that turnovers are a result of ball disruption, but that's not what ball disruption really means for the Pats.

Brownfan80 · 09-05-2006, 07:19 AM

I still remember Pepper's drills where he stands ten yards away from the LBs and DRILLS the ball right at them. I still remember where that exact situation came up in a game, and Bruschi snagged the Dolphin pass and ran the short way back into the snow filled endzone and helped shape Patriot history.

flutie2phelan · 09-05-2006, 08:10 AM

PlattsFan, that's a very fruitful interpretation
of what's going on
when the D is going right.

PlattsFan · 09-05-2006, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flutie2phelan

PlattsFan, that's a very fruitful interpretation
of what's going on
when the D is going right.

Thanks. It's one thing I really like about Belichick ... if you listen carefully, you get some really interesting insights. He keeps them hidden really well, but it's better than a guy who talks a lot but has nothing to say.

***Box_O_Rocks*** · 09-05-2006, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PlattsFan

Every once in a while, sort of by accident, we get a glimpse at the way Belichick really thinks about things. Here in this article, we get:

That's a good insight into how the man thinks about defense. The offense wants to follow a certain path, and the job of the defense is all about disrupting that path, whether it's setting a good edge on a running play to redirect the path the ball is taking, making receivers take different paths in a route, or even disrupting the play-calling flow of an offense by taking away the one or two things it does best.

That's a good look at how his defense, with its read-n-react linemen, is different from a smaller, one-gap style defense. Those defenses are all about attacking the ball with as many people as possible and flowing to the play, meeting the ball carrier at the point of attack of the play. Belichick's defenses are about a big, strong front seven destroying the shape of the play so that the point of attack never really forms.

It's why the LBs in his system take on the guards rather than just attack the ball carrier. They're taking on the play, not the running back. It's why, when the Patriots defense is really on, you don't see guys running free to make big hits as much as you do in other defenses when they are playing well. You just see huge pile-ups at the line, chaos in the offense, and QBs gesturing to their receivers about the route they were supposed to take (Peyton Manning, anyone?). The offense has no shape to it. Too many offenses make the mistake of thinking that they could've just executed their plays better, but what really happened is that the Patriots D destroyed the plays the offense was running on a fundamental level, it disrupted the path the ball was supposed to take.

The reporter wrote a story about ball disruption making the usual mistake of thinking that "ball disruption" equals turnovers. What Belichick is trying to tell the guy is that turnovers are a result of ball disruption, but that's not what ball disruption really means for the Pats.

Bump - this analysis is a must read!

Edit: If Ian does get around to creating a football knowledge forum, this needs to be there.

Patriots4Ever · 09-05-2006, 09:54 AM

Thats a nice article.Im Curious,Are we among the only teams that designate member of the staff for Ball stripping and tipping techniques?It seems as though this is what they ask of him side from being LB Coach.Or Am I wrong in this assumption?