ctpatsfan77

Not saying that it will change things, but have you read this article on Grantland.com?

It basically shows that, at times, the Patriots were using a 3-4 and a 4-3 on the same play.

__________________
"Momentum was quickly snatched away by New England, who once again proved that any Patriot, at any moment, can make a play." —Inside the NFL, Packers v. Patriots

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

ctpatsfan77

The key here is that, in 2012, there is a leaguewide salary cap floor, not a team-by-team floor.

So a team could conceivably not carry that extra cap room over, and it would disappear into the ether. Ditto for carrying money from 2012 into 2013.

Once you get to 2013, though, then an 89% per team floor kicks in. So if you carry $5 million forward from 2011 into 2012, you can use it or not, as you choose; but in 2013, you'd have to spend almost $4.5M of it.

I believe what you're referring to is the fact that teams were/are allowed to "borrow" against the cap in 2011 and 2012. Each team, last year, was able to reduce their cap hit for three players making at least $1M above minimum salary by $1M each; this year, each team can do the same with $500K for each of three players. That money is charged against the 2014-2017 salary caps (up to $4.5M total/4 years = up to $1.125M/year).

THe upside is, if teams needed the room, they could get it. The downside is it's more mortgaging the future to pay for the present.

I think you owe mgteich some royalties.

__________________
"Momentum was quickly snatched away by New England, who once again proved that any Patriot, at any moment, can make a play." —Inside the NFL, Packers v. Patriots

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

supafly

No worries, EJ. I get what you're saying dude.

I feel the frustration on defense too. But if you'd have told me that we would have allowed Manning, the 3 WR's and TE's, and Jacobs/Bradshaw ONE lousy TD through the first 59:01 of the Super Bowl...I'd have jumped for joy out of my seat.

I think the necessary improvements will be made, not only through the draft (where I think DL plays a key role, as it is deep and we have a need), but also through free agency.

We allowed the 15th most pts in the NFL. And that was with key guys like Spikes, Fletcher, Chung, Dowling, and even Mayo and McCourty injured for periods of time.

I see absolutely no reason to think that can't be improved into the top 12 or even top 10, by shaving a pt or two off of the average come September. The Giants won the SB by allowing the 25th most pts in the NFL, and giving up the 29th most yds allowed.

I think the problem was once again, in the offense, when it mattered most. Scoring 17 and 14 in back to back SB's is just not going to cut it.

I think that both sides are pretty much set with the core players, but that they need tweaked in the sense of added depth, talent, and competition in certain areas.

I think that with 6 of the first 100 picks, a pretty decent cap situation, returning injured players, more experienced players who were here but injured for 1/2 the season (Spikes, Vollmer, Chung, Fletcher) that we will be just fine.

Normally I am not that optimistic, but I really believe that we are getting close again. In the last SB in 07 the team was on the last legs of their previous talent. This past yr, they are at the total opposite in the sense that they gradually built themselves back up on the fly to compete at an extremely high level again.

__________________
Patiently waiting to defend the next "bubble" player in this summer's training camp.....

supafly

I "bottom line" it myself too sometimes.

mgteich has that kind of positive effect on us

__________________
Patiently waiting to defend the next "bubble" player in this summer's training camp.....

UK_Pat37

They were using 4 man looks whilst implementing a lot of 2 gapping techniques and mixing their looks up yes.

The 4-3 Vs 3-4 debate is massively overblown and overrated. I've been yapping on about how it's going to be neither for ages now.

The Patriots use a 33 personnel 90+% of the time. When Ninko stands up on the line, what do you call him? I still call him an OLB unless he puts his hand in the dirt. More often than not he hugs the RB and plays containment but occasionally they rush 4 men with him.

What that Grantland article basically shows is what I suspected (without getting a proper look at any coaching tape), which was the Pats employ multiple schemes and techniques at once to throw teams off whilst using Ninkovich in different roles. He's that elephant player with great versatility.

The defense give off a number of looks; 4-2, 4-3, 3-4. It's the beauty of the 3-3 defense. It enables you to have a smaller, faster defense then traditional 4-3 or 3-4 defenses and gives you the chance to scheme mismatches the other way around whilst being able to rotate your looks without having to sub if you don't want to. When the Pats drafted Dowling it was for a reason; you need physical, lengthy guys with long arms and good hands who have the ability to play all over depending on the look. They need to be effective in man coverage, smart in zone and lengthy to tackle It's why I think the Pats will look to draft yet another one this year.

The 33 employs similar confusion as a 3-4..you can bring pressure from all over the place and, like Belichick does, plays with the DL techniques and alignments. The tradition 33 was a 'stack formation'...what Belichick does with it is uses it's versatility to show the different fronts and techniques he likes to do. You see mainly 4-2 whilst you can player with that 'rover' player by bringing him into the box. He needs to be a sure tackler as you'#re now effectively playing him as a 4-3 OLB...there's your 4-3 look.

We then saw that they can move in 3-4 looks with pretty much the same personnel later on in the season. There were a couple of occasions where they dropped Ninko back as a LB, brought the 'rover' up into the box and it effectively looked like a 3-4.

The reason we stay with this look is simple because of the advantages it brings forward. It counters the spread perfectly. You can adjust your defensive looks, techniques and other strategies simply by moving your pieces around like on a chess board without even needing to make a substitution if you don't want to.

We'll likely see the Pats opt for a tall, physical corner (Dennard, Trumaine Johnson, Josh Robinson are prime examples) who can play as another hybrid type corner able to play safety if the team asks them to. However, don't be surprised to see the Patriots opt for a roaming safety like Markelle Martin, George Iloka or even Harrison Smith, who showed the ability to be a free safety in combine drills. The Patriots aren't that far off when it comes to corners; if McCourty, Dowling and Arrington are healthy you have 3 of your 5 CBs, Chung is your 'rover' and then you only need an athletic free safety to cover the defensive backfield.

What really messed the Pats up last season defensively was Chung inconsistently being around for much oft he season. The most versatile player on your defense has to be the 'Rover'...he was it, and when he goes down and all you have is a second stringer in Ihedigbo, you're likely to struggle!

__________________

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



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



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