"Patriots don’t even call real passing routes"

[MrTibbs]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_y...DubYF?slug=jc-brady082208&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

In synch
By Jason Cole, Yahoo! Sports
1 hour, 32 minutes ago

"People around the NFL believe Brady and his receivers – such as Wes Welker – are so in tune that the Patriots don’t even call real passing routes. Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress came to that conclusion after watching the Patriots last season."

"Burress observed that it appeared Brady and Welker, who tied for the NFL lead with 112 receptions last season, were running option routes most of the time."

“It got to the point in the season where they weren’t even running routes, Burress wrote in his book Giant. They were just running where the people weren’t. It was very obvious … If you look at their tapes, nobody gets open that much. You just don’t, not if you just call a play."

"According to Branch, Burress is right. What Brady and select other quarterbacks such as Peyton Manning and Drew Brees have been able to do is get so in synch with their receivers that they can simply react to how the defense plays."

“We did that a whole lot, practically the whole season and even in the Super Bowl,” said Branch.

...

 

[signbabybrady]

Re: "Patriots don’t even call real passing routes" Article

I thought most teams used option routes these days. I am actually suprised that Plaxico doesn't.

It just makes to much sense to run option routes.

I mean why would you keep running a deep route if in the first 3 steps of your route you can see the coverage has that under control.

Maybe teams with guys like Brady and Manning can do it more but I really thought just about everyone ran option routes.

Also I am not sure Burress is saying it right..we call real passing routes just the pass plays call for WR to chose between multiple routes....they are still real.

 

[BradyManny]

Re: "Patriots don’t even call real passing routes" Article

Interesting and makes sense. We've heard about how complicated the Pats offense is, how its predicated on option routes and how much its based on what the D is doing.

20 bucks says ESPN somehow - and I have no idea how - uses this to say we cheat.

 

[BradyManny]

Re: "Patriots don’t even call real passing routes" Article

I thought most teams used option routes these days. I am actually suprised that Plaxico doesn't.

It just makes to much sense to run option routes.

I mean why would you keep running a deep route if in the first 3 steps of your route you can see the coverage has that under control.

Maybe teams with guys like Brady and Manning can do it more but I really thought just about everyone ran option routes.

Also I am not sure Burress is saying it right..we call real passing routes just the pass plays call for WR to chose between multiple routes....they are still real.

Good points all around. Not sure I get Burress' comment either. Options routes are still routes....

 

[welker>god]

Re: "Patriots don’t even call real passing routes" Article

from the article: 'Welker has been doing these kinds of audibles since he was a high school player in Texas.'

good research there, Mr. Cole ... is this writer a volunteer?

Welker played running back, defensive back and kicked for Heritage Hall ... in OKC, OK

it wasn't until he was in Lubbock that he started playing inside receiver

sidenote: his recruiting visit to Tech ... Art Briles, the running backs coach (now the coach at Baylor), greets Wes and his parents on campus. He looks at Wes' folks and says, "So... y'all must be the Natural's parents" ... Wes' mom, confused by the comment, replies "well, yes ... we are the natural birth parents" ... Art says "No, no, no ... He is 'the Natural'" pointing at Wes ... and a Legend was born

 

[ALP]

Re: "Patriots don’t even call real passing routes" Article

buress is just angry that he cant run "fake" routes...

eli manning isnt good enough

and neither is the reciever

 

[SVN]

Re: "Patriots don’t even call real passing routes" Article

welker even the bucs game took 2 plays to show he is in midseason form even with cassell.

 

[BadMoFo]

Re: "Patriots don’t even call real passing routes"

I don't know why some people are getting their panties in a bunch. I don't think it's a slight on the Pats, if anything it's just Plaxico being observant. Also, I don't think it's every Pats receiver who does this, but the slots do, both for our team, the Colts and most other teams with a somewhat decent QB and slot receiver combination.

 

[unoriginal]

Re: "Patriots don’t even call real passing routes"

Cole's narration and Burress' words don't match up. Burress' quote says the Pats could just run into space if they wished; Cole calls those option routes.

An option route isn't free-rein to run into space, like you would in playground football. An option route is a branching tree of routes with decision making cues both the receiver and QB read.

For example:

Receiver and QB both read Cover 2 coming off the line on an option route - that means yes to fly and no to out. By 10 yards, receiver and QB read the safety is dropping very deep. That says no to fly and flag but yes to curl and cross. QB and receiver then read its a Tampa 2 with the Mike dropping deep as well, making the middle open, so its yes to cross and no to curl.

 

[JSn]

Re: "Patriots don’t even call real passing routes"

For example:

Receiver and QB both read Cover 2 coming off the line on an option route - that means yes to fly and no to out. By 10 yards, receiver and QB read the safety is dropping very deep. That says no to fly and flag but yes to curl and cross. QB and receiver then read its a Tampa 2 with the Mike dropping deep as well, making the middle open, so its yes to cross and no to curl.

When I read something like this I'm reminded of my footballtardedness. Nice explanation, and a very sensible extension of what I though I understood. Thanks.

Even in video game football you can see the branches of an option route.

 

[IcyPatriot]

Re: "Patriots don’t even call real passing routes"

Well now that's the reason for Cassell's problems ... he's an idiot ...NEXT!!!

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

Re: "Patriots don’t even call real passing routes"

Well now that's the reason for Cassell's problems ... he's an idiot ...NEXT!!!

This should answer the debate of whether Chad Jackson or Matt Cassel messed up against Baltimore. Chad Jackson wanted to run one way and Cassel wanted to throw it another way. With that said, nobody messed up, they just aren't on the same page. However, I thought Cassel should have thrown the ball were Jackson was because he had the DB on his backside.

So if this holds true to what Branch and Burress are saying, it explains why WR's (Chad Jackson) have trouble adapting to the offense. In the Pats offense, players are reading defenses at the line of scrimmage and when the ball is snapped. Doesn't sound to easy, does it?

 

[RayClay]

Re: "Patriots don’t even call real passing routes"

This should answer the debate of whether Chad Jackson or Matt Cassel messed up against Baltimore. Chad Jackson wanted to run one way and Cassel wanted to throw it another way. With that said, nobody messed up, they just aren't on the same page. However, I thought Cassel should have thrown the ball were Jackson was because he had the DB on his backside.

So if this holds true to what Branch and Burress are saying, it explains why WR's (Chad Jackson) have trouble adapting to the offense. In the Pats offense, players are reading defenses at the line of scrimmage and when the ball is snapped. Doesn't sound to easy, does it?

Silly comparison, but I think some people don't "get it" the way some people don't get calculus. Not necessarily intelligence, but mental coordination, like playing a musical instrument. I agree on the Chad Jackson play, it seemed Cassel was leading him into the defender while Chad took the right "option" if that's what it was. I say "seemed".

Since I wouldn't say either looks good out there, I wonder if part of chad's problem was he was running Welker's routes? Are they trying to get him to be the quick Welker/Branch type since Moss has the long routes?

Doesn't matter if he can't cut it, but he sure looked more comfortable his rookie year, and he's big/fast not small/quick.

And Plastico is a dumass which is why he's amazed anyone can read a defense.

 

[MrTibbs]

Re: "Patriots don’t even call real passing routes"

I don't know why some people are getting their panties in a bunch. I don't think it's a slight on the Pats, if anything it's just Plaxico being observant. Also, I don't think it's every Pats receiver who does this, but the slots do, both for our team, the Colts and most other teams with a somewhat decent QB and slot receiver combination.

I think the article along with Burress's and Branch's assesment is meant as a compliment to Brady his WR's and the offense as a whole.

 

[D-cleater]

Re: "Patriots don’t even call real passing routes" Article

buress is just angry that he cant run "fake" routes...

eli manning isnt good enough

and neither is the reciever

hmmmm. may want to rethink that position based on the outcome thelast time the two teams played. Welker had the most receptions but when it counted most Manning was able to find the open man.

We've known for a long time that the offense calls route adjustments based on the defense. Branch was a master at this and Welker is even better. This is probably a big factor in some receivers' inabilities to "grasp the offense" ( Jackson, Gabriel, maybe even Stallworth to an extent)

 

[dalero]

Re: "Patriots don’t even call real passing routes"

Remember this Brady and Branch on 60 minutes?

IMDb Video: Tom Brady On Play Signals

 

[JSn]

Re: "Patriots don’t even call real passing routes"

Good find. Amazing how fast Cassel got in sync with Welker so he could just wander the field too, eh?

 

[hyperpat]

Re: "Patriots don’t even call real passing routes"

Remember this Brady and Branch on 60 minutes?

IMDb Video: Tom Brady On Play Signals

it's obvious they were cheating in that video. The video camera was not up in the press box, it was at field level, so Branch must have been stealing Brady's signals as he blinked his eyes in a Gaussian distribution of random numbers that Branch ran though a Kalman filter that Belichick had installed in the lenses of his eyes and besides BB can be seen up in the stadium seats using an old U.S. Navy signaling light that his dad Steve gave him from the Naval Academy surplus warehouse after John Wayne was done using it in the movie "Flying Leathernecks." True story.

 

[drew4008]

I really wish Branch wasn't an a**hole. He was a great receiver who fit what we do perefctly. If we could've kept him, even at a fairly high price, I would've been really happy.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Re: "Patriots don’t even call real passing routes"

it's obvious they were cheating in that video. The video camera was not up in the press box, it was at field level, so Branch must have been stealing Brady's signals as he blinked his eyes in a Gaussian distribution of random numbers that Branch ran though a Kalman filter that Belichick had installed in the lenses of his eyes and besides BB can be seen up in the stadium seats using an old U.S. Navy signaling light that his dad Steve gave him from the Naval Academy surplus warehouse after John Wayne was done using it in the movie "Flying Leathernecks." True story.

Post of the day.