WEEI: When It Comes To An Unbalanced Offense, Just Say No

[SVN]

Kerry Byrne | When It Comes To An Unbalanced Offense, Just Say No

This sudden dependency on Brady — a guy given no time to ease his way back in after a nasty, year-long injury/rehab — defies everything that we know about football and about the so-called “Patriot Way”: One-dimensional teams, and teams that depend too much on one player, do not win football games consistently.

And the Patriots, in the first two weeks of the 2009 season, have been the most one-dimensional team in football.

* New England has attempted 100 passes through Week 2, easily the most in the NFL.
* Teams with productive quarterbacks many fans consider pass-happy — such as the Cowboys, Colts and Saints — have attempted just 56, 61 and 68 passes respectively. Those teams are a combined 5-1
* The No. 2 team on the pass-attempt list is Tampa Bay (92 attempts). The Bucs are 0-2 and have trailed badly in both of their losses.

EDIT:iam interested to see how many times brady threw with a back in the formation with possibly changing the play.its hard to judge but would be interesting tosee how many times a run is changed to a pass at the LOS.

 

[jmt57]

Re: WEEI:When It Comes To An Unbalanced Offense, Just Say No

Perhaps the reason the Pats have passed as much as they have is because they were trailing late in both games? Teams that are trying to comeback have a tendency to do that. In the example above, I'm sure Tampa Bay would have preferred to continue to run the ball but the score dictated a change in the game plan.

I'd be curious to see what the pass/run ratio was at half time or the end of three quarters, and what it has been in the 4th quarter of the two games. I agree the Pats need more balance but when your team is down late in the 4th quarter there's not much choice with the play calling.

 

[SVN]

Re: WEEI:When It Comes To An Unbalanced Offense, Just Say No

Perhaps the reason the Pats have passed as much as they have is because they were trailing late in both games? Teams that are trying to comeback have a tendency to do that. In the example above, I'm sure Tampa Bay would have preferred to continue to run the ball but the score dictated a change in the game plan.

I'd be curious to see what the pass/run ratio was at half time or the end of three quarters, and what it has been in the 4th quarter of the two games. I agree the Pats need more balance but when your team is down late in the 4th quarter there's not much choice with the play calling.

well...we were down only 1 score against the jetsat most with 9+ minsto go...i think maroney/taylor hardly carried the ball .maybe iam mistaken. We actually led the entire first half and down by 1 pt we stopped running ?

 

[Patspsycho]

Re: WEEI:When It Comes To An Unbalanced Offense, Just Say No

Excellent solid article. Great argument for the running game. Nice find.. thanks.

 

[tedy hagler]

Re: WEEI:When It Comes To An Unbalanced Offense, Just Say No

The lack of running was notable, and another mystery was the lack of screens.

The Jets had a maddog rush on Brady not seen since Mo Vaughn used to chase strippers at Foxy Lady.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Re: WEEI:When It Comes To An Unbalanced Offense, Just Say No

well...we were down only 1 score against the jetsat most with 9+ minsto go...i think maroney/taylor hardly carried the ball .maybe iam mistaken. We actually led the entire first half and down by 1 pt we stopped running ?

Go back and look and the down and distance due to penalties and then decide which play you run in 1st and 20 or 30 or 2nd and 20...That's what Reiss did.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Re: WEEI:When It Comes To An Unbalanced Offense, Just Say No

The lack of running was notable, and another mystery was the lack of screens.

The Jets had a maddog rush on Brady not seen since Mo Vaughn used to chase strippers at Foxy Lady.

Belichick had an explanation for that based on the D they were facing, only no one wants to accept it. The few screens they tried went for naught.

 

[SVN]

Re: WEEI:When It Comes To An Unbalanced Offense, Just Say No

The lack of running was notable, and another mystery was the lack of screens.

The Jets had a maddog rush on Brady not seen since Mo Vaughn used to chase strippers at Foxy Lady.

mystery of screens was 'solved' by bb's answer somewhat
Mike Reiss' blog - Belichick discusses lack of screens - ESPN Boston

 

[Deus Irae]

Re: WEEI:When It Comes To An Unbalanced Offense, Just Say No

Unbalanced isn't the problem. Malfunctioning is the problem. If Brady gets back to being Brady, the O-line starts protecting as it is capable of doing, the entire squad stops committing foolish penalties, and the receivers get on the same page as the QB while not dropping passes, the offense will be fine.

That's my take on it, anyway. This offense, when functioning as it should, will be good enough to overcome lousy play calling if necessary, at least against most teams.

 

[tedy hagler]

Re: WEEI:When It Comes To An Unbalanced Offense, Just Say No

Went for naught--just like the rest of the offense on Sunday. Interesting explanation. He said also "I'm not saying you can't do it, but there is definitely some downside to it."

Bottom line seems to be: execution was weak early; and this dictated somewhat the types of plays they were willing to call.

Belichick had an explanation for that based on the D they were facing, only no one wants to accept it. The few screens they tried went for naught.

 

[BrianPat]

Re: WEEI:When It Comes To An Unbalanced Offense, Just Say No

Go back and look and the down and distance due to penalties and then decide which play you run in 1st and 20 or 30 or 2nd and 20...That's what Reiss did.

Can't expect to many intelligent stories, to attract the masses you have to be negative or controversal. These guys can't compete with indepth stories so this is their only path, judge based on lack of knowledge and assumptions. I think the Pats are doing fine, defense is better then I thought and once Brady gets his focus sharpened, everything will gel !

 

[maverick4]

We also barely changed formation. We ran shot gun the vast majority of the plays.
Sure our talent is great, but you can't keep executing without fail against physical D's who KNOW what you are going to do.

The new coordinator learned nothing about why the 03-04 Colts or 01 Rams lost, he's trying to be like them now.

 

[upstater1]

Re: WEEI:When It Comes To An Unbalanced Offense, Just Say No

Unbalanced isn't the problem. Malfunctioning is the problem. If Brady gets back to being Brady, the O-line starts protecting as it is capable of doing, the entire squad stops committing foolish penalties, and the receivers get on the same page as the QB while not dropping passes, the offense will be fine.

That's my take on it, anyway. This offense, when functioning as it should, will be good enough to overcome lousy play calling if necessary, at least against most teams.

+1

The Offense was good enough in 2007 to put huge points on the board even when they struggled (i.e. against the Eagles, Ravens and Giants).

Anyone who was in Foxboro for the AFCCG can testify to the fact that Brady was not himself, and that continued in the Super Bowl.

 

[maverick4]

It's not an issue of blaming execution. The same thing was said by fans in 2003 and 2004 who rooted for the Colts, or fans in 2001 who rooted for the Rams. They didn't get why they lost, they blamed it on execution when it was scheme-related and being shut down by a physical D who knew their stubborn tendencies.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Re: WEEI:When It Comes To An Unbalanced Offense, Just Say No

Unbalanced isn't the problem. Malfunctioning is the problem. If Brady gets back to being Brady, the O-line starts protecting as it is capable of doing, the entire squad stops committing foolish penalties, and the receivers get on the same page as the QB while not dropping passes, the offense will be fine.

That's my take on it, anyway. This offense, when functioning as it should, will be good enough to overcome lousy play calling if necessary, at least against most teams.

Brady can't keep attempting 50 passes a game,I don't care who the receivers are or how much they score,Its not good for a team to be so one sided because it will catch up with them sooner or later.