Hypothetical: How would teams defend against Moss, TO, Edelman and Welker?

[BillBelichickFan79]

Just throwing out ideas..

Since it's hypothetical, let's say you have 2009 pre-ACL tear Welker, so he needs a lot of attention. Like this past season, since we didn't have a legit 3rd option, I thought a team like the Jets should've just put Revis on Welker wherever he went b/c no one else could contain him. I think if they put their #1 CB (Revis) on Welker and just doubled Moss with Lito and Rhodes on every play, they would've fared better against us in Foxboro. Adding TO in obviously gives the Pats a better third option on offense.

I'll try to use the Chargers D as an example.

Put Jammer on T.O. and press him at the line. Get physical with him and frustrate him. Has always had trouble getting off jam cleanly (that's why Springs has given him fits in the past).

Put Cromartie in the slot on Welker. Bigger than Welker but just as fluid/quick. Can press him at the line and stay with him pretty well in and out of Welker's cuts.

Put Cason and Ellison on Moss aka double Moss. Have Cason consistently jam Moss at the line b/c Randy doesn't like to get all that physical. Have Ellison basically shade Moss' side of the field on every play. Let Weddle play centerfield.

That commits 5 guys to coverage in a 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB set, and 6 guys up front (4 LB, 2 DL). Bring a lot of exotic blitz packages with guys constantly moving around before the snap. Burnett (mostly for coverage), Merriman, Phillips, and English. Only have Castillo and Williams as the two down lineman.

You'd need to overwhelm this OL like Rex Ryan does with a ton of blitzing and physical play from your corners. Putting your CB's in a lot of man to man press coverage so it takes longer for the WR's to run their routes, bring 5 or 6 rushers consistently, collapse the pocket, and pound the crap out of Brady. You could do a lot of overload blitzing b/c we run a lot of shotgun plays and don't have 2 TE in that often. Also the double A-gap blitz would be pretty effective due to Koppen's knack for getting blown up and overpowered at times.

Idk..it was just something that popped into my head.

 

[2000army]

I would be just fine having TO on the Pats .... as well as Ochocinco

 

[Patspsycho]

..........

 

[Patjew]

Look, as long as we can get some footage of TO lifting weights in his driveway in North Attleboro, I'll be happy.

 

[TriplecHamp]

same way the Giants covered stallworth, Gaffney, Moss, and Welker.

 

[Patjew]

same way the Giants covered stallworth, Gaffney, Moss, and Welker.

See post # 5.

 

[Deus Irae]

The only people that would have doubts about T.O.'s ability to compete are those who've been harboring some personal vendettas about him, and they shouldn't be listened to anyway. He was still pretty good last year considering what he had to work with in Buffalo.

One of the television shows did a segment on T.O., focusing on how his play had slipped. He was struggling to get separation from opposing corners, and he's lost some of his explosion in his first step. He can be covered with #2 CBs now. He'd still be an upgrade over Aiken, but this isn't the T.O. that teams used to worry about.

Father time is catching up to Mr. Owens.

 

[BillBelichickFan79]

One of the television shows did a segment on T.O., focusing on how his play had slipped. He was struggling to get separation from opposing corners, and he's lost some of his explosion in his first step. He can be covered with #2 CBs now. He'd still be an upgrade over Aiken, but this isn't the T.O. that teams used to worry about.

Father time is catching up to Mr. Owens.

Yeah this is what I was talking about. I believe it was NFL Live, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

[TriplecHamp]

See post # 5.

haha sounds about right.

 

[Yfz01]

One of the television shows did a segment on T.O., focusing on how his play had slipped. He was struggling to get separation from opposing corners, and he's lost some of his explosion in his first step. He can be covered with #2 CBs now. He'd still be an upgrade over Aiken, but this isn't the T.O. that teams used to worry about.

Father time is catching up to Mr. Owens.

All of this is true, but I saw Owens beat Revis deep. The pass was overthrown, and Owens wasn't too open, but he did have a step and a half on him.

Granted, I also watched Owens get shutdown by plenty of corners this season. His biggest games came against corners that nobody has ever heard of.

 

[Brady2Welker]

All of this is true, but I saw Owens beat Revis deep. The pass was overthrown, and Owens wasn't too open, but he did have a step and a half on him.

Granted, I also watched Owens get shutdown by plenty of corners this season. His biggest games came against corners that nobody has ever heard of.

TO vs Nobody corner, It's a no brainer who wins.

I just think that TO's skillset vs age is a losing battle. Unless we can get him for dirt cheap.

 

[jsull87]

by blitzing that is all

 

[BritPat]

How would teams defend against them? Quite easily.

 

[patsfan-1982]

cover T.O man to man with your best CB


put your #2 CB and FS on moss,


nickel back and MLB to cover welker,


dime back on on Edelman,

and hope your front 4 can get to brady, but i think the best move would be to just go after brady, that has worked in the past. for good pass rushing team even when the pats were deep at WR.

 

[capetide]

It's amazing that we keep talking about recycling over-the-hill vets while teams like the Colts seem to be able to replace aging/injured WR's quite effectively through mid-to-low round draft picks.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Even though I'd love to get TO and I think it'd vastly improve our offense, it's not impossible to defend. Get to Brady consistently, and you have another SB42 regardless of the WR's.

If Asante Samuel (well before he was the CB he is now), Randall Gay, and Troy Brown can 'shut down' Harrison/Wayne/Stokely the year they were all 1000 yard WR's, most CB sets can shut down our team w/ TO if the rest of their defense can dominate in the trenches.

 

[StraightCashHomey81]

By double teaming T.O. and Moss and accepting an early season loss by getting burned to death by Welker and Edelman. Then just sit back and watch while T.O. complains, ticks off Moss, Tom's head explodes, and the team implodes and the Pats finish 9-7 and miss the playoffs. SAY NO to T.O.

 

[Kontradiction]

Just throwing out ideas..

Since it's hypothetical, let's say you have 2009 pre-ACL tear Welker, so he needs a lot of attention. Like this past season, since we didn't have a legit 3rd option, I thought a team like the Jets should've just put Revis on Welker wherever he went b/c no one else could contain him. I think if they put their #1 CB (Revis) on Welker and just doubled Moss with Lito and Rhodes on every play, they would've fared better against us in Foxboro. Adding TO in obviously gives the Pats a better third option on offense.

I'll try to use the Chargers D as an example.

Put Jammer on T.O. and press him at the line. Get physical with him and frustrate him. Has always had trouble getting off jam cleanly (that's why Springs has given him fits in the past).

Put Cromartie in the slot on Welker. Bigger than Welker but just as fluid/quick. Can press him at the line and stay with him pretty well in and out of Welker's cuts.

Put Cason and Ellison on Moss aka double Moss. Have Cason consistently jam Moss at the line b/c Randy doesn't like to get all that physical. Have Ellison basically shade Moss' side of the field on every play. Let Weddle play centerfield.

That commits 5 guys to coverage in a 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB set, and 6 guys up front (4 LB, 2 DL). Bring a lot of exotic blitz packages with guys constantly moving around before the snap. Burnett (mostly for coverage), Merriman, Phillips, and English. Only have Castillo and Williams as the two down lineman.

You'd need to overwhelm this OL like Rex Ryan does with a ton of blitzing and physical play from your corners. Putting your CB's in a lot of man to man press coverage so it takes longer for the WR's to run their routes, bring 5 or 6 rushers consistently, collapse the pocket, and pound the crap out of Brady. You could do a lot of overload blitzing b/c we run a lot of shotgun plays and don't have 2 TE in that often. Also the double A-gap blitz would be pretty effective due to Koppen's knack for getting blown up and overpowered at times.

Idk..it was just something that popped into my head.

Well, I have serious doubts about Cromartie's ability to cover Welker one on one. This isn't the Cromartie of 2007 we're talking about. He would probably get burned. I also don't think it would be as easy for Jammer to shut down T.O. On top of that, who would you have covering Faulk out of the backfield? How would you defend a 4 WR set with Edelman?

 

[Kontradiction]

One of the television shows did a segment on T.O., focusing on how his play had slipped. He was struggling to get separation from opposing corners, and he's lost some of his explosion in his first step. He can be covered with #2 CBs now. He'd still be an upgrade over Aiken, but this isn't the T.O. that teams used to worry about.

Father time is catching up to Mr. Owens.

I saw that and, to be honest with you, it looked like he wasn't even trying/didn't care in most cases. Playing with Fitzpatrick as your quarterback will do that to you. He's still really dangerous if placed in the right offense. Go watch the YouTube video of his 2009 season and you'll see that the explosion, while it may not be what it used to be five years ago, is still very much there. On top of that, we won't need the T.O. that teams used to worry about as we'll also have Moss on the other side. With all of this, it doesn't make sense to me why people are so opposed to giving him a one year flyer.

 

[Kontradiction]

It's amazing that we keep talking about recycling over-the-hill vets while teams like the Colts seem to be able to replace aging/injured WR's quite effectively through mid-to-low round draft picks.

That's because their offense is about as easy to pick up as first grade mathematics. If you can run a slant, hitch, crossing pattern, and go-route then you'll shine as a receiver there.