Merrill Hoge and 3-4 teams

[MetalBleachers]

I've seen Hoge a couple of times over the past two days and I'm a little confused about his statement that the Pats have had trouble with 3-4 defenses.
He notes their losses to the Jets and the Browns, two 3-4 teams, and says that teams "like Pittsburgh" who run a 3-4 can give them problems.

He fails to point out that a) the Pats played the Jets a second time with a different result (to put it kindly); b) the Pats crushed Pittsburgh at Heinz; and c) the Browns played a lot of 3-2-6 and even 2-3-6 defenses to flood the zone.

I don't mind Hoge most of the time. Can't figure him out on this one, though.

 

[Rob0729]

Hoge just hates certain teams. His analysis skills are shotty because of it. He can at times break down film better than anyone and others you wonder if he ever watched a single game in his life.

Sorry, but the Pats do not have a problem with 3-4 defenses. In fact, this offense is built to beat teams like the Jets, Steelers, etc. It really doesn't have to do with the formation per sea, but their aggressiveness. These teams love to blitz and Brady's quick reads and multiple options create mismatches because Brady can get the ball off before the rush gets to him and with extra people rushing there will be someone open or in single coverage.

The reason why the Pats' offense struggled with the Jets the first game was because they stopped rushing extra people and Brady constantly tried to force the ball to Moss (which wasn't as apparent at the time) who is clearly done. The Pats actually had more success in the first half when Brady was spreading the ball around.

Sorry, the Pats do not struggle against the 3-4. Brady struggles against teams that can pressure him with a four man rush especially if that rush is up the middle. It doesn't matter the formation.

For him to say that teams like Pittsburgh give the Pats' problems is puzzling (well, not really since Hoge is a Steeler homer). Brady has had a lot of success vs. the Steelers over the years including this year. I mean if you consider Brady completing 69.8% of his passes for 350 yards, 3 TDs, and no INTs having problems with the Steelers' defense, I guess I will live with Brady struggling against them.

 

[patsfaninpa]

Hoge just hates certain teams. His analysis skills are shotty because of it. He can at times break down film better than anyone and others you wonder if he ever watched a single game in his life.

Sorry, but the Pats do not have a problem with 3-4 defenses. In fact, this offense is built to beat teams like the Jets, Steelers, etc. It really doesn't have to do with the formation per sea, but their aggressiveness. These teams love to blitz and Brady's quick reads and multiple options create mismatches because Brady can get the ball off before the rush gets to him and with extra people rushing there will be someone open or in single coverage.

The reason why the Pats' offense struggled with the Jets the first game was because they stopped rushing extra people and Brady constantly tried to force the ball to Moss (which wasn't as apparent at the time) who is clearly done. The Pats actually had more success in the first half when Brady was spreading the ball around.

Sorry, the Pats do not struggle against the 3-4. Brady struggles against teams that can pressure him with a four man rush especially if that rush is up the middle. It doesn't matter the formation.

For him to say that teams like Pittsburgh give the Pats' problems is puzzling (well, not really since Hoge is a Steeler homer). Brady has had a lot of success vs. the Steelers over the years including this year. I mean if you consider Brady completing 69.8% of his passes for 350 yards, 3 TDs, and no INTs having problems with the Steelers' defense, I guess I will live with Brady struggling against them.

Hoge has been hit in the head one time too many. Literally. Brady owns the Steelers. 6-1 lifetime. They hate him more anyone on earth here in Pa.

 

[Fencer]

I would agree that the Pats' greatest offensive Achilles heel is the rush up the middle. Brady has excellent mobility in the pocket but poor mobility outside the pocket, so that's his personal Achilles heel. Also, if I had to pick among the four pass/run blocking by interior OL/tackles, I'd say interior OL pass blocking is the weakest.

 

[Sciz]

Brady is weak to 0-5-6 teams

 

[FloridaPatsFan]

The Patriots offense see's the 3-4 every day in practice...they are completely familiar with the ins and outs of it.

How does Hoge not understand this?

 

[Fencer]

The Patriots offense see's the 3-4 every day in practice...they are completely familiar with the ins and outs of it.

How does Hoge not understand this?

Perhaps because on the rare occasions Brady DOES look confused, it's usually against a 3-4 defense, or at least the defense of a 3-4 team.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

You can always count on Hodge to say something completely arbitrary in his hopes the Pats will fail.

Miami (3-4)
Buffalo (3-4, or at least a bad attempt)
Green Bay (3-4)
Jets (3-4)
Pittsburgh (3-4)

In those last five games against 3-4 defenses, the Patriots have scored 38, 34, 31, 45, 39.

37.4 ppg, with a low of 31 against GB when they had the ball for 19 minutes against the #1 ranked defense in the league.

 

[HomerSchooled]

Does seem strange given the beating Brady put down on NYJ a few weeks back, and the beating he always puts down on PIT. Even games against CLE and GB weren't bad by most people's standards (2tds and 0ints in both). Hoge is probably just playing to the crowd and trying to give fans in PA some spectacularly slim hope of going into NE and winning.

Maybe he was talking about Manning. His 11 int, 3 game losing streak was against a trio of 3-4 teams (us, SD, Dal).

 

[MetalBleachers]

Does seem strange given the beating Brady put down on NYJ a few weeks back, and the beating he always puts down on PIT. Even games against CLE and GB weren't bad by most people's standards (2tds and 0ints in both). Hoge is probably just playing to the crowd and trying to give fans in PA some spectacularly slim hope of going into NE and winning.

Maybe he was talking about Manning. His 11 int, 3 game losing streak was against a trio of 3-4 teams (us, SD, Dal).

Have to think so. This just seemed like a theory Hoge thought of as he was waking up from a nap and couldn't get out of his head, despite the lack of hard evidence.

 

[jmt57]

I'm guessing that throughout the playoffs sports commentators will be under orders from their editors and producers to come up with "here is the flaw in this team, this is how you beat them" pieces, whether it's on the Pats, Saints, Falcons, Steelers, Eagles or someone else. It's not something specific to the Patriots - though many here will react that way if and when columns or videos come out - it's just standard sports journalism as part of the hype prior to an upcoming game. Folks here should be prepared; this is not going to be the last time we will see, hear or read "this is how to beat the Patriots."

As for Hoge, there are moments when he can come up with some very good analysis in breaking down film. This however, was not one of his better efforts. There is no doubt that he is still a Steeler homer. Similar to Bruschi and his remaining loyal to the Patriots, sometimes that bias shines through and affects his opinion. If there is a discussion involving the Steelers or one of their rivals (e.g., Baltimore) his fandom does seem to cloud his opinion though; it would probably make more sense if the network had him focus on NFC teams in order to avoid that prejudice.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I don't think he has anything against the Pats, he is just so big of a Steeler homer it leads him to say some silly thing

 

[NEPats1]

I was listening to Hoge on the radio and he was talking about how you can't blitz Manning because he will carve you up and the best plan is what the Steelers did to beat Indy in 2005 by only rushing 4 or 5 players max.

But he said it wasn't just a normal rush, instead they would rush them from positions where Colts didn't know who to block. I think that's the game Manning threw his O-line under the bus.

Does anyone know what specifically Pittsburgh did that was so unique?

Heres a link:

ESPN Radio

 

[naF staP]

The only Defense I see the Patriots having problems with right now would be the ones who ran the 10-5-10. That might be a bit challenging.

 

[*ChungFu*]

I was very interested in hearing Hoge after the Pats creamed Pitt this year. He was pretty subdued...dejected even. Not the usual Suzy Kolber on steroids "Factor Back" touting, banner waver.
Like posted above, his analysis is usually good while obviously selective. He could have used the Pats/Steelers game to put on a clinic on how to erase Troy Polamalu but chose not to.