Tale of the tape (interesting stuff from Breer's blog)

[DefenseRules]

http://news.bostonherald.com/blogs/patriots/

Chargers offensive coordinator Cam Cameron (who should already be the head coach there) did a very interesting job of scheming the Patriots to find room for LaDainian Tomlinson to maneuver against a very stout rush defense. Basically, Cameron seemed to target Tedy Bruschi. Here’s how: Cameron knew that the Patriots had an inexperienced outside linebacker on the right side of the defense, so he worked to pair Bruschi – usually on the left – and Banta-Cain on the same side. He did this by either lining up strong left, with a tight end (usually blocking specialist Brandon Manumaleuna) and fullback Lorenzo Neal to that side, or shifting in that direction. That caused Bruschi, who plays strong-side inside, to switch with the bigger Mike Vrabel, stationed at weakside linebacker. And when the smallish Bruschi and inexperienced Banta-Cain were paired there, trouble followed. The Chargers rushed for 84 yards on 14 carries in that direction and most of it, and all of the big plays off that side, came off such sets. Bruschi got sealed early and often, and also was victimized consistently by lead blocks from Neal on iso plays up the middle. This isn’t a slight at Bruschi, it just shows that he’s been out of position for two years now, and simply isn’t a great fit for the strongside spot that Ted Johnson anchored for so many years.

– Another problem over there was left tackle Marcus McNeill. This guy, already, should be a Pro Bowler and it’s obvious if you watch him play. When the bell rang on this fight, he took a pretty convincing decision on Richard Seymour. Yes, McNeill did have help. But even in one-on-one situations, he did very, very well. And it may be a bit telling, too, that the Chargers ran away from Ty Warren on the right side. The best example of what was happening on the defensive right in this game came in the second quarter. Michael Turner, not Tomlinson, got the ball. McNeil sealed Seymour to the right and guard Kris Dielman absolutely crushed Bruschi. Turner went 17 yards before being dragged down at the Patriot 22, and that run helped set up the Patriots’ first touchdown.

– An interesting thing the Patriots did defensively was to play more three-man lines in nickel packages, out of a 3-3-5 look. Bill Belichick, if you look at the trends, normally tries to confuse a young quarterback not with a ton of pressure, but by mixing coverages. The thinking is if you throw a ton of blitzes, it makes reads easier and helps a young passer like Philip Rivers. But what the 3-man line did was allow the Patriots not to go overboard with pressure, while still not giving Rivers a great look at where it was coming from, since he brought Bruschi and Vrabel plenty, in addition to normal rushers Rosevelt Colvin and Banta-Cain. It worked, and the coaching staff did a good job of sparingly sprinkling in blitz looks. One came in the second quarter, when Artrell Hawkins hid behind Banta-Cain, who dropped. McNeil then helped on Bruschi, while Hawkins came free on Rivers. Another came in the form of a well-timed all-in eight-man blitz later that sprung James Sanders free for a sack.

His take on on Seymour, Bruschi and Banta-Cain is a little worrisome.

 

[SVN]

not to mention teams stopping our running game with the safety in the box...when sanders played last time here we didnt run the ball well in the 2nd half ..that to me is more worrisome..
anyone thing colts will blitz this week ?

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

His take on on Seymour, Bruschi and Banta-Cain is a little worrisome.

Not surprised one bit. McNeil will be a Pro Bowl fixture at LT for years to come and as good as Seymour is at DE, his best position is DT but since the Pats play a 3-4, he takes one for the team and doesn't play his best position. It doesn't surprise me that a future All Pro in McNeil can handle Seymour at least for one game.

I've been waiting for teams to run at TBC. He hasn't proven himself in the run-stopping department and running at him is a great way to neutralize his speed (like when the Pats ran at Freeney in the 2003/2004 postseasons). Lorenzo Neal kicked his arse on the goalline TDs. Again, no big surprise.

Sadly, I'm not surprised that the better teams are trying to isolate Bruschi. He's the Corey Dillon of the defense...clearly isn't the same guy he was two years ago. He's out there because he's a leader, calls out the correct adjustments and also because there's nobody on the bench who can do better. Against most of the teams he's good enough, but against the better teams he has become someone worth exploiting. The Chargers were definitely one of those teams.

Regards,
Chris

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

not to mention teams stopping our running game with the safety in the box...when sanders played last time here we didnt run the ball well in the 2nd half ..that to me is more worrisome..
anyone thing colts will blitz this week ?

I think the pats will spread it out to get sanders out of the box and if he doesn't there should be some one on one matchups.

As for Seymour, TBC, and Bruschi I think they won't have problems for this game, but it does need to be addressed in the offseason with a strong side ILB who can take on guards or fullbacks.

Let's be real tho...Lorenzo Neal is a load, a walking juggernaut and McNeil is bigger than Seymour. Ithought it interesting that they didn't run to warren's side. I think that is extremely positive.

But if we recall last year Colvin had difficulty sealing the edge when he played on seymour's side and improved as the season wore on.

If anything, this shows the importance of big OLB in the 3-4 scheme and they need a ILB who can take on the run.

It's all situational football with BB and they could get an ILB who can play coverage. obviously be great if they could find someone who could do all and be versatile. Guess I'm kind of contradicting myself there.

But i think they should be able to take on the colts run offense. SD was extremely physical and powerful.

in the offseason the LB situation needs to be improved and i'd like to see a safety or cb.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

Not surprised one bit. McNeil will be a Pro Bowl fixture at LT for years to come and as good as Seymour is at DE, his best position is DT but since the Pats play a 3-4, he takes one for the team and doesn't play his best position. It doesn't surprise me that a future All Pro in McNeil can handle Seymour at least for one game.

I've been waiting for teams to run at TBC. He hasn't proven himself in the run-stopping department and running at him is a great way to neutralize his speed (like when the Pats ran at Freeney in the 2003/2004 postseasons). Lorenzo Neal kicked his arse on the goalline TDs. Again, no big surprise.

Sadly, I'm not surprised that the better teams are trying to isolate Bruschi. He's the Corey Dillon of the defense...clearly isn't the same guy he was two years ago. He's out there because he's a leader, calls out the correct adjustments and also because there's nobody on the bench who can do better. Against most of the teams he's good enough, but against the better teams he has become someone worth exploiting. The Chargers were definitely one of those teams.

Regards,
Chris

Didn't breer say he was out of position this year and last? lost ted johnson. Ted Bruschi took one for the team.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Didn't breer say he was out of position this year and last? lost ted johnson. Ted Bruschi took one for the team.

He may have taken one for the team, but he still doesn't look like the 2004 version of himself. He used to relish taking on guards and excelled at open-field tackles. This year he seems always a step behind the play and I don't think that can be chalked up to just switching ILB spots. I don't fault him for this...he's played 11 seasons. Don't get me wrong...he's a very good ILB, but he's not the Pro Bowler he was in 2004 (and should have been in 2003).

Regards,
Chris

 

[DougGabriel2007]

As much as SD screwed up, its not like we didn't either. We had 7-8 penalties, same as them, Brady missed tons of throws and the receivers didnt play well for most of the game so to say they gave us the game might be a bit misleading.....

 

[Isaac]

Interesting read. It's quite apparent in re-watching the game that the Chargers were dominating on runs to their left. Glad they forgot about that in crunch time, or perhaps the Patriots made some adjustment we aren't aware of.

 

[Return of the Nizz]

The Chargers were a horrific matchup for the run D. McNeil is immense, Lorenzo Neal is the size of a guard, and their TE, Manu Manu the slender, is pretty huge as well. Not to mention that LT doesn't need much room to explode through. We'll never know what kind of adjustment the Pats would have made if SD just decided to pound the ball, but LT ran it what, 7 times in the 2nd half?

 

[BTTA]

For this defense to remain solid, we need two new starting IL next year. Bruschi (if he returns), Vrabel, and Colvin should rotate on the outside.

Fletcher and someone under the radar.

 

[mcbee]

Yes that is bad. Toward the end of the game LT ran over his right side and Warren got swallowed up.

Very bad that Seymour isn't able to handle McNeil, even if he is good. I saw him get pushed out on a couple plays. There was a story that the pats like mcneil draft time. Too bad they didn't get him.

I wonder who they get at ILB next year. Seau and Fletcher maybe. Maybe Vrabel. Tough position having to take on huge pulling linemen and such.

 

[zippo59]

I don't understand why Bruschi and Vrabel switched positions. He tried to explain it in the blog but I don't understand.

 

[PatsSteve1]

The gane is being replayed on NFL Network Wed. at 8:00 est so people can see this themselves. I taped the gamebut haven't watched that yet. I did notice Seymour shading inside on McNeil on a few run plays to that side. Don't know if it was by design or something he saw or what but it kinds left Tull by himself outside and he was easily handled by M Neil or the TE.

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

Yes that is bad. Toward the end of the game LT ran over his right side and Warren got swallowed up.

Very bad that Seymour isn't able to handle McNeil, even if he is good. I saw him get pushed out on a couple plays. There was a story that the pats like mcneil draft time. Too bad they didn't get him.

I wonder who they get at ILB next year. Seau and Fletcher maybe. Maybe Vrabel. Tough position having to take on huge pulling linemen and such.

God, I hope the Pats didn't pass up on McNeil to get Jackson. But that's been my slant all along, PROTECT BRADY! And I don't mean for just a playoff game or two, I mean all year long, consistently.

 

[upstater1]

Cam Cameron was a disaster as a head coach in college. I really hope one of our rivals hires him as a head.

 

[mcbee]

God, I hope the Pats didn't pass up on McNeil to get Jackson. But that's been my slant all along, PROTECT BRADY! And I don't mean for just a playoff game or two, I mean all year long, consistently.

I'm pretty sure they did.

McNeil had a bad back last year and that was the knock on him. Wish they'd have gotten hiim, although I haven't given up on CJax.

Maybe a draftee or two can fill in. Desmond Bishop of Cal, that's who they should draft. 3rd round maybe.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

I don't understand why Bruschi and Vrabel switched positions. He tried to explain it in the blog but I don't understand.

Basically Bruschi plays strong side meaning he usually lines up over the tight end or where the fullback is leaning to. vrabel has weakside where there is typically no tightend or where the tackle is exposed.

as you watch the game you will see vrabel and bruschi swapping positions. bruschi typically lines up behind warren, but you will see him moving behind seymour. how is this done and why? because the chargers put a guy in motion to load up the side on seymour for more blocking or the tightend or fullback lined up over there already.

warren plays weakside in the 3-4 and seymour strongside.

now i'm assuming the left tackle side is strongside most of the times because most qb's are right handed, but correct me if i'm wrong.

 

[rainmaker]

Having a stud LT, definitely makes the running game better. Seymour used to not be pushed around by anyone, so hopefully it was just a bad game. We need a premier LB who can take over for Bruschi possibly as soon as next year. That FA Balt LB seems like a good fit?

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

Having a stud LT, definitely makes the running game better. Seymour used to not be pushed around by anyone, so hopefully it was just a bad game. We need a premier LB who can take over for Bruschi possibly as soon as next year. That FA Balt LB seems like a good fit?

he's a good fit except he's gonna get probably the most money of any lb in free agency this year and blatimore might franchise him. he ain't leavin

 

[cstjohn17]

http://news.bostonherald.com/blogs/patriots/



His take on on Seymour, Bruschi and Banta-Cain is a little worrisome.

This is not surprising, the Colts have also focused on Bruschi trying to get him isolated on Dallas Clark. This is one of the things that concerned me about the roster, with no real backups at ILB our defense had to change when Seau went down (there had to be at least 70% chance at the start of the year that either Seau or Bruschi would miss extensive time).

When Seau got hurt, we got weaker at every LB position, IMO.
ROLB - TBC - Not as strong as Colvin
RILB - Strong side, Bruschi is not in his natural position.
LILB - Vrabel not as strong as Bruschi at ILB.
LOLB - Colvin not as string on the left side as Vrabel, although Colvin has played well.

Really remarkable how the Patriots have been able to play such solid defense with all the position changes at LB and our two top Safeties out. Another coaching job well done. They tend to move the players around to shield weaknesses and keep the other side guessing.