the BIGGEST problem with the Pats passing attack

[ALP]

in short: a lack of attempting to hit intermediate routes (15-30 yds downfield from the line of scrimmage)

in essence the pats passing attack, from coaches to Brady have created a mentality of a short passing game, and that mentality is so strong that it is hampering the possibilities of the offense

my point is that its this mentality that is the prob, not the personnel, or the talent

though a short passing game that is efficient and quick in the NFL is an absolute killer, it should NOT be your primary objective, an intermediate passing game should be, with the short passing game existing as what you run most routes on, but only if the intermediate is not available

this is even more so when we have a run game, b/c a short pass game and a run game essentially serve the same purpose, a 4 or 5 or even 6 yd route is almost the same thing as running the ball for us (this past season when we ran so well), but it has so many more points of failure (protection, pass, deflection, INT, PD, easy drop, bad throw, DB coverage, miscommunication) whereareas a run will maybe net you less yards, but will have the effects of having many less points of failure (and has positives such as establishing dominance at the line and tiring out a defense, fumbles are also less likely than INT's, also sets up PA)

in order to achieve this we need to look at the types of routes our receivers are asked to run:

Wes: as a slot receiver who is quick, yet slow he is best suited in the 4-10yd range of passes, and that's good, because that is where he absolutely dominates, no one else in this league can do what he does in that area, and he should be the either the only, or one of two routes run in this space, his size also makes him better in this space

Aaron: can be used as an intermediate weapon, though we have not done that very much, he has the speed and size to accomplish this, especially if covered by LB's

Gronk: ULTIMATE intermediate route weapon, just heave it up when he runs either a slant, post or streak/go and you will be golden, he is also fast enough to be an intermediate target

Lloyd: the primary problem with Lloyd is the routes he has been asked to run, early on in the season he ran the comeback route a LOT, and got 10-15 yds on it, where did that go? in the playoffs he ran mostly slants, well what exactly do you expect? he is not allowed to do anything, of course hes not gonna be able to get to the intermediate space, but that is not because he cannot, he has simply been tasked with running routes that attack the same depth of the field, but just outside the hash marks

those are our 4 main weapons, an edelman or RB can run either an intermediate or short route (preferably short), Aaron can run both, though I would use Gronk as almost solely an intermediate target, why throw it to him 5 yards out? it makes no sense

the biggest problem recently with attacking the intermediate portion of the field is this: the gameplan makes brady get rid of the ball TOO fast, our O-lines have struggled in games, but if you take their work over a season they have been quite good, in these playoffs brady usually had all day to throw the ball, yet still got rid of it within 3 seconds...b/c of the gameplan, and its focus on short routes

let Brady take deeper drops, let him hold the ball longer, and let him survey the field, and not waste that effort on a 5yd pass, but on a 15-30 yd pass

this is what happened in the Texans games (both) where we absolutely manhandled a very good team, this is what did NOT happen in the Balt. game, where we got absolutely manhandled by an OK defense

MAKE THE INTERMEDIATE PASSING GAME YOUR PRIORITY, AND YOU WILL WIN IN THE PLAYOFFS

 

[upstater1]

What hurts the passing game is no Gronk. When he's in there they not only have intermediate routes but they go deep.

Let's take away Crabtree and Andre Johnson and Julio Jones, etc., and let's see how those teams do without them.

 

[satz]

You forgot to add one more item.THE system

We are so dependent on a system which highlight players who cannot be healthy for 16 games. So we have a broken non stable system.


Put hernandaz for 6 games for a year. He will give you 10 games
Gronk - Playoff is his kryponite
2 TE system with 1 good TE and scrubs.
LLoyd is not a Yac or Pure outside guy.

i think this is an issue with the system ,after yrs trying to go this 2 TE system it might be time to move to a more WR system. In the NFL guess the speed/hits make a pure TE system hard ,unless you have 4 good/great TE.


we cannot go 5 wide [5 actual options] and let brady do his job. i will resign edelman, wes and then run a 5 wide with hernandaz and gronk in there. that leave 1 WR - he need not be this crazy speed guy but some one good as 07 gaffney or better a 04 givens[physical].

we not only cannot stretch the field Veritcally we cannot stretch it Horizontally. Brady is killer when you build a Horizontal game.This also moves safeties wide leading to more effective runs.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Two biggest problems*, IMO:

- Too much shotgun. Doesn't keep the D guessing enough. That extra uncertainty of run vs. pass might help free receivers more in just enough plays to keep possessions alive and get scores.

- Underutilizing the RBs. RBs are used plenty in the screen game, but nowhere near enough as primary options in real passing routes. Faulk was the last guy to have his number called routinely on flares out of the backfield. The lack of using the RBs in this manner allows the D to focus attention on Welker, the TEs and Lloyd. This would have helped a ton vs. Baltimore.

* "Problems" is subjective. Against most defenses, the Pats passing attack is unstoppable.

Regards,
Chris

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

What hurts the passing game is no Gronk. When he's in there they not only have intermediate routes but they go deep.

Let's take away Crabtree and Andre Johnson and Julio Jones, etc., and let's see how those teams do without them.

Of all the playmakers in the NFL, you put Crabree on this list?

Gronkowski, in my opinion, is the best non-quarterback in the NFL. Not only is he the league leader the last two years in yards per target (a very important stat), he's also the league leader in touchdowns. That does not even account for the fact that he's a menacing run blocker and his presence on the offensive line makes the offense deceptive on almost every play.

 

[ausbacker]

Two biggest problems*, IMO:

- Too much shotgun. Doesn't keep the D guessing enough. That extra uncertainty of run vs. pass might help free receivers more in just enough plays to keep possessions alive and get scores.

- Underutilizing the RBs. RBs are used plenty in the screen game, but nowhere near enough as primary options in real passing routes. Faulk was the last guy to have his number called routinely on flares out of the backfield. The lack of using the RBs in this manner allows the D to focus attention on Welker, the TEs and Lloyd. This would have helped a ton vs. Baltimore.

* "Problems" is subjective. Against most defenses, the Pats passing attack is unstoppable.

Regards,
Chris

IMO, that's the biggest problem with the passing game.

As usual, great post Chris.

 

[Kontradiction]

What hurts the passing game is no Gronk. When he's in there they not only have intermediate routes but they go deep.

Let's take away Crabtree and Andre Johnson and Julio Jones, etc., and let's see how those teams do without them.

Gronk would have won us this game, more than likely. To get to the promised land, you need to be able to threaten all levels of the field. The Pats offense, as is currently constructed, is incapable of doing that. They need one more threat. I would like to see a Demaryius Thomas type threat added to the offense, personally. I'm not sure how an offense like that can be stopped.

 

[ausbacker]

Gronk would have won us this game, more than likely. To get to the promised land, you need to be able to threaten all levels of the field. The Pats offense, as is currently constructed, is incapable of doing that. They need one more threat. I would like to see a Demaryius Thomas type threat added to the offense, personally. I'm not sure how an offense like that can be stopped.

Keenan Allen, Cordarrelle Patterson, Terrance Williams, Justin Hunter and Da'Rick Rogers fit the mold physically.

Any of those interest you and are they obtainable given most are first or second round graded players.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

i don't know why they didn't use lloyd in this light...he was always running short routes..have him go to that 15-30 yard gap now and then

 

[ALP]

i don't know why they didn't use lloyd in this light...he was always running short routes..have him go to that 15-30 yard gap now and then

exactly, and every so often let him even go deep on 1on1 coverage w/ no safety help....

the thing is that its not the personnel, we do not need to add another playmaker, we are good the way we are, we need to focus on utilizing them in other ways


on the injury front: Gronk broke his arm on a PAT, can you tell me the last time you remember hurting themselves on a PAT? it was just bad luck
Ahern does have injury issues, but its only been two seasons

 

[mgteich]

The biggest problem with the passing attack is that we have no wide receivers other than Lloyd signed for this coming season.

 

[DocHoliday]

The biggest problem is injuries.

The end.

 

[borg]

Play action would help, but Josh refuses play action on 3rd downs in big games. Zero attempts on 3rd down vs Balt. Zero attempts on 3rd down vs GMen in 2007 SB.....Josh's last two playoff losses

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

exactly, and every so often let him even go deep on 1on1 coverage w/ no safety help....

the thing is that its not the personnel, we do not need to add another playmaker, we are good the way we are, we need to focus on utilizing them in other ways


on the injury front: Gronk broke his arm on a PAT, can you tell me the last time you remember hurting themselves on a PAT? it was just bad luck
Ahern does have injury issues, but its only been two seasons

I know alot of ppl hate lloyd..but half the time he wasn't given the chance or route to run those deeper posts ect

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

The biggest problem with the passing attack is that we have no wide receivers other than Lloyd signed for this coming season.

You don't think that will change? They will keep welker and or edelman with a splash in FA or maybe a trade for someone like harvin

 

[ausbacker]

I know alot of ppl hate lloyd..but half the time he wasn't given the chance or route to run those deeper posts ect

Lloyd nearly put up 1,000 yards despite being the fourth receiving option behind Welker, Gronkowski and Hernandez. The hate directed his way is absurd.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Patriots will never win another Superbowl, they will waste Brady's last years, until the team acknowledges they are not losing because of talent issues.

I don't care if the Patriots have Joe Montana at QB, Jerry Rice and Randy Moss at WR, Jim Brown at RB. If teams in playoffs go through extensive preparation studying how to stop the offense, and the coaches do NOT adjust whatsoever when something is clearly not working in a game, that all star offense can be stopped. We saw it from the other side as fans when the Patriots beat the Rams in 2001 with a below-average roster, against the league's best offense and 4th best defense. Look at the massive impact the Saints experienced this year without their strategic coach. Coaching in this league is so much more important than the talent on the roster. Every single team has some sort of weakness due to the salary cap, can't blame lack of talent for big losses.

 

[MoneyFX]

This is true. I was wondering why they didn't use Lloyd on more downfield routes. If the Patriots can add a physical Gronk-like specimen at the WR position (in other words, a receiver with size and can fight for the football) along with another guy with speed, this offense would be pretty much complete.

 

[Rob0729]

What hurts the passing game is no Gronk. When he's in there they not only have intermediate routes but they go deep.

Let's take away Crabtree and Andre Johnson and Julio Jones, etc., and let's see how those teams do without them.

I agree. First people say it is a deep threat. Now it is an intermediary threat. But it has always been a lack of a Gronk threat.

Gronk, when healthy, is an once in a generation (or longer) type of player. There are few offensive players in the league that make as much of a difference on a team as him. Teams have to game plan him. He is virtually uncoverable and if you figure out a way, it usually means someone else is wide, wide open.

People were lulled into believing losing Gronk wasn't a big deal because the Pats' offense is talented enough to be great without him. But he makes the offense special. Historically special.

Forget the deep threat. Forget the intermediary threat. Bring back Gronk, keep him healthy, bring back Welker or replace him with a similar quality player, and fill in the depth of the WR position and this offense is fine.

 

[jnug]

There are other pass receivers in the league that are dangerous in the way that Gronk is dangerous...none of them do it from the TE position. Just being a deep threat does not get it done. That was Randy Moss later in his career and we know how effective he became once he was truly on the back nine. We got to see the last of an effective Randy Moss and then we got to see the first of this version of Randy Moss.

Gronk and receivers like him are dangerous because they are dangerous from anywhere on the field. If you let Gronk catch it short he is likely to take it to the house on you. If you let him get an advantage deep he is likely to go up over the guy defending him and take it to the house that way. So it is true that just being a deep threat does not get it done. Moss late in his career with the Pats could only get those long legs stretched out and the defender could not let Moss get behind him. But anything in front of the defender and Moss really wasn't going anywhere. The Moss arsenal had been stripped down to the post route and that was about it.

Lloyd is not a bad receiver. I just don't think we were expecting his total arsenal to consist of catching the ball on the way to the ground. Unless the Pats really spend a fortune on somebody you have to expect a guy that is a threat all over the field to have some flaws. Maybe he drops the ball. Maybe he can't block his way out of a paper bag....something.