Warning, football talk here: Your Gameplan

[strongside]

As the Pats formulate their game plan for Sunday, what are you expecting:

BB loves to screen teams who have pass rushers that get up the field. Look for a little more Faulk this Sunday.

Do not allow Tomlinson free release off of the line.

Same thing for Gates. 3rd down he is an absolute killer and must be accounted for. I know AD will help, but the bears have excellent linebackers and he was wide open numerous times

Put the game in rivers hands. Norv can't help slinging the ball around. Rivers is a good QB but prone to make the big mistake.

Get off the field on 3rd Down!!

 

[BelichickFan]

I mentioned this a few weeks back.

I'd play a 3-5-3 base.

Warren, Wilfork, Green on the line.
Vrabel, Bruschi, Thomas, Seau, Colvin at LB.
Samuel, Wilson, Hobbs in the secondary.

Thomas takes Gates all day. The other 4 LB stop Tomlinson. We take our chances with their average WR with S,W,H.

Of course another DB comes in on passing downs, etc, but in standard 2 WR sets that's what I'd do.

 

[JoePats]

I think they're going to get to Brady this week, maybe not every time, but obviously a lot more than the Jets did, which was never. To me that means a lot of screens and checkdowns...Wes Welker will catch 9 or 10 in this game and I don't believe that we will be able to run the football.

 

[strongside]

I was in that "can't run on SD camp" before I watched the SD/Bears game again. SD had zero respect for the passing game and went full tilt stop the run. Pats passing game should loosen things up enough to keep the run game a factor. Rushing attempts will be a key stat for the Pats as the need the threat of the run to be there. Also, BB loves keeping teams off balance by running on passing downs.

 

[mdhprime]

I think the key on defense is to contain Tomlinson and Gates. I do not worry too much about SD's receivers but who knows...they could be a surprise. On offense I believe they just need to execute and take adavantage of SD's aggessiveness. Ball control and the least amount of mistakes (turn overs, broken plays, etc.) wins the game.

 

[cblesz]

I mentioned this a few weeks back.

I'd play a 3-5-3 base.

Warren, Wilfork, Green on the line.
Vrabel, Bruschi, Thomas, Seau, Colvin at LB.
Samuel, Wilson, Hobbs in the secondary.

Thomas takes Gates all day. The other 4 LB stop Tomlinson. We take our chances with their average WR with S,W,H.

Of course another DB comes in on passing downs, etc, but in standard 2 WR sets that's what I'd do.

I like it. I agree that we need to take away Gates on third down. The guy was open all day on third down against the Bears. Someone needs to shadow him. LT is a great back and we need to keep him inside (and watch the damn halfback pass).

We need to make Rivers beat us. I agree that he is a good QB, but not so sure he can beat us himself especially since his best receiver is a tight end.

 

[TomBrady'sGoat]

I don't like having to defend both Gates and Tomlinson. Of the two Tomlinson is much more dangerous, as he will get the ball a lot more and doesn't require Rivers to get him the ball. He's also more dangerous in the open field. Stopping Tomlinson should be the #1 goal.

This is the game where Adalius Thomas's impact will be seen. He is NE's best chance to keep up with and bring down Tomlinson. I expect to see him shadowing Tomlinson on some plays, and making a difference in pursuit on others.

The best thing NE can do defensively is to get SD to pass more, by either limiting the effectiveness of running or by getting out to an early lead.

NE needs to make SD earn each score. No big plays, like the Tomlinson catch-and-run in the playoffs last year. Hold them to FGs instead of TDs.

On offense, tire out those pass rushers. Throw screens and short passes so the rushers don't have time to get to Brady. It worked pretty well last year. Use their aggressiveness against them whenever possible.

 

[BelichickFan]

NE needs to make SD earn each score. No big plays, like the Tomlinson catch-and-run in the playoffs last year.

Very true, if you look at Football Outsiders' rankings from last year - while Tomlinson is ranked as the #1 RB he was only 13th on "successful runs" which means he was just a little above average on the median runs but the big plays move him way up. He has a lot of mediocre, nothing runs in there too. Stop the big plays - which is easier said than done - and he's just above average.

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/rb.php

 

[1BoltFan Here4Fun]

As the Pats formulate their game plan for Sunday, what are you expecting:

BB loves to screen teams who have pass rushers that get up the field. Look for a little more Faulk this Sunday.

Do not allow Tomlinson free release off of the line.

Same thing for Gates. 3rd down he is an absolute killer and must be accounted for. I know AD will help, but the bears have excellent linebackers and he was wide open numerous times

Put the game in rivers hands. Norv can't help slinging the ball around. Rivers is a good QB but prone to make the big mistake.

Get off the field on 3rd Down!!

All correct except for the bolded quote. Rivers greatest strength is in taking the sack or throwing the ball away. He may struggle, but he's not prone to a lot of turnovers.

Not sure if you saw the Bear game last week, but Norv stuck with his game plan of running the ball in spite of LT's 1 yard per carry average. Last year, Marty and Cam all but handed the Pats the win by failing to give LT the ball in the second half. He was averaging 6 yards per carry in the first half and touched the ball 7 times in the second.

Now, based on those two concepts, why in the world would Norv choose to throw rather than run? Fuggetaboutit. Get ready for smashmouth football.

As for running screens on offense, this may work AFTER you establish a ground game or the ability to protect Brady so he can get down field. The Chargers are coming after Brady - hard. They'll be looking for screens... Your offensive line looked REALLY good protecting Brady. The question is: are they super great, or do the Jets suck that bad?

 

[letekro]

I mentioned this a few weeks back.

I'd play a 3-5-3 base.

Warren, Wilfork, Green on the line.
Vrabel, Bruschi, Thomas, Seau, Colvin at LB.
Samuel, Wilson, Hobbs in the secondary.

Thomas takes Gates all day. The other 4 LB stop Tomlinson. We take our chances with their average WR with S,W,H.

Of course another DB comes in on passing downs, etc, but in standard 2 WR sets that's what I'd do.

Enough with this, AD cannot cover Gates one-on-one. He may be called on to impede his release, but he will hopefully always have safety help.

 

[BelichickFan]

Enough with this, AD cannot cover Gates one-on-one. He may be called on to impede his release, but he will hopefully always have safety help.

Obviously saying "put Thomas on Gates" is overly simplistic - but I expect Thomas to be the guy with the most of his job to be Gates just as I expect him to largely take Clark when we play Indy.

 

[TomBrady'sGoat]

All correct except for the bolded quote. Rivers greatest strength is in taking the sack or throwing the ball away. He may struggle, but he's not prone to a lot of turnovers.

Not sure if you saw the Bear game last week, but Norv stuck with his game plan of running the ball in spite of LT's 1 yard per carry average. Last year, Marty and Cam all but handed the Pats the win by failing to give LT the ball in the second half. He was averaging 6 yards per carry in the first half and touched the ball 7 times in the second.

Now, based on those two concepts, why in the world would Norv choose to throw rather than run? Fuggetaboutit. Get ready for smashmouth football.

As for running screens on offense, this may work AFTER you establish a ground game or the ability to protect Brady so he can get down field. The Chargers are coming after Brady - hard. They'll be looking for screens... Your offensive line looked REALLY good protecting Brady. The question is: are they super great, or do the Jets suck that bad?

We'll see when it comes to Norm. NE wants to get SD passing, and we hope Norm complies. I'll agree that he can't do any worse than last year when Marty/Cam/whoever forgot they had the best RB in football.

Your comment on screens, though, makes no sense. If you're going after Brady hard then you're susceptible to screens. If you're looking for screens you aren't going after Brady hard. Thats pretty much the point of calling screens.

 

[jct]

I agree with most of what has been posted:
SD should be respected for a strong run defense, and has 2 superlative offensive weapons in LT and Gates.
AD and Samuel need to show up as All Pros this week.
They are definately in the top 3 teams in the league talentwise.
Personally I believe we go 15-1 then 18-1 this year; meaning we will probably drop 1 game to SD or Colts. They deserve that respect. On the other hand we are home, this is the best team we have ever fielded...we have no excuse but execution to loose this game.
Morally Merriman for taking Steroids is far far worse than rodney+tapegate IMO.
I expect us to win by 1 but would not be surprised to see us win by 14.

 

[PatsDeb]

All correct except for the bolded quote. Rivers greatest strength is in taking the sack or throwing the ball away. He may struggle, but he's not prone to a lot of turnovers.

Not sure if you saw the Bear game last week, but Norv stuck with his game plan of running the ball in spite of LT's 1 yard per carry average. Last year, Marty and Cam all but handed the Pats the win by failing to give LT the ball in the second half. He was averaging 6 yards per carry in the first half and touched the ball 7 times in the second.

Now, based on those two concepts, why in the world would Norv choose to throw rather than run? Fuggetaboutit. Get ready for smashmouth football.

As for running screens on offense, this may work AFTER you establish a ground game or the ability to protect Brady so he can get down field. The Chargers are coming after Brady - hard. They'll be looking for screens... Your offensive line looked REALLY good protecting Brady. The question is: are they super great, or do the Jets suck that bad?

Agreed that they will stick with the run early on. I thought the Pats might assign AD to shadow LT rather than Gates. I am a little worried with the old timers (Tedi & Junior) being assigned to catch him. If there is one knock on those two it's that their game has slowed (not their effort). What about putting AD on LT and Samuel or Hobbs on Gates, with whomever's left to handle everyone else? It took the Chargers a long time to get going against Chicago. If Chicago had any offense, they would have won that game easily.

On our side I think (as others have said) we need to fire up the Kevin Faulk screen play in a big way, but what about going deep early on? Send Moss & Stallworth & throw to Stallworth all day instead of Moss. Then once they back off, get LoMo and Morris going to keep them off Brady.

We really have so many weapons, it'll be interesting to see how we use them & if we can be as successful as we were with the Jets.

 

[1BoltFan Here4Fun]

Agreed that they will stick with the run early on. I thought the Pats might assign AD to shadow LT rather than Gates. I am a little worried with the old timers (Tedi & Junior) being assigned to catch him. If there is one knock on those two it's that their game has slowed (not their effort). What about putting AD on LT and Samuel or Hobbs on Gates, with whomever's left to handle everyone else? It took the Chargers a long time to get going against Chicago. If Chicago had any offense, they would have won that game easily.

On our side I think (as others have said) we need to fire up the Kevin Faulk screen play in a big way, but what about going deep early on? Send Moss & Stallworth & throw to Stallworth all day instead of Moss. Then once they back off, get LoMo and Morris going to keep them off Brady.

We really have so many weapons, it'll be interesting to see how we use them & if we can be as successful as we were with the Jets.

I was going nuts watching the game against the Bears. A long time to get going?... they never did! The Bears D was just plain WOW. It seemed that the funky punt turnover and then LT's TD pass just popped their balloon. Two things determined that game - turnovers and Scifers 5 second hang time punts. Devon Hester took fair catches every time the ball flew to him. Hester was an emotional lighting rod for them. He was doused.

This game should be a lot different. The Pats **should** have a better running game than the Bears (lets not forget though, last year the Bears fielded the 2nd best scoring average in the league). Benson isn't as good as either of your running backs. Grossman and Brady shouldn't be used in the same sentence unless you are defining polar opposites. I expect both teams to do some scoring.

The Pats will have to exploit the soft middle of the Chargers D or get Brady some time for Moss and Stallworth to get open deep on the corners. I expect some big play scoring out of NE. The Chargers will have to harass Brady all day long if they hope to be in this game.

The key to winning: Time of possession. If the Chargers can sustain drives, they can win. Keep the Pats offense on the sidelines. Can they?

 

[1BoltFan Here4Fun]

We'll see when it comes to Norv....Your comment on screens, though, makes no sense. If you're going after Brady hard then you're susceptible to screens. If you're looking for screens you aren't going after Brady hard. Thats pretty much the point of calling screens.

If they rush 6 guys and ignore the FB and/or TB, yes a screen would beat em.
If you're looking for a release by a couple of linemen and the RB, it can be defended - blitz or not. I was amazed by Norv Turners failure to bust out some screens against the Bears over-pursuing defense, but then again, screens don't work all that well against a really fast group of LB's.

 

[PatsDeb]

The key to winning: Time of possession. If the Chargers can sustain drives, they can win. Keep the Pats offense on the sidelines. Can they?

Ha - this is what I think the Pats key to winning is - Keep LT on the sidelines. Get up by some points, hope the D can hold for a while, then run to keep LT cooling his jets (definitely no pun intended) on the sideline.

 

[denverpatsfan]

Gates is why the Pats picked up AD. Look at Gate's stats. when facing the Ravens the last couple seasons. Ad is probably the only player in the league who can match-up half decently against him.

 

[tssd888]

Personally I believe we go 15-1 then 18-1 this year; meaning we will probably drop 1 game to SD or Colts. They deserve that respect.

woah, don't go overboard on giving other teams in the league respect!! . If you truly believe you are going 19-0 this year than just say it:rocker:

I can't wait for this game for so many reasons just like you guys. For our sake, I hope we continue to run LT. NE has not yet shown they can stop him in previous matchups and it's still a mystery why we barely used him 2nd half of last years playoff game.

 

[Grizzafted]

It all comes down to first half execution. If the Patriots get the kickoff, march 75 yards down the field and score the first touchdown, if AD can limit Gates, and the rest of the squad keeps LT in check, we'll get an early lead and win handily.

Oh man is it sunday yet is it sunday yet is it sunday yet ist alsdsundayladuytla.d.adf.

I expect to see a lot of 4 and 5 WR sets. Welker is going to earn his pay in this one, and Watson needs to have a big, big game. Their secondary is where they are weak. I think you focus on 15-25 yard out patterns with Moss/Stallworth and work Welker underneath. The pass rush is going to be much better than the Jets' was.

It's going to be a very, very tough game.