"How to stop the Patriots"

[SVN]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/jim_trotter/10/11/pats.cowboys/index.html

 

[Nordy]

How can the Dallas staff be "experienced against the New England attack"? This NE offense has only been together for 5 games and is different than any Patriots offense they've faced before.

 

[TeamPats]

Pretty good article. It's not so much about how to stop the Pats as much as how Brady runs the offense. There is some Phillips and Stewart ballwashing, but overall good article.

 

[SeymoreButts]

This guy is on drugs! He did not even touch on the running game that is averaging 150yrds a game.

 

[Stop Being A Jerk]

Great article, I wish all of them were that interesting. Thanks for the link.

 

[teamplay]

I thought this was a great article...very candid comments from the Dallas DC. As clear a description of the Pats offensive approach as I've read in quite awhile.

 

[aluminum seats]

It's really not a bad piece, but I don't know how seriously you can take an article that includes the following:

"New England did not have newcomers Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Donte Stallworth and Sammy Morris at that time, but....."

Yeah, besides those guys, the offense is really pretty much the same. Heh.

 

[cstjohn17]

I like the article a lot, it kind of shows how incestuous the NFL really is. Most staffs have hooks or experience with almost every other club.

Good read, thanks.

 

[FrontSeven]

This guy is on drugs! He did not even touch on the running game that is averaging 150yrds a game.

That's just a flesh wound!

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

This is a fine article for understanding one mans opinion on the Pats philosophy on offense but I'm not so sure one can say for certain that knowing a teams philosophy means you know how to stop them!

For accuracy sake, I think the article should be renamed "How to understand the Patriots philosophy on offense" instead of "How to stop the Patriots"

 

[FrontSeven]

They certainly seem to "get it" with regard to how the Patriots prepare, and what they'll have to do to counter. The problem with the "take away Moss and the running game" approach is that it leaves too much pressure to stop Welker, Stallworth and Watson, to say nothing of Faulk. Faulk can change a game. How many times have we seen Faulk simply dominate an entire drive? If the Pats are doing their homeword (har) they simply will move on other guys.

Even Gaffney or Kelley Washington can become featured, and we know that Gaffney can catch up to 10 balls in a big game. So it's going to be interesting to see the chess match unfold.

My guess is that Welker and Watson rule the day.

 

[cstjohn17]

My guess is that Welker and Watson rule the day.

Get used to this, more teams will do whatever is necessary to stop Moss opening up the middle. Slow death versus fast.

It is interesting, Dallas is committed to stopping the run. If they can it helps their chances, if not Pats win in a rout.

 

[Nordy]

Get used to this, more teams will do whatever is necessary to stop Moss opening up the middle. Slow death versus fast.

It is interesting, Dallas is committed to stopping the run. If they can it helps their chances, if not Pats win in a rout.

They're probably not going to be able to stop they run if they're going to triple team Moss like Phillips indicated. In fact they're not going to be stopping anybody if they triple team Moss. Not even Moss

 

[PlattsFan]

That Brian Stewart *must* be new as a DC. He's way too candid and interesting. His stuff is excellent, some of the best analysis of the Patriots offense and Tom Brady I've seen this year.

In a couple of years, he'll be saying pablum like, "Well, Tom Brady is one of the most talented quarterbacks out there, so you just do what you can do to slow him down. We'll try to execute our gameplan and try to take away what he does best, but I'm sure he'll have a few wrinkles for us. Next question."

What he says in this article, though, is an excellent response to the folks who think the spying has anything to do with what the Patriots do on offense. As Stewart says:

Say they've got two tight ends in the game, but they've got one of them [split] so it looks like a receiver in slot on one side and a tight end in slot on the other side, so two-by-two. All they do is get in that formation and look at every single tape you have and what you do against that formation, then they play the percentages to beat what you like to do against that formation.

"That's what they do the best job of," Stewart continued. "What that does is, it wears on your defense because the defensive players line up and then [the Patriots] say, 'OK, it's a zone blitz coming this way.' Our players come back to the sideline and say, 'They know what it is.' We have to tell them not to get shook up because they know what we're doing.

I wish every coordinator talked like that. Interesting stuff.

 

[godef]

Useless article. The title itself is a misnomer... it doesn't talk about how to stop the Pats, it just explains that if anyone ought to know how to do it, it would be the Cowboy coaches.

And what they seem to fail to recognize is that, while they have experience coaching against the Patriots or coaching against Randy Moss, they don't have the experience of coaching against them together. The whole point of the Pats seeming success this season has been the marriage of the Pats and Moss.

 

[patchick]

That's just a flesh wound!

 

[Oswlek]

The funny thing is that stopping the Patriots is really quite simple. All you need is the ability to get significant pressure on Brady while rushing only 4, as well as being sble to consistently stop the run while never allocating more than 7 guiys to do so. As long as you can do this, you have the ability to play man under with two deep safeties.

The problem is that you need very good personel to do this and still stop NE because a weak link in coverage at CB, S or LB can be exposed by NE using their spread offense. Then if you counter by switching it up to dime, they will hurry it up to keep those guys on the field and run it a couple times.

It isn't about the system, it's about the players. A basic 2 deep man under with just 4 rushers will be fine as long as the players are good.

 

[patchick]

Useless article. The title itself is a misnomer... it doesn't talk about how to stop the Pats, it just explains that if anyone ought to know how to do it, it would be the Cowboy coaches.

And what they seem to fail to recognize is that, while they have experience coaching against the Patriots or coaching against Randy Moss, they don't have the experience of coaching against them together. The whole point of the Pats seeming success this season has been the marriage of the Pats and Moss.

I really disagree godef. To me the meat of the article isn't any particular strategy or any particular players (except Brady). It's the experience of playing the Patriots, the kind of preparation they do, the way they exploit your defensive sets:

"They essentially say that, in this formation the defense is either going to play man or straight zone, and I'm going to see it right away I've got them spread out. If you pressure, I'm going to see it because it's a spread formation. They do a good job with that. They just study what you do and your tendencies. So he knows and he can anticipate."

And their DC was bizarrely candid, which makes for interesting reading. IMO the only real problem with the article was the eye-catching but misleading headline somebody slapped on after the fact. Erase the headline in your mind and the article is definitely worthwhile.

 

[psychoPat]

First,
That interview is pure disinformation. Deception.
Would any DC disclose his game plan days before playing you?

"....The two things we're going to be committed to is the run and not letting Moss be a vertical threat."


Second,
What they WILL try ... whatever it is ... won't work.
The Cowboys defenders are not yet comfortable in their roles and assignments.
They'll be subject to in-game analysis paralysis.

Even Stewart admits there still is room for improvement because the players are learning a new scheme with new responsibilities.

"I think they're doing a good job grasping it, but there's still a learning curve," he said. "A lot of times they go back to, 'I'm supposed to stay in this gap.' Well, wait a minute; the ball's going right and your gap is the other way. You better run to the ball. We're a 'see ball, get ball' defense, and some of them don't know when to abandon their responsibilities and go to the ball. ....
"You're looking at four years of doing it one way and three or four months, including the training camp and OTAs, of doing it another way. When they get worried, they revert back...."

 

[Mike the Brit]

An excellent and extremely interesting article, but aren't you happy that the Patriots' coaches aren't so candid?