Curran: Pats' reliance on the run may not be a good thing

IllegalContact · Jan 12, 2014

If you can generate 6 tds running the ball, you run the ball

Even dierdorf is smarter than curran .... If you can run the ball, the play action is killer

letekro · Jan 12, 2014

RIpats88 said:
all I can say is. watch the dolphins game. they have a better defense than the bronco's imo and brady moved the ball at will against them throwing to collie, amendola and edelman basically every play.

where they came up short was the redzone because they didnt establish the run.

brady can dink and dunk all his way up and down the field, but we need to punch it in with ridley/blount.

this would be a nice game for Dobson if he can play

The smurfs can't get open in the red zone because the field shrinks and Dbacks can be more aggressive. The concern is that if DEN (or anybody) plays them tight without concern for being beaten over the top, they won't be able to get open in the rest of the field either (like what happened at times in the colts game). Their best bet--as Curran points out--is to try to run the ball and use playaction to get the receivers open.

cmasspatsfan · Jan 12, 2014

I was led to believe out reliance on Brady was a bad thing and we needed a running game to take some pressure off Brady, now that we have a running game it's not good?

mosi · Jan 12, 2014

IllegalContact said:
If you can generate 6 tds running the ball, you run the ball

Even dierdorf is smarter than curran .... If you can run the ball, the play action is killer

Damn right. The best thing the Pats can do is run the ball and set up the play action pass. This is going to be a great game.

The one thing they can not do is turnover the ball like last time.

Regardless of who wins, the super-bowl will be a class of cultures - old style QB against new style QB.

VrabelJr · Jan 12, 2014

letekro said:
The smurfs can't get open in the red zone because the field shrinks and Dbacks can be more aggressive. The concern is that if DEN (or anybody) plays them tight without concern for being beaten over the top, they won't be able to get open in the rest of the field either (like what happened at times in the colts game). Their best bet--as Curran points out--is to try to run the ball and use playaction to get the receivers open.

I think having Dobson healthy is going to be key for this reason. I also expect Shane Vereen to have the biggest game out of our RBs for the fact that Denver's CBs will be hugging our smaller WRs and leaving open potential runs on the outside. But I'm less intrigued with our chessmatch between our offense and Denver's D. As always, this game comes down to our Defense versus Peyton Manning and his all-star cast of WRs and Julius Thomas.

SVN · Jan 12, 2014

Bobsyouruncle said:
His observation isn't that they are relying on the run game because the run game is good. He's saying they can't pass so they went to the run game, backs that up with an incorrect interpretation of statistics. And KT played, none of those guys are true deep threats because none can catch a deep ball more than 1 in 10 times.

The offensive weapons are average, if the run game was average that would be bad. But the spin saying that a good ground game is a bad thing is stupid analysis.

the headline maybe misleading but his summary is that teams if they shut down the pats running game could cause pats trouble in the passing and as absurd as it sounds thats wht they will do -ask the pats to throw. Maybe you see the -veity , I dont.
Reiss puts it best today along the same lines.

Quick take: Patriots at Broncos - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

Blount played just two offensive snaps against the Broncos on Nov. 24, in part because the Patriots fell behind 17-0 in the first quarter and became more one-dimensional toward the pass. From an instant analysis perspective, this is the key for the Patriots this week. If they can play the game on their terms and get Blount going, I think they have matchup advantages against a suspect defense that could be exploited and ultimately result in a win. If they are forced into a spread game like they were Nov. 24, the chances of victory decrease significantly.

Pats are not even the same offense from nov 24 without gronk and KT and dobson.

Silver Blue&Red · Jan 12, 2014

I aint fraid' of no stinkin' mule. SD played like donkey 5h!t. This game is an equal matchup. I don't get all of the negative. This game is no harder than any other game they've played. BB will out fox the Fox.

. Finesse and Blount force!

SVN · Jan 12, 2014

cmasspatsfan said:
I was led to believe out reliance on Brady was a bad thing and we needed a running game to take some pressure off Brady, now that we have a running game it's not good?

Its an exaggeration to read the article as 'having a running game is not good' .Being one dimensional is not good. Thats what it says.

letekro · Jan 12, 2014

VrabelJr said:
I think having Dobson healthy is going to be key for this reason. I also expect Shane Vereen to have the biggest game out of our RBs for the fact that Denver's CBs will be hugging our smaller WRs and leaving open potential runs on the outside. But I'm less intrigued with our chessmatch between our offense and Denver's D. As always, this game comes down to our Defense versus Peyton Manning and his all-star cast of WRs and Julius Thomas.

Agreed that our D will dictate the game, good or bad. Don't see Dobson coming back this week in any state to be effective.

SVN · Jan 12, 2014

IllegalContact said:
If you can generate 6 tds running the ball, you run the ball

Even dierdorf is smarter than curran .... If you can run the ball, the play action is killer

And if you cant run the ball and other team stops you from running just like colts did in the middel of the game , you have to throw the ball. It works if you had success running the ball but if you cant run the ball for 2 series and end up in a hole our passing game is not the same. There is nothing wrong with the observation.

cmasspatsfan · Jan 12, 2014

SVN said:
Its an exaggeration to read the article as 'having a running game is not good' .Being one dimensional is not good. Thats what it says.

I know I was half being a smart *****, if the Donks concentrate on shutting down the running game I'll take my chances with Brady whoever the receivers are that he's throwing to,

mgteich · Jan 12, 2014

Amedola, Edelman, Vereen and Collie could score more than Manning's group, or not.

cmasspatsfan said:
I know I was half being a smart *****, if the Donks concentrate on shutting down the running game I'll take my chances with Brady whoever the receivers are that he's throwing to,

IllegalContact · Jan 12, 2014

SVN said:
And if you cant run the ball and other team stops you from running just like colts did in the middel of the game , you have to throw the ball. It works if you had success running the ball but if you cant run the ball for 2 series and end up in a hole our passing game is not the same. There is nothing wrong with the observation.

the colts didn't stop the running game. they made exactly 2 run plays that stopped drives.......one on the muffed punt drive and one in the last minute of the 2nd quarter

the pats had a bigger problem throwing the ball on 3rd and short, but when they stayed with the run, the colts didn't stop it

denverpatsfan · Jan 12, 2014

WTF else are the Pats going to do?? No Gronk, No Dobson, No KT no big WR to speak of. Run the damn ball!! If they stop it we lose. If not we have a chance at the upset!

tmajr3 · Jan 12, 2014

Gonna have to run the ball to win the big game anyway. No way we'll pass on the SEA secondary (if we get there, no jinx). But we can tire out Knighton and their DLine then open up the play action when their secondary sucks in to the LOS

Uncle Rico · Jan 12, 2014

Would be kind of cool if all these injuries and turnover and whatever forced the Pats to rediscover an offensive strategy that wins championships.

RayClay · Jan 12, 2014

coolguy said:
Or they could switch it up and have brady throw it 40 times and 4 tds...If the broncos base their gameplan on stopping blount first they would be screwed.

That's the good thing about having seriously dominated with the run recently. It's reported that Blount and our line, TEs and FB and Ridley, gained over 200 despite the Colts playing 8 in the box a lot. It's simple math, you can get receivers open, especially with play action.

As far as the red zone, pound it! Running game is like a muscle, stronger the more you work it.

Of course, this isn't the wishbone offense, they will pass when the pass is there and safe.

Ring 6 · Jan 12, 2014

The article has a weak premise. They ran because they ran successfully not because they had no choice.
This is the patriots. You game plan, you take what the defense gives you.
But mostly you end up run heavy when you play from ahead and pass heavy when you play from behind.
It was interesting how he listed the key pass plays during his description if why the pats couldn't succeed by passing.
Weak effort by curran.

letekro · Jan 12, 2014

AndyJohnson said:
The article has a weak premise. They ran because they ran successfully not because they had no choice.
This is the patriots. You game plan, you take what the defense gives you.
But mostly you end up run heavy when you play from ahead and pass heavy when you play from behind.
It was interesting how he listed the key pass plays during his description if why the pats couldn't succeed by passing.
Weak effort by curran.

Pats only successes in the passing game against the colts came on playaction. Point of the article, which you missed, is that if the running game is stopped, there is concern that the smurfs will not be able to get it done against man coverage without the subterfuge of playaction, which relies on a successful running game. That really shouldn't be controversial, especially given the performance of the passing game since Gronk went down this year or the performance of the passing game in general in the playoffs the last two years without Gronk.

Ring 6 · Jan 12, 2014

letekro said:
Pats only successes in the passing game against the colts came on playaction. Point of the article, which you missed, is that if the running game is stopped, there is concern that the smurfs will not be able to get it done against man coverage without the subterfuge of playaction, which relies on a successful running game. That really shouldn't be controversial, especially given the performance of the passing game since Gronk went down this year or the performance of the passing game in general in the playoffs the last two years without Gronk.

Not true that the only success was play action.
The article is weak. Saying running for 200+ yards is bad because the pass plays you didn't make because you were running it down their throats are proof you wouldn't have.
We threw for 200 yards on 25 attempts. We scored 6 Tds.

Curran: Pats' reliance on the run may not be a good thing

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