Kirwin and Miller on Pats/Ravens

Pat Kirwin and Jim Miller (Sirius NFL radio) just talked a bit about the Pats offense versus the Ravens. Nothing really shocking, but one suggestion that will get this forum going:

a) Don't ask the o-line to hold blocks. Spread 'em out and have Brady's mental shot clock set to FAST. Get rid of it. Short crossers to Edelman and Gronk.

b) Ravens will play two-deep safety to mask their secondary weakness. Run the ball more than you think you should or you think you can.

c) Dumerville is weak against the run. Don't be afraid to audible to the draw play run on 3rd and 4 with a two deep safety look.

d) Steelers were dead when they couldn't run. The Pats can and should give the Ravens more of a threat of the run.

hwc said:

Pat Kirwin and Jim Miller (Sirius NFL radio) just talked a bit about the Pats offense versus the Ravens. Nothing really shocking, but one suggestion that will get this forum going:

a) Don't ask the o-line to hold blocks. Spread 'em out and have Brady's mental shot clock set to FAST. Get rid of it. Short crossers to Edelman and Gronk.

b) Ravens will play two-deep safety to mask their secondary weakness. Run the ball more than you think you should or you think you can.

c) Dumerville is weak against the run. Don't be afraid to audible to the draw play run on 3rd and 4 with a two deep safety look.

d) Steelers were dead when they couldn't run. The Pats can and should give the Ravens more of a threat of the run.

Click to expand...

Sounds like a good plan

hwc said:

Pat Kirwin and Jim Miller (Sirius NFL radio) just talked a bit about the Pats offense versus the Ravens. Nothing really shocking, but one suggestion that will get this forum going:

a) Don't ask the o-line to hold blocks. Spread 'em out and have Brady's mental shot clock set to FAST. Get rid of it. Short crossers to Edelman and Gronk.

b) Ravens will play two-deep safety to mask their secondary weakness. Run the ball more than you think you should or you think you can.

c) Dumerville is weak against the run. Don't be afraid to audible to the draw play run on 3rd and 4 with a two deep safety look.

d) Steelers were dead when they couldn't run. The Pats can and should give the Ravens more of a threat of the run.

Click to expand...

Blount is really going to have to step up and gave a big day, ala end of the last regular season. This would give us an upper hand and as an ancillary benefit poss off the Steele fans for letting him go...

One thing I love seeing our team do is run the ball successfully.

When we have balance, lets be honest, we are gonna be real difficult to beat.

I would love to see that run game come alive Saturday, or at the very least have them make some business decisions in the 4th they don't want to make.

We need that run game...

Enjoy listening to these guys. Very astute and both with Patriot connections.

I didn't get the sense that Kirwin thinks the Pats can run the ball down the Ravens throat or that it can be run/run/run game plan. Just that the Pats have run more than the Steelers just so the threat of the run is there. I think he was proposing a quick release passing game as an acknowledgement that the Ravens simply won't allow Brady to stand in the pocket and pat the ball. Could be time for the hurry-up?

The Steelers were dead the moment it was clear to the Ravens that they had thrown away the running chapters in the playbook and were going to drop back and throw on every play. Thinking out loud, it seems that the Pats absolutely, positively cannot get behind. They can't FUBAR their early drives with dropped passes, holding penalties, or failing to convert 2nd and 2 with a couple of running plays.

The Pats quick passing game is vulnerable to teams with a pass rush who can play man coverage and bump the receivers at the line. I'm not sure the Ravens can afford to be that aggressive with the pass coverage. Ed Reed is not walking through the tunnel to play center field.

I like it.. plus it sets up play-action which, I'd love to see in this game.

I guess the dreaded screen play against the rush is off the table?

hwc said:

I didn't get the sense that Kirwin thinks the Pats can run the ball down the Ravens throat or that it can be run/run/run game plan. Just that the Pats have run more than the Steelers just so the threat of the run is there. I think he was proposing a quick release passing game as an acknowledgement that the Ravens simply won't allow Brady to stand in the pocket and pat the ball. Could be time for the hurry-up?
.

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Based on Bruschi's recent insight, I don't think so.

here is that particular insight (thanks to SVN for posting the link)

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/boston/chat/_/id/51496

"..One thing I want to address is tempo. Sometimes in that hurry-up tempo, the Patriots will use one word, or a series of short phrases, to get their offense lined up quickly to keep the defense off balance. The Baltimore Ravens know how to deal with this tempo. I've been coached by Bill Belichick in dealing with this tempo, and a coach that helped me in that area was Dean Pees, now the Ravens defensive coordinator. So this Ravens defense will be ready for that. They will have their own short phrases or single words that can line up an entire defense. Ever since training camp, playing defense against good tempo is covered by good coaches -- like Belichick, Pees, Patricia. For example, the color white. If you hear that, it's a primary color, and primary colors can mean even fronts. The color white can mean man or zone based on how you want to interpret it. So if a linebacker communicates "white" to a front, it can easily mean "even front, man coverage in the back." So instead of having to say "even! even!" to the front, making line calls -- you have one color and everyone knows what they are doing. Another key thing is this: When you know they're in hurry-up, you don't match in coverage; you play sides, left and right. These nuances are things Dean Pees knows. I remember hurry-up run plays against Baltimore that were stopped in the past matchups. What I'm saying is that they will be ready for tempo."

I think Vereen will play a greater role than he has recently , hanging back to pkck up pass rush then released as outlet. Shades of Kevin Falk

NYCPatsFan said:

What I'm saying is that they will be ready for tempo."

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This doesn't make much sense to me. Sure, they'll be ready, any well coached team would be. But what about the other advantages of increasing the tempo - keeping the desired personnel on the field, tiring guys out more rapidly, having simpler reads in the secondary?

The fact that they won't go all Denver in 2012 doesn't mean there aren't other reasons. I came away from the Pitt game thinking that not doing so was a major mistake on their part.

hwc said:

c) Dumerville is weak against the run. Don't be afraid to audible to the draw play run on 3rd and 4 with a two deep safety look.

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I don't think McDaniels will ever be afraid to use this one...

Could be a big game for LaFell/Amendola/Wright, on the theory that suppressing the run game/Gronk/Edelman is all Baltimore can likely achieve. I'm thinking Amendola in particular.

Whatever they do, they have to gameplan to protect Brady from a pass rush mismatch. Gotta call plays that get the ball out of Brady's hand immediately. He'll get killed if they call statuesque Drew Bledsoe plays waiting for guys to get open 40 yards downfield. Pass protection is a weakness for the Pats against the strength of the Baltimore offense. Gotta scheme to mask the liability.

RxJock1120 said:

Blount is really going to have to step up and gave a big day, ala end of the last regular season. This would give us an upper hand and as an ancillary benefit poss off the Steele fans for letting him go...

Click to expand...

Actually, in 2013, Blount ran well against the Ravens. In the first half and at the end of the game.

NYCPatsFan said:

Based on Bruschi's recent insight, I don't think so.

here is that particular insight (thanks to SVN for posting the link)

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/boston/chat/_/id/51496

"..One thing I want to address is tempo. Sometimes in that hurry-up tempo, the Patriots will use one word, or a series of short phrases, to get their offense lined up quickly to keep the defense off balance. The Baltimore Ravens know how to deal with this tempo. I've been coached by Bill Belichick in dealing with this tempo, and a coach that helped me in that area was Dean Pees, now the Ravens defensive coordinator. So this Ravens defense will be ready for that. They will have their own short phrases or single words that can line up an entire defense. Ever since training camp, playing defense against good tempo is covered by good coaches -- like Belichick, Pees, Patricia. For example, the color white. If you hear that, it's a primary color, and primary colors can mean even fronts. The color white can mean man or zone based on how you want to interpret it. So if a linebacker communicates "white" to a front, it can easily mean "even front, man coverage in the back." So instead of having to say "even! even!" to the front, making line calls -- you have one color and everyone knows what they are doing. Another key thing is this: When you know they're in hurry-up, you don't match in coverage; you play sides, left and right. These nuances are things Dean Pees knows. I remember hurry-up run plays against Baltimore that were stopped in the past matchups. What I'm saying is that they will be ready for tempo."

Click to expand...

White's not a primary color, Tedy.

bogengames said:

I think Vereen will play a greater role than he has recently , hanging back to pkck up pass rush then released as outlet. Shades of Kevin Falk

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If they are getting to Brady..only thing to slow that down is quick passes so yes i expect some vereen in if pats having problems on OLine

The thing with the short passes is that, in the playoffs, Brady tends to drill it in there and if the receiver can't control it, it bounces up and makes for an easy interception.

mosi said:

The thing with the short passes is that Brady tends to drill it in there and if the receiver can't control it, it bounces up and makes for an easy interception.

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Hmmm. He's been doing it forever and has close to the least interceptions per completion around.

RayClay said:

Hmmm. He's been doing it forever and has close to the least interceptions per completion around.

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Sorry, I should have said in the playoffs. Watching the 2011 AFGC game have seen Brady play rushed and nervous in the beginning. The first pick (that was called back) was a short pass to Welker that popped into the air and was picked. Watching that game, Brady missed lots of throws. Also noticed that Welker did not play well (1st half).