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Something so you don't have to listen to that canned stuff that will only aggravate you before the actual game starts.
1. There was a thread that showed a clip from Patriots All Access that did an interview with Tom Brady just before he was to start his first game in the NFL. Amazingly he was EXACTLY the same guy he is now, minus any of the expectations. You can hear the same voice, see the same calm confidence, and the same focus.
But it is hard to think back so long ago. You are 0-2. Pro Football Weekly just did a big feature on the 5 teams LEAST likely to get to the Superbowl in the next 5 years and your team was #1 on that list.....and you just lost your starting QB and only offensive asset.
It is almost impossible to put yourself back into that mindset. But think about it. If you had followed this team from its inception you have had 40 years in which you got to have around just 2 competitive years in each decade, with 8 generally horrible teams. The good news is , that most of the last decade was a bit better than the past with about 5 good teams that decade including a Superbowl run, but now you were coming off a series of 3 competitive but disappointing teams that cost Pete Carroll his job, and another very familiar 5-11 team, and a season in 2001 that COULDN'T have started out any worse.
Who would have thought that 15 years later we will have experienced 10 AFCCG's 6 Superbowls, and 4 Championships and never felt the sting of even an 8-8 season in all that time. From that nadir we have become the most spoiled and entitled fan base in the league. We don't even THINK about the possibility of not making the playoffs. We used to pencil in 10 wins every year. Now it's 12, and most believe that's on the conservative side.
And it all goes back to that interview with Mike Lynch. Who would have thunk?
Tip of the hat to Shmessy for posting the link. It is a must see before this game. But my overriding impression was it was a trip down memory lane that was surprisingly the same as today.
2. The priorities for both teams are pretty clear this game. How are the Pats going to try and stop the Bronco Running game, and how will Wade Phillips try and stop the Pats passing game.
a. I'm not going to pretend to be smart enough to start to bore you with details of nickel and dime alignments and predict personnel match ups. My guess on all of that is just as good as yours, so why bother. Besides they aren't going to do the same thing all the time. However the thing I am looking most forward to is to see his "approach". Common wisdom would expect a lot of tight press coverage on the outside, doubling at a minimum on Gronk, and otherwise trying to clog the area in between the hashes 5-10 yds downfield. He has 2 probowl CB's and a solid nickel back, two big S's, and most importantly 2 better than average coverage LB's in Marshall and Trevethin. So it would seem that Phillips is set up well to try and squeeze Brady.
However against the Steelers, even without Brown, Phillips played a surprising high percentage of zone coverages. The end result was Ben throwing for a lot of yards, but netting few points for his efforts. Zone coverages tend to do well against quick sideline passes and screens. Most importantly they tend to limit the amount of YAC. In zone coverages you don't wind up seeing the disaster of CB's chasing WR's across the field. So I wonder if Phillips will break with the common wisdom and Zone it up more today.
b. A lot has been said about the stats vs the Denver run game WITH Hightower and without him. I wish it were that simple. Not having Collins and High in the game certainly didn't help, but there is more to it. Kubiak's running attack is based on running the stretch play. It is designed to get everyone moving sideways before the RB makes a decisive North/South cut hoping to get a LB to over run the play or a DLman getting cut off from protecting the back side. It is also accompanied by a zone blocking scheme designed to get the DL off their feet with cut blocks (and chop blocks)
Everything in the Kubiak offense comes off this single play. You get all the bootlegs, misdirection reverses and trap plays. It is simple to describe, but a lot more difficult to defend. In Josh's offense anything over 3rd and 2 is a definite pass play, but in the Denver offense, 3rd and 7 could very easily be a run.
So how is Matt going to scheme this up. Saying he'll have "8 in the box" with Chung playing close to the LOS is over simplifying. Here's what to watch for. Is he going to attack the LOS with his DL trying to get penetration of will he 2gap or slant to formation? (pittsburgh did a lot of slanting to good effect) Will he go with 3 safeties a lot in this game.in this game (the "big nickel). How often will he go with a 4-3 over and give the Broncos an odd look. Will he look to stack his LB's behind a DLman to protect them from direct attack.
Lots of possibilities. Clearly stopping the run is paramount to the success of the team. How they will scheme it up will be key. I'm just suggesting these things as something to look for while you watch.
3. INJURIES - The latest I've heard is that on the offensive side things are as good as we can hope for. Volmer and Stork are still dinged, but probably in better shape than last week. Edelman, Gronk, and DA, are probably iin better shape too. Certainly they will be a more cohesive group. The other side....not so much. Jones and Hightower are almost certainly be playing, but for how long remains the open question. Collins is even in worse shape. There is a solid possibility that they won't play him even with the one and done nature of this game. It is much harder to treat for pain and tape for support an oblique tear than say a knee or ankle. Also it's also more likely to get worse with out the full rest of another 2 weeks would bring. So my guess right now is that they are probably hoping that they won't have to use him much this game, and if he does play it will be more situational.
1. There was a thread that showed a clip from Patriots All Access that did an interview with Tom Brady just before he was to start his first game in the NFL. Amazingly he was EXACTLY the same guy he is now, minus any of the expectations. You can hear the same voice, see the same calm confidence, and the same focus.
But it is hard to think back so long ago. You are 0-2. Pro Football Weekly just did a big feature on the 5 teams LEAST likely to get to the Superbowl in the next 5 years and your team was #1 on that list.....and you just lost your starting QB and only offensive asset.
It is almost impossible to put yourself back into that mindset. But think about it. If you had followed this team from its inception you have had 40 years in which you got to have around just 2 competitive years in each decade, with 8 generally horrible teams. The good news is , that most of the last decade was a bit better than the past with about 5 good teams that decade including a Superbowl run, but now you were coming off a series of 3 competitive but disappointing teams that cost Pete Carroll his job, and another very familiar 5-11 team, and a season in 2001 that COULDN'T have started out any worse.
Who would have thought that 15 years later we will have experienced 10 AFCCG's 6 Superbowls, and 4 Championships and never felt the sting of even an 8-8 season in all that time. From that nadir we have become the most spoiled and entitled fan base in the league. We don't even THINK about the possibility of not making the playoffs. We used to pencil in 10 wins every year. Now it's 12, and most believe that's on the conservative side.
And it all goes back to that interview with Mike Lynch. Who would have thunk?
Tip of the hat to Shmessy for posting the link. It is a must see before this game. But my overriding impression was it was a trip down memory lane that was surprisingly the same as today.2. The priorities for both teams are pretty clear this game. How are the Pats going to try and stop the Bronco Running game, and how will Wade Phillips try and stop the Pats passing game.
a. I'm not going to pretend to be smart enough to start to bore you with details of nickel and dime alignments and predict personnel match ups. My guess on all of that is just as good as yours, so why bother. Besides they aren't going to do the same thing all the time. However the thing I am looking most forward to is to see his "approach". Common wisdom would expect a lot of tight press coverage on the outside, doubling at a minimum on Gronk, and otherwise trying to clog the area in between the hashes 5-10 yds downfield. He has 2 probowl CB's and a solid nickel back, two big S's, and most importantly 2 better than average coverage LB's in Marshall and Trevethin. So it would seem that Phillips is set up well to try and squeeze Brady.
However against the Steelers, even without Brown, Phillips played a surprising high percentage of zone coverages. The end result was Ben throwing for a lot of yards, but netting few points for his efforts. Zone coverages tend to do well against quick sideline passes and screens. Most importantly they tend to limit the amount of YAC. In zone coverages you don't wind up seeing the disaster of CB's chasing WR's across the field. So I wonder if Phillips will break with the common wisdom and Zone it up more today.
b. A lot has been said about the stats vs the Denver run game WITH Hightower and without him. I wish it were that simple. Not having Collins and High in the game certainly didn't help, but there is more to it. Kubiak's running attack is based on running the stretch play. It is designed to get everyone moving sideways before the RB makes a decisive North/South cut hoping to get a LB to over run the play or a DLman getting cut off from protecting the back side. It is also accompanied by a zone blocking scheme designed to get the DL off their feet with cut blocks (and chop blocks)
Everything in the Kubiak offense comes off this single play. You get all the bootlegs, misdirection reverses and trap plays. It is simple to describe, but a lot more difficult to defend. In Josh's offense anything over 3rd and 2 is a definite pass play, but in the Denver offense, 3rd and 7 could very easily be a run.
So how is Matt going to scheme this up. Saying he'll have "8 in the box" with Chung playing close to the LOS is over simplifying. Here's what to watch for. Is he going to attack the LOS with his DL trying to get penetration of will he 2gap or slant to formation? (pittsburgh did a lot of slanting to good effect) Will he go with 3 safeties a lot in this game.in this game (the "big nickel). How often will he go with a 4-3 over and give the Broncos an odd look. Will he look to stack his LB's behind a DLman to protect them from direct attack.
Lots of possibilities. Clearly stopping the run is paramount to the success of the team. How they will scheme it up will be key. I'm just suggesting these things as something to look for while you watch.
3. INJURIES - The latest I've heard is that on the offensive side things are as good as we can hope for. Volmer and Stork are still dinged, but probably in better shape than last week. Edelman, Gronk, and DA, are probably iin better shape too. Certainly they will be a more cohesive group. The other side....not so much. Jones and Hightower are almost certainly be playing, but for how long remains the open question. Collins is even in worse shape. There is a solid possibility that they won't play him even with the one and done nature of this game. It is much harder to treat for pain and tape for support an oblique tear than say a knee or ankle. Also it's also more likely to get worse with out the full rest of another 2 weeks would bring. So my guess right now is that they are probably hoping that they won't have to use him much this game, and if he does play it will be more situational.
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