Did BB play "mad scientist" in his long off-season?
 

Something just occurred to me in connection with all this evidence of defensive scheme change:

Due to the labor situation, this has been BB's longest offseason by FAR. What I mean by that is that he has gone from early January to the start of August with no practices or OTAs, no need to put a playbook in anybody's hands, and generally with no commitment to prior schemes except what's inherent in the personnel (including in their previous training).

That's VASTLY longer than he's had any other year.

So if he ever was going to cook up a significant scheme change, this year was a natural time to do it.

Re: Did BB play "mad scientist" in his long off-season?
 

I like this point. I bet he spend an inordinate amount of time in the filmroom, self-scouting. Which bodes well for this upcoming season :rocker:

Re: Did BB play "mad scientist" in his long off-season?
 

maybe BB was just getting bored.

Re: Did BB play "mad scientist" in his long off-season?
 

He is always a mad scientist

Re: Did BB play "mad scientist" in his long off-season?
 

I suspect he had this figured out before the draft. The scheme change is for the entire team, not just the defense. The Pats used the draft to become a team that can conistently run with power. Combined with a precise ball control passing game, the Patriots will have long sustained drives that run lots of time off teh clock. A bend-don't-break defense would often give opposing defenses time to rest, so that is what BB is getting away from. The Pats are converting to a defense that is designed to get off the field quickly to keep opposing defenses tired.

I think the mad scientist here is Ernie Adams, and he's probably been cooking this up for a while. The Pats have been gathering versatile players that can pull this off for years, and this years draft and trades put the final pieces in place. This team is going to wear down opposing defenses and win the time of possession battle. I am very excited about this total team transformation and can't wait for football to start.

Re: Did BB play "mad scientist" in his long off-season?
 

BB has in the past had teams with ball control offenses and bend-not-break defenses, and they usually won Q4/overtime, in part clearly due to better conditioning.

I.e., I don't think power offense requires an attacking defense.

Re: Did BB play "mad scientist" in his long off-season?
 

I think BB is being smart and knows he has a young team and most of them know the 43. I can't wait to see Mayo and Spikes in a 43 instead of a 34. I hope they attack more.

Re: Did BB play "mad scientist" in his long off-season?
 

To critique the argument, the only problem is that there is a very brief window in which he can effect the appropriate changes. A longer offseason is much more preferable in making any major changes, as opposed to altering a defense overnight--especially one in which many resources have been poured into one particular defensive scheme.


Time will tell what the heck is going on.

Re: Did BB play "mad scientist" in his long off-season?
 

An attacking 4-3 is checkers compared to the chess of a read-and-react 2-gap 3-4, and the transition won't be too hard since most players grew up in 4-3s. I don't think the Pats will use just a 4-3. I think shift is more simply away from bend-don't break and that the defense will morph from week to week, depending on the oponent. Regardless of whether I am right or wrong about where the team is going, there is little doubt that the team is going through a significant transformation on both sides of the ball.

Re: Did BB play "mad scientist" in his long off-season?
 

I think BB came to this forum when he was bored and read how we need to attack and change to a 4-3. He also read how we were tired of old rb's so he drafted some and if welker gets traded its because of a certain new thread. lol