I would assume that any successful gameplan against Brady would have to include route disruption or delay, successful chipping off the line, or at least slowing the game down because his release has been becoming quicker and quicker, which would completely negate the effect of any good DL, because it would be quite difficult to get in the backfield in less than 1.85 seconds unless you have a clear path. (Let's hope this doesn't happen!)
http://itiswhatitis.weei.com/sports...-release-leads-to-success-in-win-vs-steelers/
If Ryan truly planned his gameplan "a long time ago," this would mean this is a gameplan that ignores personnel and formations and is predicated on past performances and known factors (such as trying to neutralize Gronk or Edelman). Is this forward thinking? I don't really think so.
As good as Ryan is defense-wise, there are some aspects to his gameplanning that are just rote, and just shows that in some ways he hasn't evolved. Foremost is his tendency to disguise as a 4-3 under, but is in fact a 3-4 nickel or dime, and plays like one by putting the 5 tech in a 3 point stance. His main tendencies are mainly overload blitzing (either side) and his obsession for driving those through the A gaps, and that the further behind he gets, the more he'll dial up blitzes and start throwing the kitchen sink at you.
Conversely, if you are BB, you know that you have to give Ryan something on offense that he hasn't seen before or planned for, before. You also know that Ryan is inevitably going to gravitate to dime coverage in the backfield, something you can beat up on with a multiple TE package.
Conventional wisdom dictates that you play horizontal against an aggressive, blitzing defense and try to force the defense to spread out. But we all know BB isn't a conventional in-the-box thinker, and one of my predictions for this Sunday is that we'll see a great deal of multiple TE packages, but that they will play
vertical. I.e., we'll see TE's run lot of seam routes, go routes, or at the least, routes with long stems. In effect, the TE's become WR's and the WR's become the TE's and stay behind and chip then run intermediate under routes. We know Gronk and Chandler have the speed to run vertical, and Ryan's excess use of the nickel and dime means that either or both will get covered by one or more DB's, especially if they split wide.