Film Review from the Season Opener--A deeper look at the Patriots 4 Tight End set:

[eom]

http://www.syedschemes.com/ne4te/

 

[50-yard-line]

Seems like this team decided to change dramatically from last year on both sides of the ball.

And they'll still win.

BB is the greatest coach in the history of greatest coaches. He reinvents this team repeatedly and simply wins.

The fact that he has Brady doesn't hurt.

 

[I.M. Fletcher]

This is just a continuation of Bill zigging while the rest of the league zags. I was a huge fan of Mike Williams coming out of Alabama for two very specific reasons; he was the best blocking TE in college, and he had incredibly sure hands. Adding him to what we already had might have looked like redundancy, but I think we are starting to see how the variables in the four TEs could be a huge benefit.

Hooman: Hooman works very well in your traditional two TE packages where you need to be able to sell the possibility of pass, but 90% of the time he will be a very stout blocker.

Chandler: kindve considered a hybrid move TE because of his receiving skills and size. He gets confused as something more than he is as a blocker, similarly to Jimmy Graham. He doesnt have that extra athleticsm, but his catch radius is tremendous for seam, sideline and over the middle tosses.

Williams: he will provide the Pats the opportunity to continue to force teams to adjust to the 6 lineman front. He can stay in full time as a blocker, or release him late for 5 yard ditch offs. His ability to be used as a 3rd (or 4th) TE is magnified by his athleticsm for a Tackle, but also his big catching mits.

Gronk: The one that makes it all possible. This is where no other team can pull off a successful 3 0r 4 TE set. Gronk being as dominant in his blocking as passing keeps every defense honest. In two of those touchdowns, they dont even have their lone secondary defenders on Gronks side. While that isnt great prep by Tomlin (not surprising) gronk can sell out to any run and punish teams for it. The funny thing is, they could just send Gronk out wide, take two defenders with him, and still be able to run with our jumbo package in.


When you have Blount carving up defenses, dont be surprised to see a lot of these jumbo packages come the winter. Teams are going to get their heads knocked in trying to account for the amount of raw beef on our team. So, when every team seems to be loading up more and more with smaller linemen, faster linebackers, more nickle and penny D, Bill is forcing teams to play short handed. We are going back to the 60s, and you dont want to get in to an accident with a 68 mustang when you are driving a Yaris.

 

[IcyPatriot]

NFL hasn't banned the 4-TE set yet?

Next ...........

 

[willard]

We are going back to the 60s, and you dont want to get in to an accident with a 68 mustang when you are driving a Yaris.

That was great

 

[manxman2601]

Link isn't working for me.

 

[Fencer]

Won't load for me right now, but I finally went through the Reddit breakdown linked here a couple of days ago. https://np.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/3kjgtm/quick_gif_breakdown_new_englands_red_zone_4_tight/

I see why Chandler gushed over Gronk; Gronk played a big part in getting him his score.

Chandler also bobbled his reception, but made up for that by having quick feet to tap the end zone even though he'd lost a bit of time securing the ball.

 

[50-yard-line]

We are going back to the 60s, and you dont want to get in to an accident with a 68 mustang when you are driving a Yaris.

Actually, you don't want to be in the Mustang - with a lap belt and no airbag, rigid front structuring and an engine that doesn't rotate and drop.

The Yaris loses the physics (weight) in that tussle, sure, but the Yaris driver walks away a lot more often than does the Mustang driver, and it isn't close.

Coincidientally, I saw a 66 Mustang run a red light and crash into a small minivan a couple of months ago. The minivan driver was shaken up emotionally, the Mustang driver had his face cut up badly, and the Mustang was a mess.

 

[manxman2601]

The 4 man TE set is really just a goal line option but if they could find an athletic TE that could block and a RB equally good running inside or catching passes out of the backfield, then it becomes very interesting. Brady isn't very accurate throwing downfield right now, particularly throwing to smurfs, so the 4 TE with a couple of quicker receiving options would really play to his strengths. It would be tough to take Edelman off the field for any length of time though.

 

[The Gr8est]

So did the Pats acquire Mike Williams AFTER Devlin was injured? Seems like this was in the works for a while.

Also, I was surprised to see Gronk and Chandler in motion simultaneously. If it was illegal there would be a huge fuss made about it but I only recall ever seeing one man in motion at a time previously.

 

[I.M. Fletcher]

The 4 man TE set is really just a goal line option but if they could find an athletic TE that could block and a RB equally good running inside or catching passes out of the backfield, then it becomes very interesting. Brady isn't very accurate throwing downfield right now, particularly throwing to smurfs, so the 4 TE with a couple of quicker receiving options would really play to his strengths. It would be tough to take Edelman off the field for any length of time though.

Do you think we need a different back then one we already have on the roster? For me, Lewis/Cadet and Blount will create plenty of headaches for other teams. I think if they are running Blount in those situations, its really just telling other teams to try and stop you. With the Oline we have, they could pull Mason all day and create a mismatch every time. With Cadet/Lewis, they arent power runners at all, but quick dives, or screens against goaline defenses would be really hard to stop. Lewis only having to break one tackle seems like a pretty good recipe for success in space.

I do agree that its not an attack you can really use for sustained periods of time, especially with the other weapons on offence we have, but i would be surprised to see it used in 3rd and shorts or 4th and 1 situations either. It would also have to do with specific matchups like the colts or broncos that dont have a ton of size up front to handle it.

 

[PP2]

The 4 man TE set is really just a goal line option but if they could find an athletic TE that could block and a RB equally good running inside or catching passes out of the backfield, then it becomes very interesting. Brady isn't very accurate throwing downfield right now, particularly throwing to smurfs, so the 4 TE with a couple of quicker receiving options would really play to his strengths. It would be tough to take Edelman off the field for any length of time though.

Agreed. It's strictly a red zone option- that's where it's best used, and IMO the best part of it is not just that it's a 4 TE set, but in that the 4th TE essentially doubles as a FB, you also have the threat of a power run out of the I formation, either reg or offset, so as a defense you must commit to the box, and even if Brady checks to the spread you must leave enough in the box. It's essentially a pick your poison.

So many possible combinations you can get out of this . I guarantee we'll see this again in Buffalo, but with a wrinkle to it.

 

[aluminum seats]

That's a good piece, thanks for the link.

 

[manxman2601]

Do you think we need a different back then one we already have on the roster? For me, Lewis/Cadet and Blount will create plenty of headaches for other teams. I think if they are running Blount in those situations, its really just telling other teams to try and stop you. With the Oline we have, they could pull Mason all day and create a mismatch every time. With Cadet/Lewis, they arent power runners at all, but quick dives, or screens against goaline defenses would be really hard to stop. Lewis only having to break one tackle seems like a pretty good recipe for success in space.

I do agree that its not an attack you can really use for sustained periods of time, especially with the other weapons on offence we have, but i would be surprised to see it used in 3rd and shorts or 4th and 1 situations either. It would also have to do with specific matchups like the colts or broncos that dont have a ton of size up front to handle it.

I don't think our RBs are equal threats as runners and receivers. Blount is a good runner but he's not going to worry defenses as a receiver and Lewis, whilst excellent at what he does, isn't much of a threat to run inside at a sustained level. And I still don't get the interest people have in Cadet. Bear in mind I'm talking about what is needed to take this from more than a short yardage formation and utilise it in almost any situation. I think to do that, you need an athletic TE that can block a bit (an Ahern type) and a RB that is a 1,000 yard rusher, 500 yd receiver. I don't think our backs could handle that workload.

I think the 4TE system works fine as a short yardage formation with what we have, I was just wondering whether it could be taken further.

 

[manxman2601]

Agreed. It's strictly a red zone option- that's where it's best used, and IMO the best part of it is not just that it's a 4 TE set, but in that the 4th TE essentially doubles as a FB, you also have the threat of a power run out of the I formation, either reg or offset, so as a defense you must commit to the box, and even if Brady checks to the spread you must leave enough in the box. It's essentially a pick your poison.

So many possible combinations you can get out of this . I guarantee we'll see this again in Buffalo, but with a wrinkle to it.

Hooman is the only real weakness - he's fine as #3 TE, but he's neither a great blocker or much of a receiving option. Upgrade Hooman and I love the formation even more.

 

[Ross12]

IIRC Kansas City kicked our ass last year utilizing a ton of 3 and 4 TE sets.

 

[Sciz]

Reiss gives us a little tease on the plan with these multiple TE formations:

The Patriots had been working on that all spring/summer and there's more where that came from. A lot more.

http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story...riots-defense-measure-bills-ground-pound-game

I know there was one prediction in the media (I forget who), that Gronk (career high 17) and Chandler (6) would combined for 25 TDs, which obviously means at least one is setting a new career high. After seeing that first week and hearing about all the work they put in this offseason, I'm not sure 30 is out of the question. Of course, teams may start adjusting to the multiple TE looks with more DBs to cover these guys, in which case we'll probably see more rushing attempts.