How to Make a TE Disappear

[PatsWickedPissah]

Fun WSJ article on BB and Patricia's innovative defense that shut Graham down right after several 100 yard romp games

Have the New England Patriots Solved the NFL's Tight-End Riddle? - WSJ.com

 

[Gwedd]

Fun WSJ article on BB and Patricia's innovative defense that shut Graham down right after several 100 yard romp games

Have the New England Patriots Solved the NFL's Tight-End Riddle? - WSJ.com

Thanks for this. It's taking my mind off yesterday's surgery and tonight's Game 4 of the ALCS.

 

[Halifax_Pats_Fan]

Man...I thought this article was going to be about Gronk....

 

[nabwong]

The writer assumes this is a blueprint for covering Gronk but forgets that Gronk is a monster run blocker, unlike Graham. Go ahead about use a CB to cover gronk. I dare the other 31 teams in the league.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Man...I thought this article was going to be about Gronk....

100% did as well

 

[Soadisthebest]

The writer assumes this is a blueprint for covering Gronk but forgets that Gronk is a monster run blocker, unlike Graham. Go ahead about use a CB to cover gronk. I dare the other 31 teams in the league.

If someone were to attempt that he would run over them, catch a long td, break his arm and sit out the rest of the season.

 

[Joey007]

Funny, it's like we solved our own riddle we created a couple years ago.

 

[Deus Irae]

Fun WSJ article on BB and Patricia's innovative defense that shut Graham down right after several 100 yard romp games

Have the New England Patriots Solved the NFL's Tight-End Riddle? - WSJ.com

I thought the answer was going to be "Name him Sudfeld and put him in the starting lineup".....

 

[VrabelJr]

Jimmy Graham isn't truly a TE. He lines up mostly outside or a little off the line of scrimmage and he never goes into blocking you can approach him the same every play. A TE like Gronk will beat you a lot because you have to make sure he isn't just going to block you and vise versa.

 

[SVN]

Well,Iam not well versed with the X/Os of the game but iam not so sure about this
Have the New England Patriots Solved the NFL's Tight-End Riddle? - WSJ.com

First

We didn't want to play him how some teams play him, other teams," said New England defensive back Devin McCourty. "When coach Belichick and Matty [Patricia, defensive coordinator], when they've got a guy to stop, they are going to do different things to slow him down. That's what we did."

The "different things" McCourty refers to is basically a seismic shift in the Patriots defense. They had a secret weapon in 27-year-old Aqib Talib, last seen shutting down elite wide receivers such as the Atlanta Falcons' Julio Jones. According to Patriots cornerback Kyle Arrington, Talib was chosen as the Graham stopper because coaches knew he had some unique characteristics, namely long limbs that could mitigate Graham's four-inch height advantage.

Pats always make seismic shifts in defense week to week .And this means you need to have a player like this to stop a TE like graham. Surely every team has one

Instead, the Patriots went the other way and played almost no linebackers the entire game. With cornerbacks on all of their receivers in single coverage (something most quarterbacks love), Brees was baited into the Graham-Talib battle. Talib simply used his long arms to simply poke the ball out as it was thrown.

I thought the bait was to run if there were no LBs ....I didnt understand how he was baited into throwing to graham with talib on him . Can anyone explain this ?

 

[CelticPatriot]

You buy him a one way ticket to Talib Island

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

..... you feed her plenty of fattening foods and discourage her from exercising. That tight end will disappear in no time.

 

[Ozymandias]

Who's Jimmy Graham?

 

[Fencer]

When a TE actually lines up as a TE, BB's preferred approach is to assassinate him at the line of scrimmage.

That logic applies to both sides of the ball. Vrabel was an outstanding short-field TE because he excelled at the hand combat to beat the LOS jam.

 

[Big-T]

Who's Jimmy Graham?

Some guy you might find either lost on an island or in Aqib Talib's back pocket

 

[dales804]

Well,Iam not well versed with the X/Os of the game but iam not so sure about this
Have the New England Patriots Solved the NFL's Tight-End Riddle? - WSJ.com

First

Pats always make seismic shifts in defense week to week .And this means you need to have a player like this to stop a TE like graham. Surely every team has one


I thought the bait was to run if there were no LBs ....I didnt understand how he was baited into throwing to graham with talib on him . Can anyone explain this ?

The part you quoted about no LBs playing almost the entire game is just wrong. From Reiss' defensive snaps played:

Mayo - 59 of 66 (left injured so would've been on for 100%)
Spikes - 48 of 66
Hightower - 24 of 66
Fletcher - 7 of 66 (filling in for the 7 snaps Mayo missed)

Clearly the Pats played nickel most of the game. If they had no LBs on the field, I'd assume Payton would've been happy to run over NE.

 

[PatsSox363804]

Who's Jimmy Graham?

They say he plays for New Orleans but I didn't notice him Sunday.

 

[jmt57]

Who's Jimmy Graham?

Before clicking on the link I was wondering why there was an article on Daniel Graham?

 

[crew1954]

You buy him a one way ticket to Talib Island

That's in the Caribe, right? Graham might as well have been.

 

[ATippett56]

Gronk who?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcK8FLGx0fo&feature=player_detailpage

"He lives now only in my memories"