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This is always a very interesting and provocative day. Lots of interesting decisions and lots of comments ON those decisions...by us. Bill on the other hand, the guy who actually worked with these guys and watched on tape for about 2 months, and has been evaluating NFL players for about 40 years, well, he WON'T be making many comments on these decisions and won't be speculating at ALL. 
But now it's finally for real, and for obvious reasons, the league hasn't done us any favors. First they take away our #1 draft pick, then our best player, and schedule us to open against a superbowl favorite.....on the road. But who cares. Now as fans we can start to talk football, strategies, x's and O's and personnel groupings. FINALLY we get to the fun stuff (at least for me)
The roster is what it is, and will likely change many times before we get to February. So let's get started and break down what we can expect from the Cardinals, and what we can do to pull a big upset..
DISCLAIMER - My discussions will be only on the broadest terms, and won't involve any X's and O's since I don't have the ability to draw them on my computer. Sorry about that limitation.
1. The Pats offense vs the Cardinal D.
AZ has one of the best secondaries in the league. They have 2 good corners who can play press or zone, and an impact slot corner (Mathieu), who is this generation's Troy Palamalou. An impact secondary guy that you have to know where he is at all times. They also rush the passer well, and IIRC are in the top 5 in the league in how often they blitz.
That is not a bad situation for AZ when you are playing team who is starting a QB who has never started an NFL game before, and is playing on the road. It also doesn't help that he hasn't had a lot live work with his receivers to date. But it is what it is. The question is how to the Pats level the playing field.
a. It will come as no surprise when the Pats come out with 2 TE's as it's basic formation. But don't be surprised when you see those VERY big TE's split out more than you think. I think what Josh is going to attempt to do is show AZ formations and motions that will create either size or speed mis-matches that will force AZ to play a balanced defense and limit their blitzing.
b. We are going to run the damned football. Another not too surprising strategy. But running and then throwing play action passes is ANOTHER way to keep defenses from trying overload blitzes and dictating the tempo of the game.
c. Even though we want to slow the game down with a running attack, I REALLY hope Josh doesn't abandon the no huddle offense. Remember no huddle does NOT necessarily mean a hurry up offense. By going no huddle and spending a lot of time at the LOS before the snap, you give Jimmy the time he needs to see what the Cardinals are trying to do to him. I believe Bill will have him prepared for MOST of what they do.
The no-huddle does a couple of things. It keeps the Cardinal's personnel on the field and limits their substitutions. It allows JG to control the tempo of the game. He can slow it down or speed it up at will. Whatever helps get him in that 2 minute drill rhythm that he seems to like. No huddle always puts the pressure on the D to be reactive rather than pro-active.
And whenever the Cardinal D looks like they are getting comfortable with the pace of the Pats offense, change it. Don't be afraid to use the hurry up offense. They won't be expecting it.
d. Make this Bennett's break out game. Let him be the receiver when both are "inline" TE's. You know that are going to want to shut down Gronk. So let them assign manpower to cover him, and throw it to the guy who has the single coverage.
e. Finally don't be afraid to air it out once in a while. It will be the last thing they expect. Also I'd like to see LGB get a few looks as a receiver this year. We've were too predictable when he was in there the last few years.
3 The Pats Defense vs the Cardinal offense.
This is a team that has very good skill players. They have top notch receivers and good RB's and a very experienced and successful QB. The Pats have to attack them where they aren't so good and take advantages of their weaknesses.
a. As you probably have noticed the Pats are blitzing more this year that we've seen them in the past. Even when they only rush 4, they are working games (Stems) between the rushers a lot more than I've seen them. As good as Carson Palmer is, he is even LESS mobile and not even near as nifty in the pocket as Tom Brady. He's not a guy you have to worry about "containing". THAT is the achilles heel of the Cardinal offense that I believe will keep us in this game for 4 quarters. This is not a particularly good OL, at least not a tested one, (like ours). It will be our strength vs one of their weaknesses. We need to dominate the front 7.
b. To that end we need to see Patricia attack Palmer with the same vigor we can expect the Cardinals to attack Jimmy G. Believe me when I say the Cardinals will work ALL week to block up that A gap blitz by the LB. Between Collins and Mingo, the Pats got 5 (IIRC) QB hits by getting the LB in scott free. So I imagine it would behoove Matty to use that to open up some other alleys for some of his other high motor guys like AJohnson, Mingo, Flowers and Long. (or Sheard if he plays)
BTW- I have to say it sends shivers down my spine to mention 4 different legitimate rush guys, and then mention our best rusher as an afterthought. Most years we are trying to find just 2 and scheme everyone else.
c. There will be times and situations when we will need to play press coverage. But I think this week we need to be zone coverage as our base...but not a soft one. I think we will get the fast reads from the pressure we get on Palmer. This is a good game to go to the tape and work on reading patterns and jumping routes. Jimmy isn't going to be great in reading coverages. How could he be? But Palmer has never been great at it either. He's not bad, just not great.
d. So as a crib sheet. Control the run, pressure the passer, get off the field on 3rd down (at least 50% of the time) no big plays, and get 2 TO's Did I hit all the checkpoints? Have I stated the obvious?
e. So watch for more blitzing, and movement from the DL from the Pats, and overall more aggression from the front 7 than we are used to seeing. But watch us be a bit more careful on the back end.
4. Special teams. Special teams can easily be the difference in this game, which I expect to be tight into the 4th quarter. I'd like to think we have an advantage here, but I don't know AZ that well to state it as a fact. Don't be shocked if the game turns here.
5. Coaching - Bruce Ariens is a very good HC. I don't know his OC or DC, but this isn't a game where Bill and his staff can simply go in an out coach his opponent. They WILL be prepared for what they expect to see. I'm hoping Josh/MattyP will come up with a few things that they aren't expecting.
6. Some Roster comments....and I'll try to be brief, since I'm falling asleep at the keyboard.
a. You just have to look at the roster to see how important 2 TE's are going to be for this team. Keeping 4 TE's and just 4 WR's (2 of whom we don't know will even play the 11th) is telling. Clearly our TE's will act as our big receivers and will play all over the field. For THIS team. at least as of now, the reality is that there really is no distinction between TE's and WR's They all will play all over the field.
b. LGB is going to get his 20-25 carries per game, and hopefully a couple of catches as well.
c. It will be interesting to see who will be the first 3rd down back off the bench, since we have 2 guys with the exact same skills....and are waiting for a 3rd.
d. It's been a while since they kept 10 offensive linemen. I don't see that holding up all season. BTW- 2 good cases can be made for bringing in the G from GB or JEvens from Seattle and hope either can be a Brian Waters clone. But I think they like the potential of what they have right now to spend the 4-5 Million it might cost to bring them in......IF they are even healthy.
e. Thrilled my binky James Johnson made the roster. Devastated that my Binky KGH didn't....and I think it would have been easy to find him a slot (especially with 10 OLmen) Though I will be placated if he gets to the PS.
f. Can't help but be surprise that NEITHER Dobson or Martin didn't make the roster. I thought the easy fix was to keep both or at least one and put Amendola on PUP for the first 6 games. Then I thought that they'd keep Lucien to have another 6'2 receiver....and then he was gone. I didn't want Harper or the other kid.
But like I said, one way to look at it is to forget about the distinction between WR's and TE's. Just think of them all being just receivers, and when you do that, you have plenty of size.
g. My thanks to Roger Goodell and his cadre of miscreants for giving the Pats 2 extra roster spots for the first 4 games.
h. Feel free to add your own expectations and strategy speculations to mine....in fact I demand it. What I've written is merely a jumping off point of the discussion. It needs to be fleshed out.
Goodnight. Happy final 53 day to all. Get a good night's sleep so we can start to speculate on the PS and watch the "final 53" begin to change.
But now it's finally for real, and for obvious reasons, the league hasn't done us any favors. First they take away our #1 draft pick, then our best player, and schedule us to open against a superbowl favorite.....on the road. But who cares. Now as fans we can start to talk football, strategies, x's and O's and personnel groupings. FINALLY we get to the fun stuff (at least for me)
The roster is what it is, and will likely change many times before we get to February. So let's get started and break down what we can expect from the Cardinals, and what we can do to pull a big upset..
DISCLAIMER - My discussions will be only on the broadest terms, and won't involve any X's and O's since I don't have the ability to draw them on my computer. Sorry about that limitation.
1. The Pats offense vs the Cardinal D.
AZ has one of the best secondaries in the league. They have 2 good corners who can play press or zone, and an impact slot corner (Mathieu), who is this generation's Troy Palamalou. An impact secondary guy that you have to know where he is at all times. They also rush the passer well, and IIRC are in the top 5 in the league in how often they blitz.
That is not a bad situation for AZ when you are playing team who is starting a QB who has never started an NFL game before, and is playing on the road.
It also doesn't help that he hasn't had a lot live work with his receivers to date. But it is what it is. The question is how to the Pats level the playing field.a. It will come as no surprise when the Pats come out with 2 TE's as it's basic formation. But don't be surprised when you see those VERY big TE's split out more than you think. I think what Josh is going to attempt to do is show AZ formations and motions that will create either size or speed mis-matches that will force AZ to play a balanced defense and limit their blitzing.
b. We are going to run the damned football. Another not too surprising strategy. But running and then throwing play action passes is ANOTHER way to keep defenses from trying overload blitzes and dictating the tempo of the game.
c. Even though we want to slow the game down with a running attack, I REALLY hope Josh doesn't abandon the no huddle offense. Remember no huddle does NOT necessarily mean a hurry up offense. By going no huddle and spending a lot of time at the LOS before the snap, you give Jimmy the time he needs to see what the Cardinals are trying to do to him. I believe Bill will have him prepared for MOST of what they do.
The no-huddle does a couple of things. It keeps the Cardinal's personnel on the field and limits their substitutions. It allows JG to control the tempo of the game. He can slow it down or speed it up at will. Whatever helps get him in that 2 minute drill rhythm that he seems to like. No huddle always puts the pressure on the D to be reactive rather than pro-active.
And whenever the Cardinal D looks like they are getting comfortable with the pace of the Pats offense, change it. Don't be afraid to use the hurry up offense. They won't be expecting it.
d. Make this Bennett's break out game. Let him be the receiver when both are "inline" TE's. You know that are going to want to shut down Gronk. So let them assign manpower to cover him, and throw it to the guy who has the single coverage.
e. Finally don't be afraid to air it out once in a while. It will be the last thing they expect. Also I'd like to see LGB get a few looks as a receiver this year. We've were too predictable when he was in there the last few years.
3 The Pats Defense vs the Cardinal offense.
This is a team that has very good skill players. They have top notch receivers and good RB's and a very experienced and successful QB. The Pats have to attack them where they aren't so good and take advantages of their weaknesses.
a. As you probably have noticed the Pats are blitzing more this year that we've seen them in the past. Even when they only rush 4, they are working games (Stems) between the rushers a lot more than I've seen them. As good as Carson Palmer is, he is even LESS mobile and not even near as nifty in the pocket as Tom Brady. He's not a guy you have to worry about "containing". THAT is the achilles heel of the Cardinal offense that I believe will keep us in this game for 4 quarters. This is not a particularly good OL, at least not a tested one, (like ours). It will be our strength vs one of their weaknesses. We need to dominate the front 7.
b. To that end we need to see Patricia attack Palmer with the same vigor we can expect the Cardinals to attack Jimmy G. Believe me when I say the Cardinals will work ALL week to block up that A gap blitz by the LB. Between Collins and Mingo, the Pats got 5 (IIRC) QB hits by getting the LB in scott free. So I imagine it would behoove Matty to use that to open up some other alleys for some of his other high motor guys like AJohnson, Mingo, Flowers and Long. (or Sheard if he plays)
BTW- I have to say it sends shivers down my spine to mention 4 different legitimate rush guys, and then mention our best rusher as an afterthought.
Most years we are trying to find just 2 and scheme everyone else.c. There will be times and situations when we will need to play press coverage. But I think this week we need to be zone coverage as our base...but not a soft one. I think we will get the fast reads from the pressure we get on Palmer. This is a good game to go to the tape and work on reading patterns and jumping routes. Jimmy isn't going to be great in reading coverages. How could he be? But Palmer has never been great at it either. He's not bad, just not great.
d. So as a crib sheet. Control the run, pressure the passer, get off the field on 3rd down (at least 50% of the time) no big plays, and get 2 TO's Did I hit all the checkpoints? Have I stated the obvious?
e. So watch for more blitzing, and movement from the DL from the Pats, and overall more aggression from the front 7 than we are used to seeing. But watch us be a bit more careful on the back end.
4. Special teams. Special teams can easily be the difference in this game, which I expect to be tight into the 4th quarter. I'd like to think we have an advantage here, but I don't know AZ that well to state it as a fact. Don't be shocked if the game turns here.
5. Coaching - Bruce Ariens is a very good HC. I don't know his OC or DC, but this isn't a game where Bill and his staff can simply go in an out coach his opponent. They WILL be prepared for what they expect to see. I'm hoping Josh/MattyP will come up with a few things that they aren't expecting.
6. Some Roster comments....and I'll try to be brief, since I'm falling asleep at the keyboard.
a. You just have to look at the roster to see how important 2 TE's are going to be for this team. Keeping 4 TE's and just 4 WR's (2 of whom we don't know will even play the 11th) is telling. Clearly our TE's will act as our big receivers and will play all over the field. For THIS team. at least as of now, the reality is that there really is no distinction between TE's and WR's They all will play all over the field.
b. LGB is going to get his 20-25 carries per game, and hopefully a couple of catches as well.
c. It will be interesting to see who will be the first 3rd down back off the bench, since we have 2 guys with the exact same skills....and are waiting for a 3rd.
d. It's been a while since they kept 10 offensive linemen. I don't see that holding up all season. BTW- 2 good cases can be made for bringing in the G from GB or JEvens from Seattle and hope either can be a Brian Waters clone. But I think they like the potential of what they have right now to spend the 4-5 Million it might cost to bring them in......IF they are even healthy.
e. Thrilled my binky James Johnson made the roster. Devastated that my Binky KGH didn't....and I think it would have been easy to find him a slot (especially with 10 OLmen) Though I will be placated if he gets to the PS.
f. Can't help but be surprise that NEITHER Dobson or Martin didn't make the roster. I thought the easy fix was to keep both or at least one and put Amendola on PUP for the first 6 games. Then I thought that they'd keep Lucien to have another 6'2 receiver....and then he was gone. I didn't want Harper or the other kid.
But like I said, one way to look at it is to forget about the distinction between WR's and TE's. Just think of them all being just receivers, and when you do that, you have plenty of size.
g. My thanks to Roger Goodell and his cadre of miscreants for giving the Pats 2 extra roster spots for the first 4 games.
h. Feel free to add your own expectations and strategy speculations to mine....in fact I demand it. What I've written is merely a jumping off point of the discussion. It needs to be fleshed out.
Goodnight. Happy final 53 day to all. Get a good night's sleep so we can start to speculate on the PS and watch the "final 53" begin to change.
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