Reiss: Brown in for 97% of offensive plays last week

[pats1]

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/reiss_pieces/2006/12/personnel_focus.html

December 08, 2006
Personnel focus

ANALYSIS

FOXBOROUGH -- Sometimes looking at how the Patriots deploy their personnel -- and what positional groupings they use -- provides a different lens through which to view the team.

Take, for example, last Sunday's game against the Lions.

It was surprising to see the expanded role that WR Troy Brown had on offense. Not including the final three kneel-downs to end the game -- and adding the team's two-point conversion attempt -- Brown was on the field for 60 of 62 offensive snaps, a whopping 96.7 percent of the time. Part of the expanded role was due to Brown playing when the team had one-receiver sets on the field (11 times).

...

FINAL ANALYSIS: The Patriots change their plan on a week to basis, so it's difficult to make any definitive statements. But one thing to look for this week is how much Troy Brown is on the field after barely heading to the sidelines last week.

Posted By: mreiss | Time: 08:46:25 PM

As usual, great Reiss stuff. Check the full post for the formation and player breakdown stats.

 

[psychoPat]

Troy deserves a raise.

So does Mike.

 

[Remix 6]

i wish he did this when Chad Jackson was healthy..so we can tell how much playing hes gotten and if it really is an increase each week

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

It would be interested to see when the 1 receiver, 2te, fb, and rb is employed. If it is usually in short yardage or long yardage and what down. if it is usually 3rd down.

to me appears it is employed quite a but on first and second down.

 

[edgecy]

Great stuff. I wonder if he could do that for the previous 11 games.

 

[psychoPat]

Great stuff. I wonder if he could do that for the previous 11 games.

This is the kind of data
that clubs routinely assemble.

How much of it can be proprietary?

If Mike could get this set released,
couldn't a lot of it be published on the Pats website
(or via Reiss' Pieces)?

Many of us here would simply wallow in it.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Wowww.... amazing that Brady didn't even crack the top 12!

Seriously - the real news is that Brown is out there for 97% of the offensive plays and gets only 2 passes for 4 yards. Was he meant to be a diversion by taking some focus off of Caldwell even if he wasn't getting the ball thrown to him?

And if that's the case, he won't be much of a diversion for long if Brady isn't going to anyone other than mainly Caldwell or Watson - I'd look for Brown to have a big game.

It's a pretty safe bet for most DCs judging from the numbers that they should double team Watson or Caldwell or both if they can - that should free up Graham as well assuming he's not relegated to blocking.

And THIS game should be one that's going to see a lot of hurry up offense and attacking through the air - less of a need for run blocking - so I'd expect that both Brown and Graham will have big games.

 

[DarrylS]

First time I have seen it broken down that way, very impressive, particularly how many plays Gabriel (who often seems invisible) was in for.

 

[pats1]

It would be interested to see when the 1 receiver, 2te, fb, and rb is employed. If it is usually in short yardage or long yardage and what down. if it is usually 3rd down.

to me appears it is employed quite a but on first and second down.

He did that too:

...

Then there were positional personnel groupings. In the first half, the team wanted to attack with its base set of two receivers, two tight ends and one running back. The Patriots were in that alignment 14 times, more than any other grouping in the first 30 minutes.

But by the end of the game, the three-wide, one tight end, one running back set was dominant, because the Patriots were playing catch-up in their hurry-up offense.

The final groupings:

3 receivers/1 tight end/1 running back -- 23 of 62 (37 percent)
2 receivers/2 tight ends/1 running back -- 16 of 62 (25.8 percent)
1 receiver/2 tight ends/1 fullback/1 running back -- 11 of 62 (17.7 percent)
2 receivers/1 tight end/1 fullback/1 running back -- 9 of 62 (14.5 percent)
3 tight ends/1 fullback/1 running back -- 1 of 62
3 receivers/2 tight ends -- 1 of 62
4 receivers/1 tight end -- 1 of 62

...

 

[pats1]

Reiss also did this once before, the week of the Vikings game:

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/reiss_pieces/2006/10/personnel_group.html

October 26, 2006
Personnel groupings

FOXBOROUGH -- When Bill Belichick said the Vikings are a challenging team to prepare for, he might have been referring to the various personnel groupings Minnesota uses on offense.

Here is an unofficial snapshot look at the Vikings' different groupings in last week's game against the Seahawks:

* 1 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE -- 14 plays
* 2 RB, 1 WR, 2 TE -- 8 plays
* 1 RB, 1 WR, 3 TE -- 4 plays
* 1 RB, 2 WR, 2 TE -- 3 plays
* 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE -- 14 plays
* 2 RB, 3 WR -- 2 plays
* 4 WR -- 4 plays

Posted By: mreiss | Time: 08:50:43 PM