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First Half
Kickoff: Hobbs from the NE 11, 20 yd. return, Hobbs takes the short kick up the middle, where Izzo (among others – Smith, Watson, and Morris) lose blocks.
Offensive Series #1 Touchdown
Contributor: Pats1
Time: 15:00 remaining in the first quarter
Statistics: 7 plays (0 run, 7 pass), 69 yards (0 run, 69 pass), time of possession was 2:46
Breakdown: 6 green plays (0 run, 6 pass) for 69 yds., 1 red play (0 run, 1 pass) for 0 yds.
1st and 10 NE 31
Result: Pass, Watson, crossing pattern underneath, 9 yds.
Analysis: Shotgun 4 WR, 2 left (Moss, Welker), 2 right (Stallworth, Faulk), TE Watson right wing vs. 3-4, CBs off. Both OLBs blitzed off the snap and were picked up perfectly by Light and Kaczur. Both the ILBs dropped back into spy/zones, leaving Watson a lot of room to work with underneath. With a clean pocket, Brady fired it in for a quick 9-yard gain.
2nd and 1 NE 40
Result: Pass, Watson, quick square-out, 6 yds.
Analysis: 3 WR, 1 left (Stallworth), 2 right (Moss, Welker), TE Watson right wing, RB Faulk vs. 3-4, LBs showing blitz, CBs off. Pats in the no huddle. Both the LILB and LOLB blitzed, with the LILB jumping to avoid Faulk’s blitz-pickup dive. This bought Brady just enough time to do a little jump-pass to Watson, who had found the void formerly occupied by the blitzers. Welker’s complimentary square-out also occupied the oncoming SS. Protection was fine on the backside.
1st and 10 NE 46
Result: Pass, Moss, 5-yard square-out, 8 yds.
Analysis: 3 WR, 2 left (Stallworth, Welker), 1 right (Moss), TE Watson right wing, RB Faulk vs. 3-4, LBs showing blitz, CBs off. Basically the same deal. This time the RILB and ROLB blitzed, and were picked up by Faulk and Light, respectively. The LOLB (Merriman) also blitzed, and Yates did a great job of picking it up, sliding outside, and shoving Merriman out of Brady’s throwing lane. The interior of the line continued to deny the Chargers DL an inch of penetration. The Chargers really set themselves up for this, as they left the LILB to fend against Watson on a seam route (another viable option), while also keeping their CBs in soft coverage. Moss was wide open and picked up a few extra yards after the catch.
Note: Hey, why not keep a close-up of BB on for about 10 minutes and miss the start of the play…why not…
2nd and 2 SD 46
Result: Pass, Moss, 5-yard square-out, 5 yds.
Analysis: WR, 2 left (Stallworth, Welker), 1 right (Moss), TE Watson right wing, RB Faulk vs. 3-4, LBs showing blitz, CBs off after LCB backs off press. This time Faulk is lined up behind the RG in order to help out with Merriman if needed. After Brady’s adjustments (the same one that caused the LCB to back off), the RILB slid outside to actually cover the slot, Welker, this time. Only the ROLB blitzed, and was neutralized by a nice fake-cut block by Light. This also meant that Faulk and Watson were free to roam underneath – Watson was essentially doubled by the LILB and LOLB while Faulk was free. Besides a late pancake on Kaczur by the LDE (Castillo, who immediately fell down anyway), the protection was immaculate. With the LCB playing somewhere between Attleboro and Wrentham, Moss had all the space in the world to plant himself right up on the hashmarks of the sideline and catch the Brady pass falling backwards.
1st and 10 SD 41
Result: Pass, “Stallworth”, Incomplete, pass ‘tuck ruled’ under pressure.
Analysis: Shotgun 3 WR, 2 left (Stallworth, Welker), 1 right (Moss), TE Watson right wing, RB Faulk left vs. 3-4, RILB off slot, OLBs showing blitz, both CBs off. Both the OLBs blitzed on this play, but the Pats interior OL finally had their first blemish of the night. Mankins let himself get turned around by the swimming RDE, who came up from behind Brady (stepping up) and pulled a Woodson-esque strip of Brady. Whether Brady was actually attempting to throw it to Stallworth or spiked it knowing the RDE was going to strip him is up for debate. But the tuck rule applies here and it’s an incomplete pass. Faulk was open underneath, so there was an option, but Brady didn’t have the time to get it over there. Welker was also open on a quick hook, but Brady decided just to pump it instead, perhaps not knowing what was coming up from behind him.
2nd and 10 SD 41
Result: Pass, Welker, seam pattern, 34 yds.
Analysis: Shotgun 3 WR, 2 left (Stallworth, Welker), 1 right (Moss), TE Watson right wing, RB Faulk left vs. 3-4, LBs and SS (late) showing blitz, CBs off. The Chargers continued to blitz like crazy, this time bringing in the LILB followed up by the SS. Faulk stepped up and did a tremendous job of sacrificing his body in the path of the untouched, barreling LILB. Faulk didn’t let himself get pushed back into Brady, and instead transferred the momentum into a sort of body-slam of the LILB off to Brady’s right. Yates had the responsibility of picking up the SS coming in late, but did a piss-poor job of it. Luckily, Brady was already in his throwing motion as Yates made his half-hearted attempt at even touching the speeding SS. Welker, in the slot, was again matched up against a LB, this time the ROLB Phillips. There was something seriously wrong with the Chargers’ defense, as Phillips pulled up as if in a zone, but the Chargers were only in a cover-1, not normally a zone coverage. This opened up an immense void (above the RCB and ROLB, outside of the FS) that Brady hit Welker in with authority.
1st and 7 SD 7
Result: Pass, Watson, 5-yard fade pattern, 7 yds., TOUCHDOWN.
Analysis: Shotgun 3 WR, 1 left (Stallworth), 2 right (Moss, Welker), TE Watson right wing, Faulk RB left vs. 3-4, LBs showing blitz, LCB press. Only the ROLB blitz this time, giving Faulk the opportunity to head out into the flat. The protection was again immaculate. Not a defender within 5 feet of Brady. Watson went straight up into the LOLB (Merriman), who jammed him into the LILB (Cooper). But from here, the SS came up to cover Welker on a crossing pattern, and the LCB was occupied underneath by Moss. This left Watson RIDICULOUSLY wide open in the corner of the end zone.
Extra Point
Result: Converted.
Score: New England 7 – San Diego 0
Assessment
Scalpel? Good. This was just surgical, folks. Complete domination. I can only begin to question what the hell the Chargers were thinking. The point is why they insisted on staying in the base 3-4 even when the Pats used 3 WRs the entire drive. Why not put a NB out on Welker? That would have at least helped them out on that SLICING of the defense he did on the 34-yard gain. Really, just a pathetic job by the Chargers. On the Watson touchdown, you know your defense is utterly laughable when a receiver is so wide open in the endzone the whole crowd erupts before the ball even reaches the peak of its arc on a lobbed pass. What the hell were they thinking? Did Cooper, the LILB, just forget to cover Watson? There wasn’t anything mysterious about this. The Pats never had Morris in. They never had Maroney in. They never ran the play action. They simply brought out the (shot)gun and went to work against the defense.
Drive Grades
QB ‘A+’
RBs ‘A+’ - Faulk. Blitz pickup. ‘Nuff said.
WRs ‘A+’
TEs ‘A+’
OL ‘A’ - Perfect besides Mankins’ mishap
OC ‘A+’
...
First Half
Kickoff: Hobbs from the NE 11, 20 yd. return, Hobbs takes the short kick up the middle, where Izzo (among others – Smith, Watson, and Morris) lose blocks.
Offensive Series #1 Touchdown
Contributor: Pats1
Time: 15:00 remaining in the first quarter
Statistics: 7 plays (0 run, 7 pass), 69 yards (0 run, 69 pass), time of possession was 2:46
Breakdown: 6 green plays (0 run, 6 pass) for 69 yds., 1 red play (0 run, 1 pass) for 0 yds.
1st and 10 NE 31
Result: Pass, Watson, crossing pattern underneath, 9 yds.
Analysis: Shotgun 4 WR, 2 left (Moss, Welker), 2 right (Stallworth, Faulk), TE Watson right wing vs. 3-4, CBs off. Both OLBs blitzed off the snap and were picked up perfectly by Light and Kaczur. Both the ILBs dropped back into spy/zones, leaving Watson a lot of room to work with underneath. With a clean pocket, Brady fired it in for a quick 9-yard gain.
2nd and 1 NE 40
Result: Pass, Watson, quick square-out, 6 yds.
Analysis: 3 WR, 1 left (Stallworth), 2 right (Moss, Welker), TE Watson right wing, RB Faulk vs. 3-4, LBs showing blitz, CBs off. Pats in the no huddle. Both the LILB and LOLB blitzed, with the LILB jumping to avoid Faulk’s blitz-pickup dive. This bought Brady just enough time to do a little jump-pass to Watson, who had found the void formerly occupied by the blitzers. Welker’s complimentary square-out also occupied the oncoming SS. Protection was fine on the backside.
1st and 10 NE 46
Result: Pass, Moss, 5-yard square-out, 8 yds.
Analysis: 3 WR, 2 left (Stallworth, Welker), 1 right (Moss), TE Watson right wing, RB Faulk vs. 3-4, LBs showing blitz, CBs off. Basically the same deal. This time the RILB and ROLB blitzed, and were picked up by Faulk and Light, respectively. The LOLB (Merriman) also blitzed, and Yates did a great job of picking it up, sliding outside, and shoving Merriman out of Brady’s throwing lane. The interior of the line continued to deny the Chargers DL an inch of penetration. The Chargers really set themselves up for this, as they left the LILB to fend against Watson on a seam route (another viable option), while also keeping their CBs in soft coverage. Moss was wide open and picked up a few extra yards after the catch.
Note: Hey, why not keep a close-up of BB on for about 10 minutes and miss the start of the play…why not…
2nd and 2 SD 46
Result: Pass, Moss, 5-yard square-out, 5 yds.
Analysis: WR, 2 left (Stallworth, Welker), 1 right (Moss), TE Watson right wing, RB Faulk vs. 3-4, LBs showing blitz, CBs off after LCB backs off press. This time Faulk is lined up behind the RG in order to help out with Merriman if needed. After Brady’s adjustments (the same one that caused the LCB to back off), the RILB slid outside to actually cover the slot, Welker, this time. Only the ROLB blitzed, and was neutralized by a nice fake-cut block by Light. This also meant that Faulk and Watson were free to roam underneath – Watson was essentially doubled by the LILB and LOLB while Faulk was free. Besides a late pancake on Kaczur by the LDE (Castillo, who immediately fell down anyway), the protection was immaculate. With the LCB playing somewhere between Attleboro and Wrentham, Moss had all the space in the world to plant himself right up on the hashmarks of the sideline and catch the Brady pass falling backwards.
1st and 10 SD 41
Result: Pass, “Stallworth”, Incomplete, pass ‘tuck ruled’ under pressure.
Analysis: Shotgun 3 WR, 2 left (Stallworth, Welker), 1 right (Moss), TE Watson right wing, RB Faulk left vs. 3-4, RILB off slot, OLBs showing blitz, both CBs off. Both the OLBs blitzed on this play, but the Pats interior OL finally had their first blemish of the night. Mankins let himself get turned around by the swimming RDE, who came up from behind Brady (stepping up) and pulled a Woodson-esque strip of Brady. Whether Brady was actually attempting to throw it to Stallworth or spiked it knowing the RDE was going to strip him is up for debate. But the tuck rule applies here and it’s an incomplete pass. Faulk was open underneath, so there was an option, but Brady didn’t have the time to get it over there. Welker was also open on a quick hook, but Brady decided just to pump it instead, perhaps not knowing what was coming up from behind him.
2nd and 10 SD 41
Result: Pass, Welker, seam pattern, 34 yds.
Analysis: Shotgun 3 WR, 2 left (Stallworth, Welker), 1 right (Moss), TE Watson right wing, RB Faulk left vs. 3-4, LBs and SS (late) showing blitz, CBs off. The Chargers continued to blitz like crazy, this time bringing in the LILB followed up by the SS. Faulk stepped up and did a tremendous job of sacrificing his body in the path of the untouched, barreling LILB. Faulk didn’t let himself get pushed back into Brady, and instead transferred the momentum into a sort of body-slam of the LILB off to Brady’s right. Yates had the responsibility of picking up the SS coming in late, but did a piss-poor job of it. Luckily, Brady was already in his throwing motion as Yates made his half-hearted attempt at even touching the speeding SS. Welker, in the slot, was again matched up against a LB, this time the ROLB Phillips. There was something seriously wrong with the Chargers’ defense, as Phillips pulled up as if in a zone, but the Chargers were only in a cover-1, not normally a zone coverage. This opened up an immense void (above the RCB and ROLB, outside of the FS) that Brady hit Welker in with authority.
1st and 7 SD 7
Result: Pass, Watson, 5-yard fade pattern, 7 yds., TOUCHDOWN.
Analysis: Shotgun 3 WR, 1 left (Stallworth), 2 right (Moss, Welker), TE Watson right wing, Faulk RB left vs. 3-4, LBs showing blitz, LCB press. Only the ROLB blitz this time, giving Faulk the opportunity to head out into the flat. The protection was again immaculate. Not a defender within 5 feet of Brady. Watson went straight up into the LOLB (Merriman), who jammed him into the LILB (Cooper). But from here, the SS came up to cover Welker on a crossing pattern, and the LCB was occupied underneath by Moss. This left Watson RIDICULOUSLY wide open in the corner of the end zone.
Extra Point
Result: Converted.
Score: New England 7 – San Diego 0
Assessment
Scalpel? Good. This was just surgical, folks. Complete domination. I can only begin to question what the hell the Chargers were thinking. The point is why they insisted on staying in the base 3-4 even when the Pats used 3 WRs the entire drive. Why not put a NB out on Welker? That would have at least helped them out on that SLICING of the defense he did on the 34-yard gain. Really, just a pathetic job by the Chargers. On the Watson touchdown, you know your defense is utterly laughable when a receiver is so wide open in the endzone the whole crowd erupts before the ball even reaches the peak of its arc on a lobbed pass. What the hell were they thinking? Did Cooper, the LILB, just forget to cover Watson? There wasn’t anything mysterious about this. The Pats never had Morris in. They never had Maroney in. They never ran the play action. They simply brought out the (shot)gun and went to work against the defense.
Drive Grades
QB ‘A+’
RBs ‘A+’ - Faulk. Blitz pickup. ‘Nuff said.
WRs ‘A+’
TEs ‘A+’
OL ‘A’ - Perfect besides Mankins’ mishap
OC ‘A+’
