Mike Reiss did his usual stellar job of giving us great information on so many things including some very technical aspects of the game. (Keep the info coming Mike ! ) One interesting conclusion for an opponent's defensive coordinator might be - stick with just a 4 man rush. Very interesting - and just about the OPPOSITE of what the national media is calling out as the "blueprint" for beating the Patriots.
http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/reiss_pieces/2007/11/pressure_breakd.html
The Eagles' pressure of Patriots QB Tom Brady has been well documented following Sunday's game. The Eagles did a nice job of disrupting New England's passing game at times.
When breaking down the Eagles pass rush, however, it is clear that this wasn't a "jailbreak" type of situation where they were blitzing on every snap.
What made the Eagles plan effective was the way they mixed the rushes, as they truly blitzed (more than four rushers) 50 percent of the time (30 times on 60 dropbacks).
Here is our breakdown of the Eagles' pressure, and what the Patriots did against it (passing stats include sacks in the "attempts" category):
Three-man rush
3 of 3 for 26 yards
Add one dropback for a Tom Brady 12-yard scramble
Four-man rush
13 of 26 for 168 yards
Brady sacked once (seemed to be coverage-based more than as a result of pressure)
Randy Moss offensive pass interference call came against four-man rush
Five-man rush
11 of 17 for 88 yards
Brady sacked once (right tackle Nick Kaczur doesn't hold block on Juqua Thomas)
16-yard pass to Jabar Gaffney, which sealed game, came against five-man rush
Six-man rush
4 of 7 for 40 yards
Add one dropback for a Brady 5-yard scramble
Seven-man rush
3 of 5 for 58 yards
Jabar Gaffney's 19-yard touchdown came against seven-man pressure
Brady sacked once when Eagles overloaded left side and rusher came free
NOTE: On quick receciver screens, there is some gray area as to whether a defender is rushing or dropping back because of the quick change of direction.