Week 2 gameplan will be completely different from week 1

[MoLewisrocks]

Sanchez practices against a pretty good 3-4. Ideally he sees some things he hasn't seen before at rivalry game speed (thanks Houston for that, too). Our problem will be the loss of Mayo as that really impacts athletiticm vs. TE and RB on screens and slants. Bill said one of the issues Monday night was we weren't recognizing the keys on all the screens because that hasn't been Buffalo's MO and they ran them out of a lot of formations. Mayo's speed and instincts would likely have helped cover for lack of recognition.

I think we have to pressure the youngster while containing him in the pocket. And first and foremost we have to score early and often to ramp up the pressure on him to take chances. Whatever he is or may become i don't think he's ready to win a shootout with TFB and this offense. The best defense in this case is a good offense.

 

[JSn]

This. It just makes more sense to get back to 3-4 and with our OLB/DE hybrids, it's not much for either one to drop on to the line.

After seeing much better secondary play this week (let's face it, Edwards played well and Owens and Evans were basically non-factors), I think the 3-4 would be really effective this year in tearing up O-Lines.

Brief moment of silence of Big Sey being out of that equation.

K, I'm good. Time to see what Brace and Pryor have got. Hopefully it's heavy footfalls in the ears of the likes of Dirty Sanchez.

Let's see. Trade Seymour and make the best 3-4 NT in football a DE because he played that position in college. And then make Guyton the mike. I guess that makes sense if the goal is to gut the front seven and have them all play new positions.

Moving Wilfork to DE is one of the worst ideas of the year. To state that we will see this new defense as our bease defense this week is near delusional.

But Belichick has surprised me before.

 

[bucky]

That was good, Bucky, but you forgot on key threat. The TE, Dustin Keller. So the threats are:

1. Leon Washington - Look for the Jets to get him the ball from a lot of different formations in draws, sweeps, screens and short passes. He is their best offensive player and a threat to go the distance every time he touches the ball (and on my fantasy team) I can see a wildcat look with Leon being the QB or sweep back.

2. The general running game - Not that Thomas is a break away threat. No he's more like ASmith. Solid. Its the OL. This might be the best test of our DL this year. That's why it will be important to have the lead in this game. In the 4th quarter, we DON'T want this OL getting into clock management mode.

3. Dustin Keller - He's going to be a go to guy for Sanchez. He also has the speed to split the middle in cover 2's

So I agree that we could see more true 3-4 this week, but in the secondary, we might not see a true cover 2. BB might disguise a cover 2 that in actuality becomes a cover 3 on the snap of the ball. This will take care of the TE spitting the safeties. The negative is (and there ALWAYS is a negative for every D) the underneath outside zones will be more open. So if you see a number of 10-15 yd out completions you'll know why.

BOTTOM LINE - with this game the key won't be what Defensive alignment we are in, but how many and when. It will be not what we are in when we line up, but what the D morphs into at the snap of the ball.

I didn't forget Keller, he's point #3 on my list of considerations. I think you and I are on the same page here. I'm not saying the Pats will be playing Cover 2 all the time, but rather that they'll be playing a lot of zone, mixing and disguising the coverages with some man and zone blitzing thrown in. This past week, there was a lot of man coverage with 2 deep safeties. We'll see very little of that this week.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

That was good, Bucky, but you forgot on key threat. The TE, Dustin Keller. So the threats are:

So I agree that we could see more true 3-4 this week, but in the secondary, we might not see a true cover 2. BB might disguise a cover 2 that in actuality becomes a cover 3 on the snap of the ball. This will take care of the TE spitting the safeties. The negative is (and there ALWAYS is a negative for every D) the underneath outside zones will be more open. So if you see a number of 10-15 yd out completions you'll know why.

BOTTOM LINE - with this game the key won't be what Defensive alignment we are in, but how many and when. It will be not what we are in when we line up, but what the D morphs into at the snap of the ball.

The why is the oft overlooked Cochery.

And I think you may be disappointed if you're expecting a lot of morphing out of this defense absent Mayo. Don't think there was going to be that much early on even if he was there. Bill knows what he's working with in the aftermath of the retirements and the trade. They gotta walk before they run. He won't fashion a defense based on what would ideally work best. He will fashion it around what his available roster can (and has shown him in practice) be counted on to do given the opponents strengths/weaknesses.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

That was good, Bucky, but you forgot on key threat. The TE, Dustin Keller. So the threats are:

1. Leon Washington - Look for the Jets to get him the ball from a lot of different formations in draws, sweeps, screens and short passes. He is their best offensive player and a threat to go the distance every time he touches the ball (and on my fantasy team) I can see a wildcat look with Leon being the QB or sweep back.

2. The general running game - Not that Thomas is a break away threat. No he's more like ASmith. Solid. Its the OL. This might be the best test of our DL this year. That's why it will be important to have the lead in this game. In the 4th quarter, we DON'T want this OL getting into clock management mode.

3. Dustin Keller - He's going to be a go to guy for Sanchez. He also has the speed to split the middle in cover 2's

So I agree that we could see more true 3-4 this week, but in the secondary, we might not see a true cover 2. BB might disguise a cover 2 that in actuality becomes a cover 3 on the snap of the ball. This will take care of the TE spitting the safeties. The negative is (and there ALWAYS is a negative for every D) the underneath outside zones will be more open. So if you see a number of 10-15 yd out completions you'll know why.

BOTTOM LINE - with this game the key won't be what Defensive alignment we are in, but how many and when. It will be not what we are in when we line up, but what the D morphs into at the snap of the ball.

Rodney noted Houston's lack of disguising coverage. An underestimation?

 

[RoughingthePasser]

After reviewing last night's game, it's pretty evident what the game plan was against the Bills. The Pats played 2 deep - man under almost the entire game, taking away TO and Evans and any deep passes. They were hoping the front 7 would be able to stop the run and cover the underneath stuff to the TEs and backs, but it didn't quite happen that way. The man under coverage was also the reason why the Bills were so successful with the screens (along with Guyton's inability to shed blocks).

Looking at the Jets, I see a completely different game plan based on several factors:
1) Jets' lack of play-making WRs
2) Rookie QB
3) Very good receiving TE
4) Jets' desire to run the ball
5) Defense's shortcomings in week 1.

I expect the D to play a lot of zone coverage - mixing and disguising looks, lots of safeties in the box and pre-snap movement and occasional blitz. I think we'll see a good share of 3-4 as well, as it's more akin to that type of game plan.

The idea of this would be to 1)stop the run and screens (which zone coverage does), and 2) bait Sanchez into making some throws into coverage.

I actually feel pretty good about this week's match-ups on D. We could see 1 or 2 big plays from the Jets, but also a couple of INTs by Sanchez.

In ref. to #1.
Ever heard of Crotchery

He's a big P.I.T.A.

 

[RoughingthePasser]

We will take away the run and force Sanchez to throw more than 30 times.

I agree.
Run D
Pressure on Sanchez=mistakes=turnovers!

Crotchery needs to be contained though.

 

[RoughingthePasser]

This. It just makes more sense to get back to 3-4 and with our OLB/DE hybrids, it's not much for either one to drop on to the line.

After seeing much better secondary play this week (let's face it, Edwards played well and Owens and Evans were basically non-factors), I think the 3-4 would be really effective this year in tearing up O-Lines.

Brief moment of silence of Big Sey being out of that equation.

K, I'm good. Time to see what Brace and Pryor have got. Hopefully it's heavy footfalls in the ears of the likes of Dirty Sanchez.

Imagine if Mayo, Crable, McKenzie were healthy.

 

[bucky]

In ref. to #1.
Ever heard of Crotchery

He's a big P.I.T.A.

True, but Evans > Cotchery. And TO > Cotchery.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

True, but Evans > Cotchery. And TO > Cotchery.

More talented, absolutely. Better is relative. Cotchery is a football player as BB would say. He saved Markie Mark's bacon more than once Sunday. He's burned us more times than TO and LE combined.

 

[bucky]

The why is the oft overlooked Cochery.

And I think you may be disappointed if you're expecting a lot of morphing out of this defense absent Mayo. Don't think there was going to be that much early on even if he was there. Bill knows what he's working with in the aftermath of the retirements and the trade. They gotta walk before they run. He won't fashion a defense based on what would ideally work best. He will fashion it around what his available roster can (and has shown him in practice) be counted on to do given the opponents strengths/weaknesses.

This is a good point. Another thing to consider is that NE plays the Jets twice and I'm sure BB will show some looks in this game that he will use to set them up in game 2.

Still, disguising coverages and zone blitzing isn't exactly nuclear physics. I'm not expecting the 1 DL, 5 LBs, 5DBs Drew Bledsoe defense or anything like that.

 

[Rob0729]

Sanchez practices against a pretty good 3-4. Ideally he sees some things he hasn't seen before at rivalry game speed (thanks Houston for that, too). Our problem will be the loss of Mayo as that really impacts athletiticm vs. TE and RB on screens and slants. Bill said one of the issues Monday night was we weren't recognizing the keys on all the screens because that hasn't been Buffalo's MO and they ran them out of a lot of formations. Mayo's speed and instincts would likely have helped cover for lack of recognition.

I think we have to pressure the youngster while containing him in the pocket. And first and foremost we have to score early and often to ramp up the pressure on him to take chances. Whatever he is or may become i don't think he's ready to win a shootout with TFB and this offense. The best defense in this case is a good offense.

I do agree that keeping Sanchez in the pocket will be big. He made some stupid decisions early against the Texans and in the preseason (especially the Ravens game) when he threw under pressure from the pocket. In the second half on Sunday, the Texans let his scramble out of the pocket to make plays.

 

[BionicPatriot]

Imagine if Mayo, Crable, McKenzie were healthy.

Can't say I'd see two guys making a huge difference, being that they've never taken the field for a meaningful snap

 

[Patspsycho]

Moving Wilfork to DE is one of the worst ideas of the year. To state that we will see this new defense as our bease defense this week is near delusional.

But Belichick has surprised me before.

Well what is your basis for calling it delusional? Don't forget we went to a 4-3 right away when Mayo was injured. From what I know of BB, he always plays to the strengths of the players.

And why is moving Wilfork to DE atrocious as you say it is? Did you ever watch him in college? Also he did this on a few series in the preseason.

I have no problem with you calling me delusional or accusing me of coming up with the worst ideas of the year, as long as you have some base to why you think so, because I am constantly modifying my point of view based on what other people say.. I am constantly learning about the game of football and for me, that never stops.

But if you're just being arbitrary, that's really a moot point.

 

[mgteich]

1) Wilfork is one of the best 3-4 2-gap NT tackles in the league. Wilfork is clearly less valuable at DE. It doens't matter that he was a college DE. In the NFL he is #1 a NT and could be a DT. In fact, many have wanted a 4-3 with Wilfork and Brace in the middle. The fact that Brace isn't yet ready to even play, never mind start, doesn't concern folks much. If we play the 4-3, I expect to see Wilfork as DT with Warren.

2) Warren is one of the most undrerrated 3-4 2-gap DE's in the league. He's not a 4-3 DE. So he is inside. Is he really a better DT than a DE? Of course not. Warren is clearly worth less in a 4-3.

3) It has been said that Green is a better 4-3 DE than a 3-4 DE. Perhaps, perhaps not. In any case, I'm not sure who our best 4-3 ends are.

4) I guess it is not delusional to play a base 4-3 against the jets. It is simply misguided. Against the jests, we need to stop the run and trust our secondary. The best way to do that is in our 3-4 3-gap defense.

BOTTOM LINE
I don't like changing our defense in a way that devalues our top two defensive linemen. This turns the best 3-4 defensive line in the space of two weeks to a mediocre one developing in a new system.

Well what is your basis for calling it delusional? Don't forget we went to a 4-3 right away when Mayo was injured. From what I know of BB, he always plays to the strengths of the players.

And why is moving Wilfork to DE atrocious as you say it is? Did you ever watch him in college? Also he did this on a few series in the preseason.

I have no problem with you calling me delusional or accusing me of coming up with the worst ideas of the year, as long as you have some base to why you think so, because I am constantly modifying my point of view based on what other people say.. I am constantly learning about the game of football and for me, that never stops.

But if you're just being arbitrary, that's really a moot point.

 

[Patspsycho]

1) Wilfork is one of the best 3-4 2-gap NT tackles in the league. Wilfork is clearly less valuable at DE. It doens't matter that he was a college DE. In the NFL he is #1 a NT and could be a DT. In fact, many have wanted a 4-3 with Wilfork and Brace in the middle. The fact that Brace isn't yet ready to even play, never mind start, doesn't concern folks much. If we play the 4-3, I expect to see Wilfork as DT with Warren.

2) Warren is one of the most undrerrated 3-4 2-gap DE's in the league. He's not a 4-3 DE. So he is inside. Is he really a better DT than a DE? Of course not. Warren is clearly worth less in a 4-3.

3) It has been said that Green is a better 4-3 DE than a 3-4 DE. Perhaps, perhaps not. In any case, I'm not sure who our best 4-3 ends are.

4) I guess it is not delusional to play a base 4-3 against the jets. It is simply misguided. Against the jests, we need to stop the run and trust our secondary. The best way to do that is in our 3-4 3-gap defense.

BOTTOM LINE
I don't like changing our defense in a way that devalues our top two defensive linemen. This turns the best 3-4 defensive line in the space of two weeks to a mediocre one developing in a new system.

All good points.. the other point to consider is that Sanchez has shown a great ability to throw on the run and outside the pocket, and we have to contain this, and I am thinking a four man front could do this effectively.

However you are correct that we probably will not use the 4-3 as a base, but go to that as part of a multiple looks defense.

 

[Patspsycho]

I think we'll see more 4 man line this weekend, lot's of gap penetration. Ad in the middle , Guyton outside, lots of cover 1 with a S close to the line of scrimmage.

why would we be playing cover 1? BB does not like to give up the big play.

 

[RayClay]

Time to get back to the 3-4, methinks.

Name the 4.

 

[102 Pat]

I wonder if they will double team Cotchery, he always has big games against the Pats.

 

[alvinnf]

why would we be playing cover 1? BB does not like to give up the big play.

No one like to give up the big play!! Their gonna make Sanchez hold the ball and throw it outside the numbers. As a matter of fact I would be willing to bet that they show a ton of 46 looks with a single high safety!