Patriots without Pioli

[Kasmir]

You do realize that Willis is assigned entirely different responsibliities than Mayo, don't you.
If you are expecting Mayo to read, react and execute his play the way a MLB in a system that asks him to read the play and run to the ball, he will suck in your eyes even if he is the greatest LB to ever play the game.
Mayo's responsibility in the run game is control the gaps on either side of the G he is lined up across from. That is entirely different than what you seem to be saying you want to see him do.
Here are some examples.
If the play is run in either gap between the C and T areas, Mayo must step up, establish the los, and be responsbile for both sides of the G. This typical means he is engaging the G and playing off of the block.
If the play goes away, Mayo job is NOT to read and chase. It is to step up into the G area FIRST and play cutback or counter.
If the play is an onside 'stretch' play, Mayo is not reading where the cut may be and chasing to the sideline, he is stepping up to his area then flowing after he knows the play did not come to or cutback to his area,

You are confusing a MLB in a one gap system who is told he is responsible for every inch of the field, sideline to sideline, to a guy who is first responsible for the area from C to T and then AFTER discharging those responsibilities can he read and chase.
IT is night and day.

Sorry to resurrect this old thread, but I stopped reading it because I was annoyed to find myself in a p*ssing contest with DI.

You seem to believe that LB's in a 2-Gap 3-4 themselves always 2-gap. It's primarily a DL technique. An ILB's responsibility on a particular play *may* be to take on a guard, but it may equally be to diagnose, avoid blocks and make plays. Take a look at this exposition for an example:

Examining LB job responsibilities in the 3-4 - Buffalo Rumblings

Note specifically the different assignments wrt guards between the Sam and Jack ILB's in the 2-Gap scheme described.

Perhaps you're right that the Pats used Mayo to take on guards, but that's not my recollection, and it is by no means some kind of elementary certainty that ILB's will 2-gap guards in a 2-gap defense. *Lots* of 3-4 ILB's take advantage of their speed and set-back advantages to avoid rather than engaging guards. Seau sure did in the Pats defense.

The Patriots obviously had a problem lats year that *neither* Mayo nor Guyton could play a "thumper" role; hence the hopes that Spikes or McKenzie could take on that role and free up Mayo more.

My impression at the beginning of last year was that the Pats were leaning towards more 4-3 looks so they could protect Mayo and take advantage of his exceptional pursuit skills. His early injury nixed all that, and he never really came back from it. But you can also scheme to free up an ILB in a 2-gap 3-4...

 

[Ring 6]

Sorry to resurrect this old thread, but I stopped reading it because I was annoyed to find myself in a p*ssing contest with DI.

You seem to believe that LB's in a 2-Gap 3-4 themselves always 2-gap. It's primarily a DL technique. An ILB's responsibility on a particular play *may* be to take on a guard, but it may equally be to diagnose, avoid blocks and make plays. Take a look at this exposition for an example:

Examining LB job responsibilities in the 3-4 - Buffalo Rumblings

Note specifically the different assignments wrt guards between the Sam and Jack ILB's in the 2-Gap scheme described.

Perhaps you're right that the Pats used Mayo to take on guards, but that's not my recollection, and it is by no means some kind of elementary certainty that ILB's will 2-gap guards in a 2-gap defense. *Lots* of 3-4 ILB's take advantage of their speed and set-back advantages to avoid rather than engaging guards. Seau sure did in the Pats defense.

The Patriots obviously had a problem lats year that *neither* Mayo nor Guyton could play a "thumper" role; hence the hopes that Spikes or McKenzie could take on that role and free up Mayo more.

My impression at the beginning of last year was that the Pats were leaning towards more 4-3 looks so they could protect Mayo and take advantage of his exceptional pursuit skills. His early injury nixed all that, and he never really came back from it. But you can also scheme to free up an ILB in a 2-gap 3-4...

You are confusing 3-4 alignment with 2 gap scheme.
You can't play 2 gap with some of the front 7 and not the others, because then you arent accounting for all of the gaps, as is the basic principle.