Gameplan for SD Starts with SB 36 ?

[VrabelMayeWin]

That is how I'd start out. Not only is Tomlinson a great runner but he's a great receiver with at least 50 catches in each of his NFL season. He's not the same as Marshall Faulk, of course, but he's the same in the sense that the offense revolves around him and not just running the ball. As you'll remember, the first goal of SB 36 was to hit Faulk every time they could to disrupt him in whatever he was trying to do. I would think this would be a decent starting point. Of course, from there the offenses are vastly different.

It's horrible looking at Tomlinson's stats looking for a weakness as he's so good in all ways. But I did find one

Looking at his rushes per game, each set of 5 from 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20 he's averaging 4.2, 7.7, 4.3, 6.1 respectively. No weakness there. But from 21-25 he's averaging 2.3. From 26-30th carry per game he's averaging 3.3. And he only has 35 carries from 21-25 (2 a game) and about 1 a game from more. So he's a 20 carry a game back and is slowed after that. I know I'm stretching because Turner's carries are pretty darn impressive too . . . but it's something.

 

[VrabelMayeWin]

So, what you are saying is that after he runs our asses off in his first 20 runs for 163 yards, we dont have to worry about him after that?

In theory but Turner's numbers are sick too.

I should have left out what I admitted was a stretch on Tomlinson (I won't call him by his initials, some other guy is LT). But the concept of the Marshall Faulk gameplan on Tomlinson is probably a decent way to start against the main cog of their offense.

 

[MrTibbs]

Take a closer look and you will see that the Chargers can't stop the run. Yes the Chargers get sacks but they stuff noone on the ground and don't pick it off as much as the Patriots. The CHargers have won 10 in a row and they are oozing confidence almost to the point of being arrogant. Merriman sent Jason Taylor a lights out hat and T-shirt along with popcorn so he can watch them in the playoffs. Obviously it was a shot at Jason Taylor but I would love for the Patriots to **** kick them and have Jason enjoy the popcorn while his AFCE counterpart Patriots dismantle the Chargers playoff run. The Chargers are primed to lose.

 

[khayos]

SD doesn't have the WR talent that the Rams did. The Chargers are about to have a rude awakening.

 

[VrabelMayeWin]

Take a closer look and you will see that the Chargers can't stop the run. Yes the Chargers get sacks but they stuff noone on the ground.

Football Outsiders ranks their run defense 22nd so there is an opening there. Their defense is good and exciting but it's beatable, that's certainly an opening - I was thinking more about stopping Tomlinson, though.

 

[Deus Irae]

In theory but Turner's numbers are sick too.

I should have left out what I admitted was a stretch on Tomlinson (I won't call him by his initials, some other guy is LT). But the concept of the Marshall Faulk gameplan on Tomlinson is probably a decent way to start against the main cog of their offense.

The good thing about this game is that there's no Marvin Harrison on the outside for San Diego. This should allow New England to match Hobbs and Samuel one-on-one on the outside a lot in this game, and focus the two safeties on run support and defending the tight end.

As usual with this team, the question of victory vs. defeat is probably going to come down to how well the front 3 (sometimes 4) can control that line of scrimmage, because I think Rivers will gift wrap some passes for the Patriots if he gets pressured. He's looked very shaky to me of late.

 

[C'Bad Bolt]

Re: The real "LT"

Tomlinson (I won't call him by his initials, some other guy is LT).

I always find it amusing when people get upset that LaDanian Tomlinson is referred to as "LT" because Lawrence Taylor was called that first. It is not LT's fault he has the same initials as Taylor, or that he is the best player in football.

Besides, isn't is better to bestow the "LT" nickname on a high character, humble guy such as LaDanian? Lets face it, the original "LT" was nothing more than a modern day Cincinnati Bengal.

 

[VrabelMayeWin]

Re: The real "LT"

I always find it amusing when people get upset that LaDanian Tomlinson is referred to as "LT" because Lawrence Taylor was called that first. It is not LT's fault he has the same initials as Taylor, or that he is the best player in football.

Besides, isn't is better to bestow the "LT" nickname on a high character, humble guy such as LaDanian? Lets face it, the original "LT" was nothing more than a modern day Cincinnati Bengal.

Dude, I don't care what you think. I'm just saying I won't call him that. Is that OK with you ?

 

[Deus Irae]

Re: The real "LT"

I always find it amusing when people get upset that LaDanian Tomlinson is referred to as "LT" because Lawrence Taylor was called that first. It is not LT's fault he has the same initials as Taylor, or that he is the best player in football.

Besides, isn't is better to bestow the "LT" nickname on a high character, humble guy such as LaDanian? Lets face it, the original "LT" was nothing more than a modern day Cincinnati Bengal.

For better or worse, there's only one "O.J.", too.

 

[Patriotic Fervor]

Re: The real "LT"

Dude, I don't care what you think. I'm just saying I won't call him that. Is that OK with you ?

I have noticed that the San Diego fans here, much like the team they purport to represent, are not used to the rarified air of NFL playoff activity.

My suggestion is, we humor them in the usual classy adult way we do here at PatsFans. We'll only have to tolerate them a week before we move on to the next opponent!

I say, let's be gracious. We can unload on them next Sunday night.

 

[VrabelMayeWin]

Re: The real "LT"

I have noticed that the San Diego fans here, much like the team they purport to represent, are not used to the rarified air of NFL playoff activity.

My suggestion is, we humor them in the usual classy adult way we do here at PatsFans. We'll only have to tolerate them a week before we move on to the next opponent!

I say, let's be gracious. We can unload on them next Sunday night.

You're right, this is definitely the biggest rush of fans we've seen. Oh, gee, we're going to the Super Bowl

Anyway . . .

Tomlinson next week = Marshall Faulk in SB 36 ???

 

[LT=MVP]

Take a closer look and you will see that the Chargers can't stop the run. Yes the Chargers get sacks but they stuff noone on the ground and don't pick it off as much as the Patriots. The CHargers have won 10 in a row and they are oozing confidence almost to the point of being arrogant. Merriman sent Jason Taylor a lights out hat and T-shirt along with popcorn so he can watch them in the playoffs. Obviously it was a shot at Jason Taylor but I would love for the Patriots to **** kick them and have Jason enjoy the popcorn while his AFCE counterpart Patriots dismantle the Chargers playoff run. The Chargers are primed to lose.

HUH? Can't stop the run? We were #1 in the league till the injury bug hit. You obviously haven't watched any Charger games. With a makeshift line we still ended up 7th against the run. The pats finished 5th. Sorry but we're stout against the run you see come sunday.

 

[LT=MVP]

Re: The real "LT"

You're right, this is definitely the biggest rush of fans we've seen. Oh, gee, we're going to the Super Bowl

Anyway . . .

Tomlinson next week = Marshall Faulk in SB 36 ???

C'mon give us a break! We've never had a mini dynasty like the Pats. We're the #1 seed I think for the 1st time since 81? LT has had a year like no other RB has ever had. We're pumped and have every right to be. Is that a bad thing? It's all in fun. It's all for the love of the game. Plus we've been waiting for a week to see who we play. Should be a fun game.

 

[PatsFan24]

Re: The real "LT"

C'mon give us a break! We've never had a mini dynasty like the Pats. We're the #1 seed I think for the 1st time since 81? LT has had a year like no other RB has ever had. We're pumped and have every right to be. Is that a bad thing? It's all in fun. It's all for the love of the game. Plus we've been waiting for a week to see who we play. Should be a fun game.

3 super bowls in 4 seasons is not a mini dynasty, it is a full one. you should be excited about your team, they are very good and could win it all this year

 

[lttd]

Re: The real "LT"

I have noticed that the San Diego fans here, much like the team they purport to represent, are not used to the rarified air of NFL playoff activity.

My suggestion is, we humor them in the usual classy adult way we do here at PatsFans. We'll only have to tolerate them a week before we move on to the next opponent!

I say, let's be gracious. We can unload on them next Sunday night.

I haven't seen much class from Pats fans here on your boards. It's kind of funny, cause in another thread, all they can talk about is how our fanbase isn't "true"... looks like we started showing up as soon as we could to support our team.

How soon you forget that 6 years ago, you guys were just about in our position. You guys have a recent playoff history, but talking about the past (even the recent) gets old and pretty soon you sound like Raider's fans talking about the "greatness" of their organization.

 

[Deus Irae]

Re: The real "LT"

I haven't seen much class from Pats fans here on your boards. It's kind of funny, cause in another thread, all they can talk about is how our fanbase isn't "true"... looks like we started showing up as soon as we could to support our team.

How soon you forget that 6 years ago, you guys were just about in our position. You guys have a recent playoff history, but talking about the past (even the recent) gets old and pretty soon you sound like Raider's fans talking about the "greatness" of their organization.

This team went 12-4. In recent history, this team has won 3 out of 5 Super Bowls. Had the officiating been correct in Denver last season, and given the way the playoffs played out last season, it's quite possible that this Patriots team would have been a defending Super Bowl champion with 4 titles in 5 years. San Diego, on the other hand, played football in the same division as the Raiders. Congrats on that achievement.

Seriously, I'm pretty sure that Patriots fans really don't give a flying fig whether or not Chargers fans want to hear about the recent, ongoing greatness of what may well be the greatest NFL dynasty in the era of free agency. The great Dallas dynasty of the 90's had a 6 year window of achievement where that team won 70 regular season games. This Patriots team has now won 70 games in the past 6 regular seasons. In year 7, the Cowboys dropped to a 6-10 record. Somehow, I think New England will finish higher than that next season and supplant Dallas as the best of the modern dynasties even if the Patriots lose this weekend and the Super Bowl count remains tied at 3. Now, if you and some of the more trollish Charger fans weren't coming over and trying to piss on our curtains, we probably wouldn't be as testy. Avoid being a troll and you'll find that there are plenty of "classy" people on this board.

 

[The-Beast]

Looking at his rushes per game, each set of 5 from 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20 he's averaging 4.2, 7.7, 4.3, 6.1 respectively. No weakness there. But from 21-25 he's averaging 2.3. From 26-30th carry per game he's averaging 3.3. And he only has 35 carries from 21-25 (2 a game) and about 1 a game from more. So he's a 20 carry a game back and is slowed after that. I know I'm stretching because Turner's carries are pretty darn impressive too . . . but it's something.

You should take those stats with a grain of salt, they are deflated due to running Tomlinson into a 9 man front in oakland where the game was secured.

 

[BumShady911]

That is how I'd start out. Not only is Tomlinson a great runner but he's a great receiver with at least 50 catches in each of his NFL season. He's not the same as Marshall Faulk, of course, but he's the same in the sense that the offense revolves around him and not just running the ball. As you'll remember, the first goal of SB 36 was to hit Faulk every time they could to disrupt him in whatever he was trying to do. I would think this would be a decent starting point. Of course, from there the offenses are vastly different.

It's horrible looking at Tomlinson's stats looking for a weakness as he's so good in all ways. But I did find one

Looking at his rushes per game, each set of 5 from 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20 he's averaging 4.2, 7.7, 4.3, 6.1 respectively. No weakness there. But from 21-25 he's averaging 2.3. From 26-30th carry per game he's averaging 3.3. And he only has 35 carries from 21-25 (2 a game) and about 1 a game from more. So he's a 20 carry a game back and is slowed after that. I know I'm stretching because Turner's carries are pretty darn impressive too . . . but it's something.

You are an idiot the Chargers are going to do to the Pats what the Broncos did to them last year, make Brady look stupid. Look for some picks in the endzone.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Posted the SB 36 similarities earlier in another thread. I agree. By the way, in terms of similarities, Faulk in 2001 is the closest modern approximation you can find to LT. The halfback option pass is all LT has over Faulk (and given that we can take away LT on the ground and as a receiver, theoretically, I would not be surprised to see them go that way at least once.)

Now, what I'd really like to see is the Pats finding some "tell" for the HB option pass, and get an INT of one of those bad boys.

PFnV

 

[stinkypete]

That is how I'd start out. Not only is Tomlinson a great runner but he's a great receiver with at least 50 catches in each of his NFL season. He's not the same as Marshall Faulk, of course, but he's the same in the sense that the offense revolves around him and not just running the ball. As you'll remember, the first goal of SB 36 was to hit Faulk every time they could to disrupt him in whatever he was trying to do. I would think this would be a decent starting point. Of course, from there the offenses are vastly different.

It's horrible looking at Tomlinson's stats looking for a weakness as he's so good in all ways. But I did find one

Looking at his rushes per game, each set of 5 from 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20 he's averaging 4.2, 7.7, 4.3, 6.1 respectively. No weakness there. But from 21-25 he's averaging 2.3. From 26-30th carry per game he's averaging 3.3. And he only has 35 carries from 21-25 (2 a game) and about 1 a game from more. So he's a 20 carry a game back and is slowed after that. I know I'm stretching because Turner's carries are pretty darn impressive too . . . but it's something.

Problem is that if LT is running the ball 30-35 times, it probably means the Chargers are comfortable ahead.