How to stop the Patriots

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

How do you stop the Pats in 3 simple solutions

1) Collapse the pocket within 3 seconds
2) Collapse the pocket within 3 seconds
3) Collapse the pocket within 3 seconds

Did I mention to collapse the pocket within 3 seconds??

 

[jays52]

I don't think it's as simple as people make it out to be. Saying something like, "oh, it's as simple as press the outside receivers, generate fantastic a-gap pressure, and then flood the field with like 7 or 8 guys" makes me wonder how one is going to sneak those extra six or so defenders onto the field.

This is a different animal than the previously bested offenses. It has similar traits, but there is no mistaking that it is a different beast entirely. I've been thinking about how I would go about taking out this offense. He's my take on it.

Remember what Belichick screamed to his defense before the 2001 Superbowl during practice? That's right, "Where is he?!?". This offense revolves around Gronkowski. Make no mistake about it. This is Gronk's offense. He is the second most important player on the Patriots. A defense can assume a reasonable probability that Gronk is going to be a centerpiece of most gameplans. So what do you do? You make sure that no matter where he is, no matter where he gets motioned to, you assign a big body to him first. The logic is twofold. First, Gronk is the fullback. Motion based tight end blocking accomplishes what fullback accomplishes. They aren't running a lot of zone plays this season, so he will seldom be making a backside seal off of that motion. Instead, he is often wham blocking, kicking out a player, or sealing the edge. He is going to be used more frequently in run plays than he isn't. If I can kill the initial read I'll take my chances on the back making a smart cut. I don't respect their homerun potential, and I bet that by the time a back tries to cut one back my pursuit will have closed already. If they put a fullback in to counter this at the expense of a receiving threat I'm doing backflips. The key in the passing game isn't to jam the receivers, it's to jam Gronk. I will put an end on him and instruct him to forgo his rush in favor of grabbing 87. If Gronk is able to release, he beats any player in a matchup situation. You cannot allow him to get off the line. I make stopping 87 the priority of my gameplan.

I pay little to no attention to the outside receivers. That is not a big concern to me. I don't think Branch can hurt me if I don't allow the play to break down. Brady is most vulnerable to a-gap pressure. This will come from simple math diguised blitzes coming from the inside, but those will be used situationally and sparingly at that. I would move an end to the 3. My biggest corner is going to cover Hernandez who I think can't beat a good physical corner. I trust my linemen to win the individual matchups. I will utilize my slot corner and outside linebacker to bracket Welker and take away the bread and butter that is his i/o. Of course, this will leave me vulnerable to him running the seam but I think that's a high turnover percentage play.

I would mix in man with a lot of zone, and stay in a single-high safety look. There's no need to have two safeties deep against the Patriots and in doing that you play into their hands. The greatest vulnerability of the 2 safety look is what TE's do best. I like an interior zone because in such a tight offense, there's going to be some tight lanes and I think I can get some tipped balls. I also don't want to be in man all that often because the Patriots beat man exceptionally well. I will not try to play a personnel game with them because eventually they will get something they like and go no huddle.

The most important part of this gameplan other than Gronkowski is to anticipate where there will be weaknesses after my initial push. I know that I will be conceding a lot of things to take away what the Patriots do, and they are too skilled not to exploit this. At a certain point in the adjustment battle, I must make a dramatic defensive shift. I understand that I must continually shift in and out of what I chose to defend and how I chose to defend that. I must mix flood coverages from my traditional pressure looks and the inverse.

The offense, at full strength, is a heck of a lot harder to solve over 60 minutes than the other two big offenses. One must stay ahead in the adjustment battle, and anticipate what adjustments will be made. It is critical to defend effectively while baiting adjustments. The most important thing, though, is to shut down Gronkowski. If I can prevent Gronkowski from having a game, I will take my chances with Hernandez and Welker assuming I have the personnel.

 

[ALP]

The blueprint's always the same, and there are two prongs to it.


1.) Blitz the hell out of the QB, especially up the middle, and get there.

2.) Have 2 talented CBs who can lock down the receivers, and a safety (or safety/LB duo) who can lock down a TE.

As a general rule, it works against every elite QB in the league except Manning. For Manning, the blueprint is to knock his receivers off their routes, generally rush only 3 or 4, and disguise the coverages.

The reason the Patriots, Packers and Saints are dodging this right now isn't the QBs, it's the surrounding personnel. None of these teams are designed around 2WR/1TE/1RB. The Packers have about a million wideouts who can all get open, and they've got Finley. The Saints have plenty of wideouts, Graham, and a stable of RBs who can get the job done. That allows both GB and NO to flood the field with more WRs than even excellent defenses can cover. It's not really surprising that the Chiefs were able to give the Packers a game, because they've got 2 very good corners AND a very good nickel, which allowed them to play even with the Packers wideouts.

The Patriots are different from those two in that they are really a 1WR/2TE/1RB team, which means that the second good corner is all but wasted and the pressure is put on the safeties in an era of weak safety play. The way to really slow the Patriots is to stick your CB1 on Welker and then double or shade coverage on Gronk and Hernandez with a good safety-LB combo. That's part of why a team like the Steelers could slow the Patriots down, and I bet it's one of the reasons Ryan's kicking himself for not getting a better safety than Smith in this past offseason.

The good news in this for the Patriots, from what I'm told, is that this year's safety crop looks weak.

My $.02.

good news for our offense next year, really bad news for our defense

 

[Deus Irae]

good news for our offense next year, really bad news for our defense

Yep... but this was about stopping the Patriots, not the Patriots stopping others, so I didn't want to go down that road.

 

[Dessalines]

The book on beating the PATS does involve re-routing receivers but it also requires pressure on Brady up the middle. Getting the running game defeats this approach.

 

[RodThePat]

The blueprint's always the same, and there are two prongs to it.


1.) Blitz the hell out of the QB, especially up the middle, and get there.

2.) Have 2 talented CBs who can lock down the receivers, and a safety (or safety/LB duo) who can lock down a TE.

As a general rule, it works against every elite QB in the league except Manning. For Manning, the blueprint is to knock his receivers off their routes, generally rush only 3 or 4, and disguise the coverages.

The reason the Patriots, Packers and Saints are dodging this right now isn't the QBs, it's the surrounding personnel. None of these teams are designed around 2WR/1TE/1RB. The Packers have about a million wideouts who can all get open, and they've got Finley. The Saints have plenty of wideouts, Graham, and a stable of RBs who can get the job done. That allows both GB and NO to flood the field with more WRs than even excellent defenses can cover. It's not really surprising that the Chiefs were able to give the Packers a game, because they've got 2 very good corners AND a very good nickel, which allowed them to play even with the Packers wideouts.

The Patriots are different from those two in that they are really a 1WR/2TE/1RB team, which means that the second good corner is all but wasted and the pressure is put on the safeties in an era of weak safety play. The way to really slow the Patriots is to stick your CB1 on Welker and then double or shade coverage on Gronk and Hernandez with a good safety-LB combo. That's part of why a team like the Steelers could slow the Patriots down, and I bet it's one of the reasons Ryan's kicking himself for not getting a better safety than Smith in this past offseason.

The good news in this for the Patriots, from what I'm told, is that this year's safety crop looks weak.

My $.02.

That really is pretty much it. As we stand, the only receiver we have with the ability to beat press-man coverage with reasonable consistency is Ocho, and he can't get on the field.

That's why I have a problem with people who say we need a 'deep-threat' receiver. We actually don't. If we get a DeSean Jackson, he'll be able to take the top off the defense, but he'll struggle against the same kind of coverages both Welker and Branch struggle against. We need a physical presence that can line up wide and threaten from the outside, with the ability to beat man coverage with a combination of size and athleticism. A guy like Notre Dame's Michael Floyd, Dwayne Bowe, Marques Colston or Vincent Jackson would be perfect for this offense. He doesn't even have to be elite, or tremendously talented, just athletic enough and an above-average route runner.

 

[Deus Irae]

That really is pretty much it. As we stand, the only receiver we have with the ability to beat press-man coverage with reasonable consistency is Ocho, and he can't get on the field.

That's why I have a problem with people who say we need a 'deep-threat' receiver. We actually don't. If we get a DeSean Jackson, he'll be able to take the top off the defense, but he'll struggle against the same kind of coverages both Welker and Branch struggle against. We need a physical presence that can line up wide and threaten from the outside, with the ability to beat man coverage with a combination of size and athleticism. A guy like Notre Dame's Michael Floyd, Dwayne Bowe, Marques Colston or Vincent Jackson would be perfect for this offense. He doesn't even have to be elite, or tremendously talented, just athletic enough and an above-average route runner.

They absolutely need a receiver that can threaten middle-deep. BB seems to understand this, given both his draft attempts and his trade attempts.

 

[RodThePat]

They absolutely need a receiver that can threaten middle-deep. BB seems to understand this, given both his draft attempts and his trade attempts.

Sure, my point is that merely having the ability to threaten middle deep isn't enough. I don't think a guy like Brandon Tate, with his size and skillset would be the type of outside receiver the Patriots needed, even if he realized his potential. I would rather have a big, strong guy who runs a 4.50 forty on the outside than a small, shifty guy that runs a 4.35 forty. As much as I like Branch and Welker, I think we need a guy that is able to make a catch even if the coverage is good and the corners are getting physical.