We saw more Blitzing than London did in 1940-41

[goheels22002]

The big take away from the Dolphins game at home for me was the constant stunting and blitzing by the defense, especially in the second half. The defense came alive with six sacks, two interceptions and one forced fumble as the defense swarmed all over the place attacking Tannehill and the Dolphins pass blockers.

I could not find a statistic for the percentage of blitzing plays, but it had to be 70% or higher in the second half.

Best of all was the last couple of drives by the Dolphins when the Pats had the lead. Belichick and Patricia didn't retreat into a "prevent" defense and just kept the dogs hunting in the Dolphins backfield. There is nothing I hate more than that stupid prevent defense late when the horse that brung ya was a full-throttle aggressive defense.

To see Marquice Cole, Duron Harmon and Logan Ryan getting interceptions, sacks and causing mayhem is a wonderful thing. That can only happen when the defensive line and linebackers are storming the castle.

 

[dales804]

BB said they blitzed so much to take away the pass in the middle of the field and force Tannehill to throw outside. That plan worked to perfection as the game wore on. It's great to see a NE defense finally attacking. But we know this is a game plan defense and they'll adjust depending on the strengths, or weaknesses, of their opponent.

 

[AzPatsFan]

BB said they blitzed so much to take away the pass in the middle of the field and force Tannehill to throw outside. That plan worked to perfection as the game wore on. It's great to see a NE defense finally attacking. But we know this is a game plan defense and they'll adjust depending on the strengths, or weaknesses, of their opponent.

You can blitz only occasionally or you'll get barbequed. I recall Pete Carroll's teams opening extraordinarily well for 3-5 games, while unveiling exotic blitzes.

But once it was on film, the OCs of the league adjusted, and the Carroll teams petered out and finished with lots of losses.
Mattty P waited until after halftime to unveil his blitzes,so the coaches couldn't counter, and the Phish and its coaches were totally unprepared for what he did.
Now all the opponents OCs know the Pats have that in their playbooks, even if they don't use them. Just more wasted prep for the opponents.

 

[Kontradiction]

The Dolphins' OL is a weakness and Tannehill has trouble going through his progressions quickly. Why there weren't more stunts in the first half is beyond me.

 

[Ozymandias]

Why there weren't more stunts in the first half is beyond me.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

 

[Koma]

Too soon, OP. Too soon.

 

[Kontradiction]

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Either that, or Patricia and Belichick got a good look at Tannehill and diagnosed the same thing I just did in my last post. With how much heat the Pats were bringing, a better QB with a better OL would have absolutely torched the them.

 

[Ozymandias]

Either that, or Patricia and Belichick got a good look at Tannehill and diagnosed the same thing I just did in my last post. With how much heat the Pats were bringing, a better QB with a better OL would have absolutely torched the them.

I think it was a bit of both. One thing leading into another type of thing.

They were down, and instead sitting on their hands just waiting to lose, they took action. Went after Tannehill with fury and once they saw that it was working, they decided to stick with it.

Tannehill and his O-Line wilted under all that pressure, but I doubt the Patriots would've been so aggressive in the second half had the score be reversed and they were up 17-3 instead of down by that margin. A shrewd strategy, but one that paid off immensely. The Patriots were definitely playing with (more) desperation.

 

[Get it shawtaay]

Its nice to watch... when it works.

Live by the blitz, die by the blitz.

 

[Sicilian]

It looks flashy and it worked great for the time it was used. But it's just like the gameplan for Tony Gonzalez at the end of the Atlanta game. In the final minutes, when there isn't much time to adjust, double-mauling Gonzalez worked like a charm. But if you tried to do that from the beginning of the game on? Almost any OC in the league is going to find the weakness you're inevitably leaving through that strategy.

The blitzing worked great looked great, but if they'd done that from snap 1, by the time the fourth quarter rolled around, you know the Dolphins would have adjusted and burned us, especially without our best CB.

 

[Boston Boxer]

The big take away from the Dolphins game at home for me was the constant stunting and blitzing by the defense, especially in the second half. The defense came alive with six sacks, two interceptions and one forced fumble as the defense swarmed all over the place attacking Tannehill and the Dolphins pass blockers.

I could not find a statistic for the percentage of blitzing plays, but it had to be 70% or higher in the second half.

Best of all was the last couple of drives by the Dolphins when the Pats had the lead. Belichick and Patricia didn't retreat into a "prevent" defense and just kept the dogs hunting in the Dolphins backfield. There is nothing I hate more than that stupid prevent defense late when the horse that brung ya was a full-throttle aggressive defense.

To see Marquice Cole, Duron Harmon and Logan Ryan getting interceptions, sacks and causing mayhem is a wonderful thing. That can only happen when the defensive line and linebackers are storming the castle.

it was like i was playing Madden. I want to see more of the same

 

[nabwong]

I managed to sneak onto the sidelines after the offense 1st failed drive of the 2nd half and heard the defense gameplan.

http://youtu.be/el5QXV-W5_g

 

[CelticPatriot]

This is irrelevant... but a house about 4 along from me was destroyed during the blitz (and rebuilt obviously)

 

[SEA_Pat]

I loved the Pete Carroll defenses that blitzed like crazy, although didn't much like the results of the games. And of course there's going to be a limit to its effectiveness if we were to use it as much as that second half. On the other hand...putting more blitz in the mix can only be a good thing as far as making teams more hesitant, especially in terms of changing play calls at the line of scrimmage. We can now fake blitz and teams will have to take it more seriously, whereas before I can't believe it was very effective against the better QBs in the league who were aware of our tendency to back off 98% of the time.

Carroll's teams could blitz more because they had a good secondary that could maintain reasonable coverage even when they sent the house. We haven't blitzed much because we haven't had that for quite some time. It would appear we're on the verge of having this again, if not there already with the emergence of Logan Ryan. Count me in for more aggression on the D, especially while they're sorting out the O.

 

[pazrul72]

Remember when Pittsburg was known for its zone blitz and coverage and Brady would routinely carve them up because he knew exactly what was coming? Then for one game they totally switched it up and they shut Brady down and won the game. Kind of the same thing going on here. I'm sure every team that watches film of the pats D knows they tend to be more of a contain bend but don't break D that rarely sends the house. Blitzing like that only works if you have the element of surprise, someone being where you don't think they will be. If you look at the stats of the Elite QB's in the league their stats are better against the blitz because to add the pressure you give up coverage somewhere. Blitzing only works if you get there before they find the hole. I forget the exact play but there was a third and long where the pats sent the house and a simple WR screen went for 30 yards. So while I like the blitz sprinkled in and agree the pats don't use it enough I do not want to see them use the 2nd half game plan on a week to week basis.

 

[goheels22002]

In second-half comeback, the Patriots blitz gave Dolphins fits - Sports - The Boston Globe

Here's another indication that Ben Volin is watching this messageboard and getting ideas for his stories. Welcome, Ben, and thank you for the data on blitzes versus the Dolphins.