Getting back on track. I got to thinking about the defensive game plan. The first thing you do when you start thinking about your defensive game plan is to try to assume what the opposition is going to try and do to you to win the game.
In this case its quite apparent that the Titans will look to 1. establish dominance at the LOS. 2. run the ball and kill the clock. 3. Use Mariota to attack the edges of the defense with with bootlegs and read options. 4. Take a few shots deep with their rookie speed WR to loosen up the secondary to free up shorter crossers. 5. Get Delanie Walker open.
On their side the Pats will do everything in their power to, 1. keep Mariota in the pocket, so we will be using the very unsatisfying slow edge rush this week. . 2. Look to see stunts and blitzes to attack the middle of the D and force Mariota out to the DE's. 3. Control the run game. That doesn't mean you shut it down completely. They aren't going to beat you with a run game, but have run blitzes ready so they can't control the clock. 4. Gets some Freakin' TO's for a change. 5. Limit the number of "big plays" 25+ yds and keep them under 20pts
On the offensive side of the ball. I also think it's simple. They are going to want to conrol the clock and thus shorten the game. We should speed up the pace on offense, and make it difficult for them to communicate.
Lebeau does some really nice things with his myriad of zone blitz schemes. It is stupid to think he is just going to run the same stuff he ran in Pittsburgh. You don't get to coach in this league into your 80's by not being able to adjust. When you look at the KC game you can see a number of great schemes where the Titans were able to get guys free runs at the QB, while only committing 4 men to the rush. Schemes I wouldn't mind see the Pats run once in a while
That being said, there isn't much that Lebeau can throw at Brady that he hasn't seen before. But because its not easy to pick all this up, there WILL be a few times where either the protection or Brady doesn't read it right. What you have to do is make them pay dearly on the majority of the times the protection picks it up and make the right reads.
Lebeau has traditionally been pretty much zone behind those blitzes with 3 deep and 4 under. You have to think though, much like the Steelers did, he'll have to throw more man, or tighter underneath zones to squeeze the Pats underneath game. As an example think back to Rex Ryan's overload zone blitzes and 3 man rushes with FIVE under and 3 deep of his hey day with the Jets from 2010-12. These proved to be very confusing to Brady for a while.
By going with a fast paced no huddle you can take advantage of one of the Pats great strengths, which is being able to make wholesale substitutions on the fly during a no huddle operation. We are great at it. The opposition usually isn't. They usually end up in a wrong personnel package against the right formation and communication breaks down. This is a BIG advantage of being at home.
If the Pats do that and execute well, then I can see them putting the scoring pressure on the Titans, and unlike KC, they aren't going to let up in the 2nd half.
Just a few thoughts off the top of my head. What do you think the game plan should be?
