Some changes I’ve noticed over the last 6 quarters or so:
- Brady getting rid of the ball much quicker and not read/reacting for three seconds; also moving more in pocket by design...seems to be anticipating pressure and semi-scrambling rather than expecting to stand tall.
- Brate emerging as middle of field target...his emergence has been key. Brady trusts him.
- Evans running variety of routes with goal to get him the ball in space, rather than force feeding him the ball on deep passes (this is the biggest reason for improvement.)
- Godwin running a lot more inside routes. He is doing what the Patriots wanted from Sanu and what Brady likes from receivers. AB on the outside is giving Godwin some favorable matchups on the inside.
- Ronald Jones (thankfully) out of lineup, as he is a horrendous pass catcher and pass blocker. Fournette an improvement but Vaughn is a huge improvement. Vaughn should be in for every passing down.
- Lots of different personnel groupings rather than that stupid 2-WR, 2-TE heavy package that Arians likes. Also personnel groupings aren’t matched by down/distance in asinine way like before (every first down was heavy with Brady under center and Jones; every third and long was a spread.)
- Offense is shifting from an “outside-in” approach of looking for deep plays to open up playbook and instead to “inside-out” approach of slants, middle of field routes, quick outs, etc. to open up the over the top plays.
- Main thing is Brady seems a lot more confortable; the tempo is faster and he is a lot more decisive. Seems like he’s figuring it out pre-snap and knows where his guys will be.
Hope this is a real philosophy shift, but I’m skeptical. I honestly think that if a lot of forum posters were calling plays, they’d be 13-3. The stupidity of Arians and Leftwich is really baffling.
I don’t even think the offensive line is the problem; they’ve allowed sacks/pressures similar to Patriots teams. Problems have arisen from solid pass rushes (New Orleans, LAR, Chicago) where, in New England, those pass rushes cause the same problems. The difference is that the Patriots were prepared to handle them with quick passes and misdirections and set blocking schemes accordingly.
We’ll see how Tampa will do against a good defensive front; they seem to be a lot more cohesive now, but it doesn’t mean anything until tested in a real battle.
