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If you are like me, you have spent many happy hours over the last 11 days watching the various postmortems of this, the 2nd most surprising, of our Superbowl wins. You have scoured the "rewatch thread". You have watched the "turning point"... at least twice. Listened to the myriad of the "mic'd up" clips And thoroughly enjoyed watching all the clips of those talking heads having to eat crow (once again) and sing the praises of our home team. And, man, it REALLY does never get old, does it? 
But it's been over a week and a half now and I thought it might be time for some introspection and list at least some of the things that stuck out to me, and hopefully have some of you add your own things to this list. Some of these things are obvious and have been talked about a bit. Some are less so and deserve more discussion. Either way, I find this a good exercise to flush out the 2018 season so we can get on to the next.
The more I learned about football over the years, the more I fell in love with the game. I got to play it in HS, college, and a few years beyond that. I actually thought I was pretty knowledgeable when I played. However it was only when I started coaching that I learned just how little I actually knew about the game, and when circumstances caused me to leave coaching almost 20 years later, I had to acknowledge just how much MORE there was left to learn. So even after all those years of coaches clinics and long summertime chalkboard sessions with colleagues, I was left with a healthy respect for just how much I DIDN'T know.
One of the reasons I fell in love with this game was the fact that when it was coached well, the sum became greater than the individual parts. On all levels, good coaching really, really matters. We have been so fortunate to watch the results of good coaching for close to 20 years now. So, a discussion of WHY is never redundant. If it was a simple process, everyone would do it, right? And a lot of very smart men don't seem to reach that goal. it is in that vein, I wanted to point out a few observations on things the Pats did in this game that made me proud to be a Pats fan.
a. Watching all the clips this past week, I noticed that there were several good plays that featured players like Danny Shelton, Aaron Claybourn, and Malcolm Brown. It occurred to me that at some point this season all three had been healthy scratches (and in the case of Claybourn and Shelton, more than once). All three had to know that it was likely they wouldn't be with the Pats next season. Yet SOMEHOW, Bill, his staff and the locker room still kept these guys invested and bought in to the point that when their time came, in the season's most important game, all three made key plays. That doesn't happen anywhere else!
On every other team in the league you would lose that guy. He'd check out mentally and be looking forward to his next team. What a tremendous coaching job. A credit not only to the coaches, but the team leadership and locker room that kept these guys committed are ready play when finally called on.
b. Tom Brady clearly didn't have his best game (until it really mattered), but the effect of his leadership was so evident during this game. Now one of my pet peeves about this game was the notion that the Rams defense was JUST as effective as the Pats was during this game. But the reality was that, while Rams D was very good, the Pats WERE moving the ball at times but were constantly shooting themselves in the foot at key times. But looking at the clips, Brady kept his guys ready, alert and motivated, so when "the moment" came. His offense was ready to execute. And it took BOTH those final 2 drives to cement the win.
One clip in the post game locker room that impressed me was Brady walking up to CPatterson and basically apologizing for some throw he made to him. Patterson isn't "one of his guys". In fact, he could be another of those 'one and done' players. But Brady took the time to seek HIM out to talk to him. He didn't need to do this, but he did. And in that moment we saw WHY these guys would follow him into a fire and not even think about it.
c, I loved how often you saw offensive and defensive players hugging each other. Another sign just how homogeneous this team is. Lots of differing roles, but only ONE team. The concept is simple and the goal is an obvious one, but as we see so often, reaching that goal is VERY difficult when you are dealing with 53+ alpha males and asking each of them to give up something to help achieve a greater goal.
d. . You couldn't help notice that when the camera showed Bill talking to his team he was reinforcing SPECIFIC coaching points to his players. When they panned to McVay, he was always speaking in some kind of positive generalities weren't really helping his players do better. Clearly it was evident that there was a mismatch in coaching going on. Not that it was so evident in the x's and o's, but in just HOW they each communicated to their respective teams. That being said, I think this says less about any flaw in McVay's game other than experience, and more about an insight in how Bill gets HIS team to focus on the task at hand. McVay, who is Edelman's age, is a student of the game and will likely learn a lot from this very painful lesson.
e. So how did a defense that had only one ProBowl player hold the 2nd best offense in the league to 3 points (on a 53 yd FG at that) and not ONCE in the red zone? Hard to believe, let alone discuss with any real conviction, but I'll try and hope for some help from you.
1. Experience helps. It is clear that the Pats had a great grasp of the Rams offensive concepts. They KNEW what the Rams would do vs various defensive stratagems, and created a flexible plan that would make it difficult to accomplish their goals. The secret beauty of the plan is that it isn't just something you put together and trust it will be effective all game. The OTHER guys adjust too. So you plan must be fluid and EVER adjusting to the adjustments.
2. The first order of business would be to stop the Ram run game. The zone blocking scheme with a good OL and a GREAT RB was going to go against a seemingly mediocre looking front 7 that lacked a single "impact player"... or so it seemed going in to the game.
I almost did a double take the first time I noticed the 6-1 alignment. In fact I wasn't sure I saw what I saw until I started seeing some of the play clips after the game My first year of coaching was back in 1969. Back THEN the 6-1 alignment was dated. It was something you only saw on the GL or in very short yardage. It wasn't what you expected to see 5o years later in the superbowl. But it worked beautifully, because it defeated the stretch run plays that the Rams loved because it put a man on every Ram blocker. That meant no double teams, no pulls, and it was much easier to set the edge against any of Rams TE's, who Bill had determined were poor blockers.
There was a great Baldinger clip where the Rams were in an 11 alignment and had Reynolds winged up next to the OT. Chung lined up like an old DE right over Reynolds. The Rams ran the ball right at him. He defeated the block, threw Reynolds aside and stepped up to meet Gurley in the hole for a 2 yd gain. Once Chung beat the block there was no place for Gurley to go. No cut back lanes, no breaking it outside. It was a simple case of the Pats front 7 beating the that highly rated Rams OL one on one.
So how did they do that? There was another Baldinger clip that showed how the Pats DL were consistently playing lower than the Rams OL. Even back in my day, the "low man" won most of the up front battles. Another "simple" concept, yet one hard to implement. UNLESS you have a committed and disciplined team to work with,
f. So how did a team who was the 2nd WORST team in getting sacks during the regular season, suddenly become the leading sack team in the playoffs.....by far (10 sacks vs 7 for the 2nd best team - Colts) But even more importantly we saw how consistently they "pressured" and hit the QB. I remember how back in 2015 such a big deal was made of how the Bronco's just crushed Brady in their 2 pts win. A big deal was made about how they had put Brady down 12 times between sacks and hits. Well in this game the Pats hit Goff 12 times AND sacked him an additional 4 times. OUCH!
How was that done? And perhaps a better question is where was all that pressure during the regular season? I don't know. But the explanation that was given was one that seemed to be confirmed by what I saw in the clips.
1. Great series of schemes 2. great execution. 3. great coverage that gave the front 7 that extra second or 2 to get to their man.
The key, I think, was that Bill wasn't as impressed by the Rams OL as we were. By most accounts the Rams OL was rated the first or second by most services. But Bill thought they were better as a group than as individuals, so the plan was to keep them from "helping out". To do that the Pats planned to rush 5 against 5 and thus keep them from doubling. That's the general rule when you think the OL is weak. The corollary to that is when you need an extra DB, rush 4, but make it look like 5 are coming. Finally add to the confusion by stemming your DL.LB's (stunts).
Baldinger has clips on this that show that nothing the Pats did was revolutionary, but most were very well executed and designed that they consistently created pressure over half the time (which is a great percentage) Again those key elements, of execution and designed. It was beautiful to watch.
The end result was perhaps the most dominating defensive performance in a Superbowl since the 85 Bears (who gave up a garbage time TD late in the game) McVay will have a LOT of work to do this off season because this tape isn't going away. Everyone will be using it as a 'bluprint' on how to stop the Rams' offense. McVay's job will be to try and make his adjustments to that eventuality.
g. One of my favorite post game scenes was the one between Slater and Edelman. The sincerity of Slate's happiness on hearing that Jules got the MVP was breathtaking. He was literally crying with joy. BTW- Slater would be another guy who might just call it a career. And while you might be able to replace his work on ST's; they will be very hard pressed to replace his presence in the locker room. Slate is truly a leader of men. When his career is done, and I was a political party ,he'd be the first guy I'd go and recruit.
h. So back to the question I alluded to earlier, "where was this defense during the regular season"? Why did it take so long to manifest to what we saw in the playoffs? I really don't have an answer, but I thought it would be a good topic to speculate on.
i. Another question that comes to mind is where this defense LAST year? Well part of the answer is that JJones and Hightower (who both played key roles) weren't on the field. The RPO was still being deciphered. Foles played out of his mind in what was likely a career game.
I don't think it was a failure of Patricia. Remember that the basic concepts that formed the D plan came from the success Detroit had on defense. Bottom line was that the defense last year didn't have the same focus and execution we got this year.
j. So what about next year. There are teams who will have lots of cap space to buy talent. There are teams that will, by way of high picks in the draft, will add top end talent. Meanwhile the Pats will take their FA losses....again. On average fully 15-20 players on the final 53 will NOT be with the team next year. There is a reason why Bill gets them to forget about the past year, win or lose. Next year's team will be very different in their make up and character and require the staff to determine it's "identity" and the best ways to get them to reach their potential.
That will be a tall order in a year when they will, not only lose key players to FA and retirements, but they have also lost a significant portion of their staff. So it will be a very interesting off season. And while it doesn't ALWAYS work out, and we can expect a lot of our competition to get more TALENTED, we have come to expect that whatever 53 guys we trot out there come September, they will be much BETTER come December, January, and beyond. That is all we can ask.
Enjoy this because it might be as long a 12 months before we might feel this way again.
But it's been over a week and a half now and I thought it might be time for some introspection and list at least some of the things that stuck out to me, and hopefully have some of you add your own things to this list. Some of these things are obvious and have been talked about a bit. Some are less so and deserve more discussion. Either way, I find this a good exercise to flush out the 2018 season so we can get on to the next.
The more I learned about football over the years, the more I fell in love with the game. I got to play it in HS, college, and a few years beyond that. I actually thought I was pretty knowledgeable when I played. However it was only when I started coaching that I learned just how little I actually knew about the game, and when circumstances caused me to leave coaching almost 20 years later, I had to acknowledge just how much MORE there was left to learn. So even after all those years of coaches clinics and long summertime chalkboard sessions with colleagues, I was left with a healthy respect for just how much I DIDN'T know.
One of the reasons I fell in love with this game was the fact that when it was coached well, the sum became greater than the individual parts. On all levels, good coaching really, really matters. We have been so fortunate to watch the results of good coaching for close to 20 years now. So, a discussion of WHY is never redundant. If it was a simple process, everyone would do it, right? And a lot of very smart men don't seem to reach that goal. it is in that vein, I wanted to point out a few observations on things the Pats did in this game that made me proud to be a Pats fan.
a. Watching all the clips this past week, I noticed that there were several good plays that featured players like Danny Shelton, Aaron Claybourn, and Malcolm Brown. It occurred to me that at some point this season all three had been healthy scratches (and in the case of Claybourn and Shelton, more than once). All three had to know that it was likely they wouldn't be with the Pats next season. Yet SOMEHOW, Bill, his staff and the locker room still kept these guys invested and bought in to the point that when their time came, in the season's most important game, all three made key plays.
That doesn't happen anywhere else!On every other team in the league you would lose that guy. He'd check out mentally and be looking forward to his next team. What a tremendous coaching job. A credit not only to the coaches, but the team leadership and locker room that kept these guys committed are ready play when finally called on.
b. Tom Brady clearly didn't have his best game (until it really mattered), but the effect of his leadership was so evident during this game. Now one of my pet peeves about this game was the notion that the Rams defense was JUST as effective as the Pats was during this game. But the reality was that, while Rams D was very good, the Pats WERE moving the ball at times but were constantly shooting themselves in the foot at key times. But looking at the clips, Brady kept his guys ready, alert and motivated, so when "the moment" came. His offense was ready to execute. And it took BOTH those final 2 drives to cement the win.
One clip in the post game locker room that impressed me was Brady walking up to CPatterson and basically apologizing for some throw he made to him. Patterson isn't "one of his guys". In fact, he could be another of those 'one and done' players. But Brady took the time to seek HIM out to talk to him. He didn't need to do this, but he did. And in that moment we saw WHY these guys would follow him into a fire and not even think about it.
c, I loved how often you saw offensive and defensive players hugging each other. Another sign just how homogeneous this team is. Lots of differing roles, but only ONE team. The concept is simple and the goal is an obvious one, but as we see so often, reaching that goal is VERY difficult when you are dealing with 53+ alpha males and asking each of them to give up something to help achieve a greater goal.
d. . You couldn't help notice that when the camera showed Bill talking to his team he was reinforcing SPECIFIC coaching points to his players. When they panned to McVay, he was always speaking in some kind of positive generalities weren't really helping his players do better. Clearly it was evident that there was a mismatch in coaching going on. Not that it was so evident in the x's and o's, but in just HOW they each communicated to their respective teams. That being said, I think this says less about any flaw in McVay's game other than experience, and more about an insight in how Bill gets HIS team to focus on the task at hand. McVay, who is Edelman's age, is a student of the game and will likely learn a lot from this very painful lesson.
e. So how did a defense that had only one ProBowl player hold the 2nd best offense in the league to 3 points (on a 53 yd FG at that) and not ONCE in the red zone? Hard to believe, let alone discuss with any real conviction, but I'll try and hope for some help from you.
1. Experience helps. It is clear that the Pats had a great grasp of the Rams offensive concepts. They KNEW what the Rams would do vs various defensive stratagems, and created a flexible plan that would make it difficult to accomplish their goals. The secret beauty of the plan is that it isn't just something you put together and trust it will be effective all game. The OTHER guys adjust too. So you plan must be fluid and EVER adjusting to the adjustments.
2. The first order of business would be to stop the Ram run game. The zone blocking scheme with a good OL and a GREAT RB was going to go against a seemingly mediocre looking front 7 that lacked a single "impact player"... or so it seemed going in to the game.
I almost did a double take the first time I noticed the 6-1 alignment. In fact I wasn't sure I saw what I saw until I started seeing some of the play clips after the game My first year of coaching was back in 1969. Back THEN the 6-1 alignment was dated. It was something you only saw on the GL or in very short yardage. It wasn't what you expected to see 5o years later in the superbowl.
But it worked beautifully, because it defeated the stretch run plays that the Rams loved because it put a man on every Ram blocker. That meant no double teams, no pulls, and it was much easier to set the edge against any of Rams TE's, who Bill had determined were poor blockers.There was a great Baldinger clip where the Rams were in an 11 alignment and had Reynolds winged up next to the OT. Chung lined up like an old DE right over Reynolds. The Rams ran the ball right at him. He defeated the block, threw Reynolds aside and stepped up to meet Gurley in the hole for a 2 yd gain. Once Chung beat the block there was no place for Gurley to go. No cut back lanes, no breaking it outside. It was a simple case of the Pats front 7 beating the that highly rated Rams OL one on one.
So how did they do that? There was another Baldinger clip that showed how the Pats DL were consistently playing lower than the Rams OL. Even back in my day, the "low man" won most of the up front battles. Another "simple" concept, yet one hard to implement. UNLESS you have a committed and disciplined team to work with,
f. So how did a team who was the 2nd WORST team in getting sacks during the regular season, suddenly become the leading sack team in the playoffs.....by far (10 sacks vs 7 for the 2nd best team - Colts) But even more importantly we saw how consistently they "pressured" and hit the QB. I remember how back in 2015 such a big deal was made of how the Bronco's just crushed Brady in their 2 pts win. A big deal was made about how they had put Brady down 12 times between sacks and hits. Well in this game the Pats hit Goff 12 times AND sacked him an additional 4 times. OUCH!
How was that done? And perhaps a better question is where was all that pressure during the regular season? I don't know. But the explanation that was given was one that seemed to be confirmed by what I saw in the clips.
1. Great series of schemes 2. great execution. 3. great coverage that gave the front 7 that extra second or 2 to get to their man.
The key, I think, was that Bill wasn't as impressed by the Rams OL as we were. By most accounts the Rams OL was rated the first or second by most services. But Bill thought they were better as a group than as individuals, so the plan was to keep them from "helping out". To do that the Pats planned to rush 5 against 5 and thus keep them from doubling. That's the general rule when you think the OL is weak. The corollary to that is when you need an extra DB, rush 4, but make it look like 5 are coming. Finally add to the confusion by stemming your DL.LB's (stunts).
Baldinger has clips on this that show that nothing the Pats did was revolutionary, but most were very well executed and designed that they consistently created pressure over half the time (which is a great percentage) Again those key elements, of execution and designed. It was beautiful to watch.
The end result was perhaps the most dominating defensive performance in a Superbowl since the 85 Bears (who gave up a garbage time TD late in the game) McVay will have a LOT of work to do this off season because this tape isn't going away. Everyone will be using it as a 'bluprint' on how to stop the Rams' offense. McVay's job will be to try and make his adjustments to that eventuality.
g. One of my favorite post game scenes was the one between Slater and Edelman. The sincerity of Slate's happiness on hearing that Jules got the MVP was breathtaking. He was literally crying with joy. BTW- Slater would be another guy who might just call it a career. And while you might be able to replace his work on ST's; they will be very hard pressed to replace his presence in the locker room. Slate is truly a leader of men. When his career is done, and I was a political party ,he'd be the first guy I'd go and recruit.
h. So back to the question I alluded to earlier, "where was this defense during the regular season"? Why did it take so long to manifest to what we saw in the playoffs? I really don't have an answer, but I thought it would be a good topic to speculate on.
i. Another question that comes to mind is where this defense LAST year? Well part of the answer is that JJones and Hightower (who both played key roles) weren't on the field. The RPO was still being deciphered. Foles played out of his mind in what was likely a career game.
I don't think it was a failure of Patricia. Remember that the basic concepts that formed the D plan came from the success Detroit had on defense. Bottom line was that the defense last year didn't have the same focus and execution we got this year.
j. So what about next year. There are teams who will have lots of cap space to buy talent. There are teams that will, by way of high picks in the draft, will add top end talent. Meanwhile the Pats will take their FA losses....again. On average fully 15-20 players on the final 53 will NOT be with the team next year. There is a reason why Bill gets them to forget about the past year, win or lose. Next year's team will be very different in their make up and character and require the staff to determine it's "identity" and the best ways to get them to reach their potential.
That will be a tall order in a year when they will, not only lose key players to FA and retirements, but they have also lost a significant portion of their staff. So it will be a very interesting off season. And while it doesn't ALWAYS work out, and we can expect a lot of our competition to get more TALENTED, we have come to expect that whatever 53 guys we trot out there come September, they will be much BETTER come December, January, and beyond. That is all we can ask.
Enjoy this because it might be as long a 12 months before we might feel this way again.
