"This is the closest anyone will get to seeing the Patriots' process"

[JDot]

Greg Begard got behind the scene Access to the Texans and how they build a game plan. Really, really good read. And one good Patriot Tidbit.

The entire conversation about this one play takes 39 minutes, but O’Brien says that’s nothing. In 2007, in preparation for the Patriots’ divisional playoff game against the Jaguars, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, receivers coach Nick Caserio (now director of player personnel) and O’Brien, then a low-level offensive assistant, spent three hours designing a play. They even moved all the tables and chairs out of their meeting room and brought in a football to work through the timing and ball skills needed to run the play.



The result was a seven-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady to Wes Welker that broke a 14–14 tie midway through the third quarter. The play involved two fakes: a direct snap to running back Kevin Faulk, and Brady feigning a high snap. Brady actually caught the ball while spinning, put it on his hip, and then connected with Welker in the back of the end zone.

“I was the center, Josh was Brady and Nick was the back and Welker,” O’Brien says. “It took us forever.”

The article is a really long read, but worth it.

Link

 

[RobertWeathers]

Good stuff.

O’Brien delegates much of the game-planning process to his staff, which is the way Belichick does it in New England.

“I let them coach,” O’Brien says. “Bill let us coach. On Tuesdays you’d have to go in there and present the gameplan to him, but other than that, he let us go. I just try to give them guidance on how I want the team to look like. They have to be able to go and be creative and come up with good ideas.”

 

[meatface]

Its why I watched Hard Knocks.

 

[JJDChE]

That's leadership 101, though I don't think it's as common in football as other places.

 

[oldrover]

That's leadership 101, though I don't think it's as common in football as other places.

It's not that common in other places either.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Because of the companies I have worked for I have several very good friends who live in TX and are huge Texans fans. I've been telling them for a couple of years now that BOB is a damn good coach.

I think I'm right in that regard. Hes done a helluva job with that team.

 

[farn]

BOB got plenty of grief after the start. But losing Foster, several QBs,.... knows what he's doing.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

Interesting article, cool to see the insight (like Peter King's in Arizona a few weeks ago).

Not to bring up a sore spot, but......

“Hey, paratrooper this week?” Hoyer texted in reference to a curl concept against zone defenses (actual terms and play names have been changed).

Thank God the Pats didn't have a play called "Deflate" last year. In addition to the current bogus penalties, Belichick probably would have been suspended the whole year.

 

[JDot]

Just re reading this article, and others like it. It still always blows my mind the grind coaches go through. This article does not even deal with the D side of the ball.

We as fans sh!t on the game plan all the time watching the game live. And just getting a look behind the curtain at how teams game plan should really give dudes pause, when they're watching sunday. Or at the very least try to understand why.