Brady, Belichick should brace for blitzes

[italia44]

So if the Pats run their standard 3-wide, TE, single back set and you want to blitz them:

- You send at least 5 on the pass rush
- You have to shade Moss with a safety (or double cover)

That leaves 4 players on the defense. With Welker, Galloway, Faulk and Watson as receivers. All single covered. No deep help. And this is a situation you want as a defense?

If you play zone, you will get killed underneath (Jacksonville...hello!). And if the Pats keep back a TE or RB (or max protect with both), then your DBs will have to cover even longer.

Blitzing is a losing proposition against Brady and that pass offense. The key is to get pressure using only 4 rushers. The best way to do that is to bring the rush from a variety of places, hopefully confusing the protection.

.......what he said.....very succintly

 

[Synovia]

Someone should ask the Steelers how those zone blitzes have worked against Brady. Perhaps the article should review what opponents can replicate the Giants front line and what new wrinkles can be added.

I dunno, while it didn;t work well for the Steelers, it did work well for Philly. The key was constant pressure.


That being said, Philly has much better corners than the steelers.

 

[Shockt327]

I dunno, while it didn;t work well for the Steelers, it did work well for Philly. The key was constant pressure.


That being said, Philly has much better corners than the steelers.

No it didn't work. At all. The Patriots scored 31 points on Philly.

Brady v. PHI: 34 /54 63% 380 yards 1TD 0INT

That's a monster game.

 

[mesoslo]

Blitz is by definition sending 5 or more players, so it is impossible to blitz with less personnel than the OL.

So sending the corner back/safety on a blitz with only 3 Dlineman for pressure is not really a blitz?

 

[IcyPatriot]

So what makes this year any different?

It's been that way for a few years now ... this is nothing new.

 

[NE39]

No it didn't work. At all. The Patriots scored 31 points on Philly.

Brady v. PHI: 34 /54 63% 380 yards 1TD 0INT

That's a monster game.

They did successfully limit the Pats big-play ability. They also did get some pressure on Brady, generating 3.0 sacks. Between that, and the Pats inability to stop the Eagles offense other than when Feeley threw picks, was why the game was so close.

That said, I think the Pats can adjust. They are a different team than they were then, and will be better prepared to deal with defenses that go all out after Brady.

 

[QB12]

Couple of Fred taylor gashes up the middle on draws will slow those horses down.

 

[SeymourTrophies]

Ding, Ding, Ding.

We have a winner.

Bad day, injuries to Linemen and just awesome pass rushing from every Lineman on the Giants. From Osi down to their 4th backup.

Tuck had the game of his life to date. They couldn't put all of the players on the field who were on fire during that game. Alford, Tuck, Strahan, Umenyiora, Robbins...

Yeah, I think I'm finally over it.

 

[Shockt327]

They did successfully limit the Pats big-play ability.

Sorry, but that's incorrect. What you meant to say was that there weren't any bombs to Moss; that is true. But plenty of teams were able to do that without blitzing like crazy. However, when you crowd the box and blitz, then short passes will indeed turn into big plays:

Example A: Wes Welker

Example B: Donte Stallworth

They also did get some pressure on Brady, generating 3.0 sacks.

A Pyrrhic victory to say the least. Also, 3 sacks isn't exactly stellar when one considers that Brady had 54 attempts.

Between that, and the Pats inability to stop the Eagles offense other than when Feeley threw picks, was why the game was so close.

Now you get to the heart of the matter. I'd argue that our lack of D was the only reason why the game was close. Had the D done their job that game would've been yet another blowout.

That said, I think the Pats can adjust. They are a different team than they were then, and will be better prepared to deal with defenses that go all out after Brady.

Again, there is really nothing to "adjust" to, because they simply never had a problem against the blitz in the first place.

What the Pats did have a bit of a problem with was when teams would disguise their defensive front and get pressure with just 4 by complicating the O-line's assignments. Rushing just 4 allowed them to drop LBs underneath to cover the short passing routes while still shading Moss with a safety (see: the Ravens game, the Jets rematch, and SBXLII). But again, these team only rushed 4. They did not blitz very often like Philly did.

 

[Metaphors]

So sending the corner back/safety on a blitz with only 3 Dlineman for pressure is not really a blitz?

I wouldn't get too hung up on the terminology. A blitz is simply sending more people on the pass rush than normal...and normal for every team in the league is 4 rushers. The term "blitz" is also used in different ways to describe the method and not just the number. Zone blitz or a corner/safety blitz as you describe above. Both of these typically result in more than 4 rushers, but I suppose they don't have to. I was just addressing your context which had to do with the number of rushers.

As to your point about sending a DB with only 3 other rushers, that would only work if the DB came through clean. Otherwise, a DE (4-3) or OLB (3-4) are left covering Welker or Welker's area. Yikes!