Gasper: System failure

[mayoclinic]

Another interesting read from Chris Gasper:

System failure - Christopher Gasper's Blog - Boston sports news - Boston.com

Some nice lines:

- "Not many NFL teams run the strict two-gap style of defense that the Patriots do today, a defense that sacrifices speed for size in its front seven and asks its linemen to Sumo wrestle opposing blockers and then make a read as to whether to try to get off the block to the left or the right. Linemen stunting and twisting to get free at the snap is almost a foreign concept in the New England defensive game plan."

- "The most successful defenses around the league are not read-and-react units like the Patriots. They're read-and-attack units like the Green Bay Packers, New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants, and Philadelphia Eagles, who rank first, second, fifth and sixth respectively in the NFL in total defense. The days of plugging in players like corners Hank Poteat and Earthwind Moreland and baiting bad reads or waiting for bad throws are over. The best way to play defense now is to go on the offensive and hit the quarterback before he hits a pass downfield."

He makes a lot of the points which have been debated on this board. I've personally wanted a more attacking defense for a long time.

 

[xmarkd400x]

Some facts to consider:

1) Gasper (who is not BB) says BB's defense is outdated.
2) BB (who is BB) continues to run his defense the way he sees fit.
3) Gasper (who is not BB) cites anecdotal evidence in attempt to point to a correlation that proves his point.
4) BB (who is BB) continues to try to win football games.
5) I prefer Gasper (who is not BB) to not have any input on coaching decisions.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I'm in the camp of having fair and balanced reporting (somewhere b/t/w Fred Smerlas and Ron Borges) but I find Gasper to be overly-critical of BB. Not sure if there is a MO there. I know that he is trying to raise his profile a bit by being more of an op/ed sportswriter, and BB certainly deserves some criticism but he seems to have some kind of an axe to grind.

My .02$

 

[ForThoseAboutToRock]

My thought reading this article was that if BB thought fixing the problem was this simple, wouldn't the change have occurred? He hates losing games more than any of us, or Chris Gasper, hate watching them lose.

With that being said, I sure do get a lot more enjoyment out of watching defenses that can make big plays and big stops when they need to win the game. This year, that doesn't happen for the New England defense. They were terrible on 3rd down last year too, couldn't get off the field. Clearly change should occur - I just doubt it's as easy as what Gasper is suggesting (ie - hey, Vince, just try to knock the QB over this time instead of taking up 2 blockers, ok?)

 

[mayoclinic]

I'm in the camp of having fair and balanced reporting (somewhere b/t/w Fred Smerlas and Ron Borges) but I find Gasper to be overly-critical of BB. Not sure if there is a MO there. I know that he is trying to raise his profile a bit by being more of an op/ed sportswriter, and BB certainly deserves some criticism but he seems to have some kind of an axe to grind.

My .02$

With all the Pats-hating and anti-BB reporters we've had, Chris Gasper doesn't really stand out very much to me.

 

[miDeuce]

My thoughts on this from another thread:

As for Gasper's article, I don't really think the scheme is the problem, the Pats 3-4 does an excellent job of shutting down the run. Even the 2009 Pats have a solid run D.

In passing situations they are almost always in sub-packages, not the 3-4. Look at the percentages of defenses played that Reiss posts every week. The problem is that they do not have the pass rushing talent to consistently bring pressure.

The NFL is far too skewed to favor QBs and WRs, there isn't a defensive backfield out there that can cover without pressure.

I think the addition of just one young pass rushing terror like a Brian Orakpo would bring a significant change to this defense. Bring in a rookie to replace Burgess in 2010, all he needs to do is come in on pass situations, put his hand down and goes balls to the wall for the QB.

 

[reflexblue]

BB's systom is not out dated as long as he has the players he needs to run it. Thats another matter, they maybe harder to find.

 

[JSn]

Isn't he conveniently leaving out where the Pats rank in total defense? Or is that a different stat than the categories we're doing well in?

 

[JSn]

Bill is eccentric, maybe. I don't think he's arrogant, personally.

And when I say arrogant immediately a negative connotation comes to mind. It shouldn’t in this case; it’s his arrogance that made him great.

 

[supafly]

Another interesting read from Chris Gasper:

System failure - Christopher Gasper's Blog - Boston sports news - Boston.com

Some nice lines:

- "Not many NFL teams run the strict two-gap style of defense that the Patriots do today, a defense that sacrifices speed for size in its front seven and asks its linemen to Sumo wrestle opposing blockers and then make a read as to whether to try to get off the block to the left or the right. Linemen stunting and twisting to get free at the snap is almost a foreign concept in the New England defensive game plan."

- "The most successful defenses around the league are not read-and-react units like the Patriots. They're read-and-attack units like the Green Bay Packers, New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants, and Philadelphia Eagles, who rank first, second, fifth and sixth respectively in the NFL in total defense. The days of plugging in players like corners Hank Poteat and Earthwind Moreland and baiting bad reads or waiting for bad throws are over. The best way to play defense now is to go on the offensive and hit the quarterback before he hits a pass downfield."

He makes a lot of the points which have been debated on this board. I've personally wanted a more attacking defense for a long time.

Does this mean that you're coming around in placing some blame on the defense, or are you still wondering "what planet I'm on?" I think when you win 2 out of 3 Super Bowls by scoring 20 and 24, you can attribute most of your success to the defense. That's something we don't have this year. You (not you specifically) can sugarcoat it, but it certainly seems to be fact.

I think a lot of NFL teams would trade for our offense in a heartbeat, but we'd have a hard time finding suitors to trade for this years' defense. That is quite apparent.

I respect your argument on how our offense is 'supposed to be better' because of players such as Moss, Brady, and Welker. But not only are those players having pretty decent years, they all had to come back from major/moderate/minor physical limitations and injuries. While they're not putting up the 07 numbers that I believe were once in a lifetime, they are up there out of 32 NFL teams in TOP, Offensive points scored, and offensive yards gained per game. They have made uncharacteristic mistakes in the 2nd half of games this yr, and also had some bad brakes such as the infamous 4th down call, and the successful 4th down penalty call on Aiken Sunday driving in Miami territory. As a whole, they have done their jobs better IMO, as proved by not even having any kind of 3rd option to go to. With what they have, they've done pretty well. Too many people are fleeing from the offensive bandwagon. We know we can score points, and we know we can do it against good teams. Our offense isn't worrying our fans if we go to the playoffs, many still realize how potent we are.

There is still a plethora of talent on defense too, so the argument of 'not knowing what we have there' only holds so much water. With 1st rd picks such as Warren, Wilfork, Meriweather, Mayo, Butler, Chung, etc coupled with some major pickups such as Bodden, AD, and Burgess--we certainly have plenty of talent there too. They are the side of the ball who's not living up to expectations, and maybe it's due to the problems listed in the article you linked.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

It's part of Gaspar's job to have an opinion and to express it well.

You can criticize him for not putting out a coherent argument if you wish, but I don't this it's always appropriate to expect local columnists to be cheerleaders at one extreme or total naysayers at the other, and he seems in the middle to me.

Also if the requirement to discuss coaching philosophy is to be as good a coach as BB, then maybe no other people on Earth should even discuss it.

I hear Gaspar's argument and appreciate him making it, but think it is an overreaction. There is nothing wrong with the system, there is something wrong with the gap between how well current players function in the system vs. how well we expected them to perform (and likely how well BB expected them to perform).

For all I know, Chad Henne may be the next Dan Marino. But he hasn't ever been given the green light to attack any defense like that, and the fact that he did so with relative ease should make all of us worry not just about what is going on but also about how easily the problems can be fixed.

I'm starting to lean toward yet another revamping of the cornerbacks next offseason and even starting to agree with Reiss that the asante Samuel exodus was one of the worst decisions this organization ever made. I can give Butler a bit of a pass as a rookie. We are pretty desperate for capable cornerbacks, and given our lack of ability to pressure the QB (and historically we CAN pressure the QB in this defense) we need the corners to be a STRENGTH rather than just not a weakness.

 

[mayoclinic]

Does this mean that you're coming around in placing some blame on the defense, or are you still wondering "what planet I'm on?" I think when you win 2 out of 3 Super Bowls by scoring 20 and 24, you can attribute most of your success to the defense. That's something we don't have this year. You (not you specifically) can sugarcoat it, but it certainly seems to be fact.

I think a lot of NFL teams would trade for our offense in a heartbeat, but we'd have a hard time finding suitors to trade for this years' defense. That is quite apparent.

I respect your argument on how our offense is 'supposed to be better' because of players such as Moss, Brady, and Welker. But not only are those players having pretty decent years, they all had to come back from major/moderate/minor physical limitations and injuries. While they're not putting up the 07 numbers that I believe were once in a lifetime, they are up there out of 32 NFL teams in TOP, Offensive points scored, and offensive yards gained per game. They have made uncharacteristic mistakes in the 2nd half of games this yr, and also had some bad brakes such as the infamous 4th down call, and the successful 4th down penalty call on Aiken Sunday driving in Miami territory. As a whole, they have done their jobs better IMO, as proved by not even having any kind of 3rd option to go to. With what they have, they've done pretty well. Too many people are fleeing from the offensive bandwagon. We know we can score points, and we know we can do it against good teams. Our offense isn't worrying our fans if we go to the playoffs, many still realize how potent we are.

There is still a plethora of talent on defense too, so the argument of 'not knowing what we have there' only holds so much water. With 1st rd picks such as Warren, Wilfork, Meriweather, Mayo, Butler, Chung, etc coupled with some major pickups such as Bodden, AD, and Burgess--we certainly have plenty of talent there too. They are the side of the ball who's not living up to expectations, and maybe it's due to the problems listed in the article you linked.

No, I'm still wondering what planet you're on.

Seriously, my only argument was with your statement that "No way you can blame the offense, IMO. At least they do their job by getting points on the board." Given that our offense has been shut down repeatedly in the 2nd half, has been shut out twice in the 2nd half on the road, and has blown more red zone chances than I can count, that seemed somewhat one-sided. I think the offense has underperformed terribly.

But I never said the defense didn't have issues, or bear some responsibility for the Pats' problems. The defense has performed about as expected - sometimes much better, a few times falling apart. Nor did I ever claim that we have a superbowl caliber defense right now - far from it.

I think Gasper's article is a bit severe, but I do think that there are some major coaching and schematic issues beyond what can be fixed by just adding players. It's by no means entirely a schematic problem, but I think the problems are more than just getting the right personnel.

 

[BillBelichickFan79]

I've been saying this for a while now and agree with what Gasper said. I long for us to play defense like the Steelers, Ravens, Jets, etc. I don't like read and react defense, I like going out and imposing your will on the other team by attacking them and getting after their QB. The two gap was a great defense in the early 2000's because A) teams ran the ball a lot more and B) outstanding personnel and experience on defense. Now that the league has become more of a passing league AND we have gotten younger and faster and more athletic on defense, it doesn't make sense why we are still two-gapping. Usually BB is ahead of the curve, but he seems to have fallen behind on this one.

I just don't get why we continue to use a defense that basically concedes that the opposing team will move the ball on you but will hold you to 3. It would work if we kept giving up FG's and our offense was dominating every game, but that isn't what we're doing. Brady has struggled against teams with attacking D's in 07 (Ravens, Eagles, Giants) and this year (Denver, Jets). But I guess if you look at it from BB's standpoint, why would he alienate a type of defense that has gotten him to 4 SB and 3 SB wins.

 

[Phokus]

Can someone explain why the defense would be 2-gapping on passing plays? I always thought that the 2 gap defense was for running plays.

 

[miDeuce]

Can someone explain why the defense would be 2-gapping on passing plays? I always thought that the 2 gap defense was for running plays.

Big interior guys eat up blockers leaving outside guys with 1-on-1 matchups. Problem is that neither TBC, AD or Burgess are winning those 1 on 1s. TBC is seeing some double teams from the RB since he's the only one who has proved to be any kind of threat.

 

[SVN]

Gasper's article looks like something written by someone scourging this board.

 

[SVN]

Big interior guys eat up blockers leaving outside guys with 1-on-1 matchups. Problem is that neither TBC, AD or Burgess are winning those 1 on 1s. TBC is seeing some double teams from the RB since he's the only one who has proved to be any kind of threat.

check this video out from NFLN playbook aroundthe 1:17 mark
NFL Videos: WK 13 Playbook: Patriots vs. Dolphins recap

perfect example of LB's having 1:1 matchups and not playing it well.

 

[JSn]

I hear Bill is importing some new players from "Norway" so I think we'll be ok.

Giant Mysterious Spiral Takes Over the Skies of Norway - Giant Spiral - Gizmodo

 

[miDeuce]

check this video out from NFLN playbook aroundthe 1:17 mark
NFL Videos: WK 13 Playbook: Patriots vs. Dolphins recap

perfect example of LB's having 1:1 matchups and not playing it well.

Yeah that's where I swiped my knowledge from originally. Playbook is one of the few shows I can continue to watch after a loss. Found it interesting how they got on TBC for completely shutting it down when he saw a double team coming. Need someone who would take that on and beat it at least once in a while. TBC's better than his first stint here, but he's far from a dangerous pass rusher that opponents have to game plan for. Unfortunately he's the best we got...

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

It looked like the Patriots had some sort of plan in training camp.


...

Finally, on the scheme, I see coordinators/failed head coaches like Greg Robinson and Mike Nolan come into New Orleans and Denver and turn the defenses around in one season using aggressive schemes with similar personnel to the Patriots. Dean Pees, was a failure at Kent St. as a head coach and yes it is Belichick’s game plan, but maybe its time to change. True genius adapts over time. What worked in 2004, might not work in 2009, clearly Bill thinks it’s a more offensive league. Could it be time to change the defense? It couldn’t hurt but don’t hold your breath, people who enjoy success as long as Bill can become arrogant. And when I say arrogant immediately a negative connotation comes to mind. It shouldn’t in this case; it’s his arrogance that made him great.

Thoughtfull post, Rook.