Lack of screen passes

[borisman]

What happened? I always thought the Pats ran way too many screen passes in the past as a lot of them lost yards. Now this year the screen pass is non-existent. Is it lack of personnel (no big receivers and lack of TE depth to block) or did Brady have a say in not using these type plays any longer? I think, with Floyd (a big WR who can block) on board, the Pats will dust off a couple of their favorite screen plays and put them into use vs. some over anxious defenses trying to put extra pressure vs. Brady with blitzes or just some undisciplined play.

 

[patman52]

yeah, it seems like there was a lot more passes to the backs on screens, draws and 5 yard curl ins in the past. To me it seems like the WRs and RB get plays outside the hashes and sidelines and the seams and the middle are the propety of the TEs. although Mitchell seems to be running a lot of 15 yard curls to the inside.

 

[luuked]

Could be intentional to have more stuff to fall back to in the playoffs similar to how they have rarely used any no huddle this year. Alternatively, maybe some of the OL changes with Scar coming back are playing into it.

The offense usually is what it needs to be every weekend to exploit the opponents weaknesses. So I am not particularly worried..

 

[Huckleberry1]

Could be intentional to have more stuff to fall back to in the playoffs similar to how they have rarely used any no huddle this year. Alternatively, maybe some of the OL changes with Scar coming back are playing into it.

The offense usually is what it needs to be every weekend to exploit the opponents weaknesses. So I am not particularly worried..

Agree, they have it in the tool shed it just comes down to when they see the best time to use it.

 

[nabwong]

One reason could be because blount and white are not really ideal for the screen for some of those situations. Blount is not a great catcher and white doesn't usually line up on 1st and 2nd down. Maybe now that Lewis is back, they will use more screens. I'm not an expert but I think you need the right personnel too.

 

[Gronkowski123]

te/wr screens have failed all season. im glad they've scrapped those plays.

 

[RobertWeathers]

One reason could be because blount and white are not really ideal for the screen for some of those situations. Blount is not a great catcher and white doesn't usually line up on 1st and 2nd down. Maybe now that Lewis is back, they will use more screens. I'm not an expert but I think you need the right personnel too.

White is very good with the screens. So is Lewis.

They've just chosen to run different plays.

 

[TinhWoodhead]

i still see plenty screens. what i dont see enough of are hurry ups

 

[convertedpatsfan]

This is a really obscure thing to care about.

It's hard to be 100% accurate without re-watching every play from the past few seasons and putting together a play database, but we can get some measure based on Brady's splits and passes behind line of scrimmage. This is not a perfect measure; some screens may go past the LOS and fall in the 1-10 yard pass range group. If anyone has an issue with it, feel free to do the breakdown and share the data

Tom Brady's recent splits - Passes behind line of scrimmage

2011: 73.3%, 75 attempts (12% of pass attempts), 6.25 YPA, 1 TD, 1 INT, 88.1 RAT
2012: 75.0%, 96 attempts (15% of pass attempts), 6.29 YPA, 3 TDs, 1 INT, 96.9 RAT
2013: 75.3%, 93 attempts (15% of pass attempts), 5.20 YPA, 1 TD, 1 INT, 85.6 RAT
2014: 82.7%, 81 attempts (14% of pass attempts), 4.09 YPA, 0 TDs, 83.7 RAT
2015: 81.5%, 108 attempts (17% of pass attempts), 5.61 YPA, 3 TDs, 99.3 RAT
2016: 82.4%, 74 attempts (19% of pass attempts), 5.11 YPA, 3 TDs, 101.5 RAT

Looking at the past 6 years which includes 2 trips to the Super Bowl, we can see that both years we went to the Super Bowl featured the least amount of screen passes as a percentage of attempts. So I'm not sure what the significance of screen pass attempts matters in the big picture.

BUT

If you actually look at the breakdown, this season has had MORE pass attempts (as a percentage of attempts) from Brady than any of the previous 5 seasons.

That's not including Jimmy G, who had 24% of his pass attempts as screens, or Brissett at 29%.

So if anything, the exact opposite of the OP is true, we have thrown MORE screen passes this year than any of our previous 5 years.

The only thing I can think of is that Jimmy and Jacoby were throwing so many screens, that by comparison, Brady doesn't seem to be throwing as many as his backups. But he's still throwing more than he has in the past.

So I don't really understand the issue, or even care if we throw more or less screens. It doesn't have any real connection to winning or losing or Super Bowls. We might as well be debating the number of post patterns run or times we used 3 safeties on the field in the nickel, as if it will reveal our chances of winning another championship (it won't).

 

[Patriot Missile]

I'm totally ok with it. All I see is a QB that can now make every throw. Brady has been great from just about day one and underrated in a lot of areas.

I've never seen him drop the ball into receivers on out routes like he has this season. Fade routes? no problem. Deep ball? Very much improved. Foot work? Always been good, but over the last couple of seasons has really worked on picking up those extra yards when the team needs them.

Screen passes are great, but work a lot better when teams aren't keying on them.

How can a goat elevate his game? Your watching it and it's pretty incredible to me.

 

[nabwong]

White is very good with the screens. So is Lewis.

They've just chosen to run different plays.

I'm talking about 1st and 2nd downs.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I'm talking about 1st and 2nd downs.

I think it's just a matter of preference to run other plays instead.

 

[captain stone]

They might need to dust off those 1st/2nd-down screens, in order to keep that dirty animal Suh
and the rest of the despicable doofins defense honest.
I really hate that feckin organization. They've won 10 games (when they should have NO MORE
than 7 wins) because - and ONLY because - of the absolute SUCK of their opponents.
Now that they have Gase & Tannyhill, they actually think that they're somebody, when in reality
they aren't jack feckin sh!t. Feck them to hell.

 

[nabwong]

I think it's just a matter of preference to run other plays instead.

Could be. After all, we're just speculating.

 

[Schmo]

Screens are more of a reactionary play when you're playing an aggressive pass defense that will easily over-pursue. I don't think you want it as the go-to play for an offense just as I don't want to see an offense concentrate on deep throws..... it's better to be opportunistic when safeties start creeping up.

I think the patriots perfect offense is consistent midrange throws, and that's why Edelman and gronk are such a huge part.

 

[DarrylS]

What we see now, may not necessarily be what we see in the "Tournament"... stay tuned.