Must Read Article: How the 2007 Patriots Changed Football Forever

[QuantumMechanic]

The Ringer on how the 2007 Pats changed football


Really good read.

How Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Wes Welker, and the 2007 New England Patriots Changed Football Forever

 

[SEA_Pat]

Oh man, not only that, they've got an article detailing how BB was the greatest Jetes coach of the 21st century and various others. It's "Patriots Week" on the Ringer, which has become almost like the anti-BSPN. Good times.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

How the 2007 Patriots redefined the NFL


How Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Wes Welker, and the 2007 New England Patriots Changed Football Forever

Another long-but-great article.

The 2007 Patriots were not the first team to put players in the slot, use shotgun, or spread out defenses, but they molded the modern NFL offense by doing it flawlessly and all at once. They invented nothing but innovated everything. Some teams are great but their legacy is confined only to some notable accomplishments listed on Wikipedia. The 2007 Patriots didn’t lift a trophy, but their impact is real. Ten years later, football looks the way it does because of that team.

 

[Off The Grid]

How Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Wes Welker, and the 2007 New England Patriots Changed Football Forever

Another long-but-great article.

Great Find, Man.

I have to say that that Article was so damned good that it's somewhat transformed my perspective about The Spread. Given a Choice between Run and Pass, I'll always Run ~ though I've always preferred a 50/50 Balance ~ but that helped me understand the Thinking behind it and appreciation its Application far better than I had.

 

[slam]

Reading that reminds me of "Collision Low Crossers", where Revis and Cromartie would go off on their own for film study during the 2011 season. Revis would watch the Pats offense and says something like "Look at that! They have three receivers on that side, one receiver on this side. Brady just looks and he knows what coverage we're in. Why don't we do that?" Four years later the Jets still hadn't caught on.

And the detail about Brady and the receivers not looking at each other in the huddle to eliminate that possible clue is hilarious. It's really leaving no stone unturned

 

[bbobbo]

love the patriots week logo....

 

[pdangle]

Winning 2 of these last 3, makes reading these types of articles a bit less painful for me as a fan, and more able to truly appreciate the legacy of that amazing squad.

As a side note, I've always felt NE really hurt themselves game planning wise those days, by playing the bend don't break style of D. Where an aggressive attacking D style, limiting the opponent time of possession, not handing chunks of it to them, albeit with more risk, but more turnovers too, would of been the best way to go to maximizing that incredible offensive advantage by trading as many chances as possible. Especially with goober jr at QB. Slowing the game down made it too easy for him, and helped to limit the chances for his inevitable mistakes.

 

[PatriotReign]

I also found this article rather interesting. Bill Belichick Will Teach You His Secrets If You Know What to Ask

 

[DarrylS]

Always thought early morning orgasms were the most intense, gotta go change..

The Pats are often imitated, but never duplicated...

 

[TommyD4207]

Everything about the offense seemed different. Randy Moss had changed. When Worrell faced him in Minnesota, Moss would come streaking down the field after plays he wasn’t involved in, shouting, “If Daunte had thrown to me there, I would have dunked on you.” But now, that chatter had been replaced by something far more intimidating: silence. “He wasn’t talking because he knew how good they were,” Worrell said, “and they were just going to go do it.”

To me, that's the line of the article. Moss buying in made that whole thing happen. It's a shame he couldn't hold it together.

 

[long distance]

thanks, great piece

They invented nothing but innovated everything.

The great thing is that they are still doing it. That's why BB cannot be overrated in Pats success.

Here another great article on the topic from the same source:

Bill Belichick Will Teach You His Secrets If You Know What to Ask

I went back and read every Belichick press conference transcript from the past two years and collected a few of my favorite moments. Here are the best examples of how the coach famous for one-word replies can ditch his normal M.O. and break down the minutiae of the game in incredible detail—along with what I learned.
___

And this one tells something on drafting on the intangibles..

“The thing about option routes is if I have to coach you on it, you’re not the guy,”

 

[mosslost]

The Ringer on how the 2007 Pats changed football


Really good read.

How Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Wes Welker, and the 2007 New England Patriots Changed Football Forever

it consistently boggles my mind on this board how so many posters practically belittle the 2007 team, which is the greatest NFL team in history. It is the best Patriots team in my opinion, but it certainly is at least 2nd or 3rd behind "possibly" only 2004 and 2016.

People make the stupidest arguments about how the Lombardi equals" best team, which is simply false and actually defies logic. Best Pats record in history 18-1. Point differential in 16-0 season TWENTY (20) PPG. FLUKE SB loss. (Plus the Giants D was great)

Yet there are people on this board that think the 2001 Pats are better than the 2007 Pats. Unreal.

 

[neuronet]

That article is freaking amazing. Holy crap.

 

[drewskie]

Winning 2 of these last 3, makes reading these types of articles a bit less painful for me as a fan, and more able to truly appreciate the legacy of that amazing squad.

As a side note, I've always felt NE really hurt themselves game planning wise those days, by playing the bend don't break style of D. Where an aggressive attacking D style, limiting the opponent time of possession, not handing chunks of it to them, albeit with more risk, but more turnovers too, would of been the best way to go to maximizing that incredible offensive advantage by trading as many chances as possible. Especially with goober jr at QB. Slowing the game down made it too easy for him, and helped to limit the chances for his inevitable mistakes.

Ironic that we abandoned the bend but dont' break strategy on the Plaxico TD when playing contain would've been much better in man coverage.

The only average area of that team was the running game. Imagine that team having Gillislee/Burkhead/Lewis/White...

 

[patfanken]

How to build the perfect team - An excellent article


@Lurker posted an excellent article on BB's pressers that you all should read, but after I was done reading, there was a link to another article that went into great detail about the building of the 2007 team, with a speciall focus on that historic offense.

We all know what happened, but what makes this article so good was he goes into how inovative the offense was and how trend setting. He had quotes from former Pats and opponents to both illuminate and explain just how special that team was. Also when you are done, you will better understand why BB is simply just THAT good, and have a better insight into the building of the 2017 team.

Besides it is really long, so I know you all will appreciate it. Enjoy

How Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Wes Welker, and the 2007 New England Patriots Changed Football Forever

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

How to build the perfect team - An excellent article
How Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Wes Welker, and the 2007 New England Patriots Changed Football Forever

This seems familiar

 

[patfanken]

This seems familiar

Ooops, I don't know how I missed such a good article the first time. Sorry QM and thanks for the mods who fixed the redundancy.

 

[Shockt327]

There were two things within the spread, according to Mullen, that McDaniels was interested in: The first was route combinations over the middle of the field, the second was how to protect the quarterback in an empty set.

Interesting, because I'd say the above is exactly what the 2007 offense never really had an answer for against the Giants.

First on blocking, The Giants really exploited the uncovered lineman (i.e. Mankins) when he'd have dual-pickup against the MLB or OLB in protection. The assignment forces the uncovered Guard to loop around, outside the Left Tackle, to potentially pick up either the OLB or MLB against specific defensive fronts. The Giants exploited it by having the OLB fake the blitz to make Mankins move out....which left an inside gap for the MLB to shoot through untouched . Both LBs did this fake (i.e. both inside-out and outside-in).

*quickest example I could find in the 2004 playbook:

Second against middle-of-field-open defense; Defenses were playing more and more two-deep coverage, almost non-stop in some games, by the end of the season (and, literally, not even one play without it by the Giants in SB 42; from everything I've seen and read). Two deep helps limit the deep ball to Moss (and those big YAC plays from Stallworth, too). But keeping two safeties deep leaves the middle of the field open (i.e. that gap behind the MLB, and between the safeties). The Patriots never really found a reliable way to attack it. I remember an article about this after the 2007 season, too, where the inside word was that Moss really talked to McDaniels about how Minnesota used to line him up inside and put him in motion to attack two deep looks, if only to keep the defense honest. Moss, ran all his routes deep and from outside the numbers.

Instead -- specifically in the AFCCG and SB 42 - McDaniels really tried to attack the constant two deep coverage (and keep Brady clean) by running the ball and using heavier sets. Remember how much they tried to use Maroney in those last two games? It worked against San Diego, but not against the Giants.

 

[RobertWeathers]

What a great article.

As time goes by, for me the 2007 Pats are becoming the 86 Red Sox. Still one painful memory will never be forgotten but the good ones far outweigh the bad ones

 

[rookBoston]

One of the finest articles on the Pats I've ever read.