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There is a long time between now and the start of the game, so I thought this might fill the time, since no one watches the pregame shows any more. Circumstances have created a lot of questions about this game so I thought a discussion of them might be interesting. Feel free to put in your predictions, I know I will.
1. How will the Pats decide to defend OBJ? Everyone naturally assumes that BB will try and shut down OBJ by double teaming him. Clearly that makes a lot of sense until I recalled that when the Pats played the Steelers, BB left Butler pretty much on his own against Antonio Brown (who is better than OBJ).
The Giants have some other decent receiving options. (Vareen, Randell) Could it be that BB will decide rather than trying to stop Bryant and leave other options open, he will attempt to "control" him. Let him have his 150 yards, keep him from making "the big play", and shut down the rest of their passing attack. It would sort of be like the Celtics did to Chicago back in the day. Let Jordan have his 50, but shut down the rest of the offense. Remember without Collins this week, we lose our main LB cover guy.
Now of course, there isn't going to be just one kind of coverage that the Pats will employ on Beckham. That just wouldn't be very smart. I'm just opining that we might see more zones and one on one coverages than we'd expect. It ISN'T going to be just Butler in press man, and a safety over the top all the time. The coverage on Beckham will be more complex and varied than that.
2. How will the Pats decide to configure their OL?. Just who will be be playing where? Now MY optimum OL would have Williams at LT, Kline at LG, Andrews at C, Stork at RG, and Flemming at RT. I think Williams has the better feet to contend with JPP. Also I think Kline/Andrews/Stork would be our strongest middle configuration, and if we spread them out and short pass them to death, attacking up the middle will be at the top of the Giants pass rush strategy. It would be mine.
Of course there are those who would rather use Flemming/Kline/Andrews/Mason/Stork and have Williams as the inline TE protecting one side or the other. But that assumes Mason is fully healthy, and based on some reports about him still hobbling around, that might not be the case. Besides if he were fully healthy, I might think about using him at OT, since he is clearly the most athletic of our current offensive linemen?
So many options and NONE of them ideal. What would be your fix to this problem that the media doesn't think exists.
3. Run or Pass? How are the Pats planning to attack that Giants defense? Or to put it another way, what is the best way to protect our makeshift OL?
There is one theory that by running the ball a lot, the Pats can cover up their OL losses since run blocking is proactive, and requires less of a skill set than pass blocking. I'm sure we'd all feel more comfortable having Cam Flemming road grading than trying to match dance moves with JPP.
Of course there are those who feel we should duplicate the strategies that worked so well against the good DL's of the Steelers and Bills and just spread them out, and let Brady pick them apart by getting rid of the ball before the rush even arrives from the outside.
Of course (again), I'm sure the Pats will employ both strategies to some degree. It will be interesting to see which one will be the prime focus.
4. Who will end up getting the most reps at the 3rd down back role
a. James White - the obvious option, but the biggest question mark
b. Brandon Boldin - the most dependable player. You know he will block and run hard
c. Danny Amendola - the outside the box option. Your best receiving and route runninng option
d. LG Blount - maybe its time we start to throw him the ball a bit more.
5. How to use our 3 TE's? Now this is a trick question since we will probably use them in many configurations during the course of the game. Besides we don't know if we will even have 3 TE's this game, since Williams might have been moved to OT. But still it is an interesting question.
The common wisdom is that Williams will be used a lot as an inline TE for the run game and .protecting one of the OT's, probably Flemming if he's the LT. But now the question becomes how do use Gronk. The Giants don't really have an obvious match up for him, so he SHOULD have a big game Sunday, but won't it limit him if they use Gronk as an inline TE who chips the DE before he releases on his route? On the other hand, having Williams and Gronk as 2 inline TE's presents a very strong run formation. It will force the Giants to balance their defense. It will move their outside rushers out wider and further from the QB. They won't be able to overload one side.
6. Just a note. This will be a very noisy stadium (especially at the start of the game), and thus will limit Brady's ability to move people around at the LOS, change plays, and call the pass blocking slides. It would really be helpful if the won the toss this week.
7. The Giants will HAVE to scheme their way to a pass rush since they are having so much trouble generating one just man on man. So expect some sort of surprise new defense, like we saw down in Dallas, that will have some early success. Remember this OL won't have anyone with more than 3 years experience. And that guy is Kline , so making those in game adjustments to new schemes might not be as easy as it would be with Volmer, Cannon, and Wendell in there. (Wendell's loss have been vastly underrated)
So people, what do you think we will see in a game with so many questions. If you were the HC, what would be YOUR answers??????
1. How will the Pats decide to defend OBJ? Everyone naturally assumes that BB will try and shut down OBJ by double teaming him. Clearly that makes a lot of sense until I recalled that when the Pats played the Steelers, BB left Butler pretty much on his own against Antonio Brown (who is better than OBJ).
The Giants have some other decent receiving options. (Vareen, Randell) Could it be that BB will decide rather than trying to stop Bryant and leave other options open, he will attempt to "control" him. Let him have his 150 yards, keep him from making "the big play", and shut down the rest of their passing attack. It would sort of be like the Celtics did to Chicago back in the day. Let Jordan have his 50, but shut down the rest of the offense. Remember without Collins this week, we lose our main LB cover guy.
Now of course, there isn't going to be just one kind of coverage that the Pats will employ on Beckham. That just wouldn't be very smart. I'm just opining that we might see more zones and one on one coverages than we'd expect. It ISN'T going to be just Butler in press man, and a safety over the top all the time. The coverage on Beckham will be more complex and varied than that.
2. How will the Pats decide to configure their OL?. Just who will be be playing where? Now MY optimum OL would have Williams at LT, Kline at LG, Andrews at C, Stork at RG, and Flemming at RT. I think Williams has the better feet to contend with JPP. Also I think Kline/Andrews/Stork would be our strongest middle configuration, and if we spread them out and short pass them to death, attacking up the middle will be at the top of the Giants pass rush strategy. It would be mine.
Of course there are those who would rather use Flemming/Kline/Andrews/Mason/Stork and have Williams as the inline TE protecting one side or the other. But that assumes Mason is fully healthy, and based on some reports about him still hobbling around, that might not be the case. Besides if he were fully healthy, I might think about using him at OT, since he is clearly the most athletic of our current offensive linemen?
So many options and NONE of them ideal. What would be your fix to this problem that the media doesn't think exists.
3. Run or Pass? How are the Pats planning to attack that Giants defense? Or to put it another way, what is the best way to protect our makeshift OL?
There is one theory that by running the ball a lot, the Pats can cover up their OL losses since run blocking is proactive, and requires less of a skill set than pass blocking. I'm sure we'd all feel more comfortable having Cam Flemming road grading than trying to match dance moves with JPP.
Of course there are those who feel we should duplicate the strategies that worked so well against the good DL's of the Steelers and Bills and just spread them out, and let Brady pick them apart by getting rid of the ball before the rush even arrives from the outside.
Of course (again), I'm sure the Pats will employ both strategies to some degree. It will be interesting to see which one will be the prime focus.
4. Who will end up getting the most reps at the 3rd down back role
a. James White - the obvious option, but the biggest question mark
b. Brandon Boldin - the most dependable player. You know he will block and run hard
c. Danny Amendola - the outside the box option. Your best receiving and route runninng option
d. LG Blount - maybe its time we start to throw him the ball a bit more.
5. How to use our 3 TE's? Now this is a trick question since we will probably use them in many configurations during the course of the game. Besides we don't know if we will even have 3 TE's this game, since Williams might have been moved to OT. But still it is an interesting question.
The common wisdom is that Williams will be used a lot as an inline TE for the run game and .protecting one of the OT's, probably Flemming if he's the LT. But now the question becomes how do use Gronk. The Giants don't really have an obvious match up for him, so he SHOULD have a big game Sunday, but won't it limit him if they use Gronk as an inline TE who chips the DE before he releases on his route? On the other hand, having Williams and Gronk as 2 inline TE's presents a very strong run formation. It will force the Giants to balance their defense. It will move their outside rushers out wider and further from the QB. They won't be able to overload one side.
6. Just a note. This will be a very noisy stadium (especially at the start of the game), and thus will limit Brady's ability to move people around at the LOS, change plays, and call the pass blocking slides. It would really be helpful if the won the toss this week.
7. The Giants will HAVE to scheme their way to a pass rush since they are having so much trouble generating one just man on man. So expect some sort of surprise new defense, like we saw down in Dallas, that will have some early success. Remember this OL won't have anyone with more than 3 years experience. And that guy is Kline , so making those in game adjustments to new schemes might not be as easy as it would be with Volmer, Cannon, and Wendell in there. (Wendell's loss have been vastly underrated)
So people, what do you think we will see in a game with so many questions. If you were the HC, what would be YOUR answers??????
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