The Patriots Offensive System: Erhardt-Perkins

[NE-VT]

OT" In the second video Bob rips a Jets defensive scheme. "This dude is trying to cover this guy from 10 yards out..... That's just ridiculous......Well that's why they're the Jets and we're the Patriots" hahaha

I am glad someone caught it! SO FUNNY

 

[NE-VT]

I need a dummies book...

Ice cream headache city....

"3 out slot hat"...uh huh... "73" sets the protection... yeah... um...

ELI5

This thread is definitely meant to be inclusive. Asking questions is encouraged! I am super glad that @Tony2046 posted that intro video. Personally, I want the scope of the thread to be pretty broad: both the Patriots offense system, and football offense generally. If folks have a general question about something about offensive football, post it! Hopefully someone will have an answer.

Since @oldrover had a particular question, I will try to give a ELI5 answer (might be closer to Explain like I am 10).



First, lets talk about formation. I am still going to be talking about the top left picture. The square is the center. The square and the two circles on either side make up the offensive line. The circle behind the square is Tom Brady.

The letters X, Y, Z, H, Y are the potential receivers. It might be like this:

X: Hogan
Y: Gronk
Z: Amendola
H: White
F: Cooks

"3 Out Slot" slot tells the letters (Hogan, Gronk, Amendola, White, Cooks) where to start out.

"hat" tells White to run toward Gronk's side before the ball is snapped (the play starts when the ball is snapped).

"73" tells the 5 offensive lineman that they need to block for Brady without any additional help. It sets the "protection" scheme.

"ghost" tells Cooks, White, and Gronk what to do on the play (F, H, Y).

"tosser" tells Hogan and Amendola what to do on the play (X, Z).

 

[Tony2046]

Found this article giving an example of the language difference between EP and WC.

Jimmy Garoppolo’s new language: Comparing the 49ers and Patriots playbook verbiage

These are two very similar play concepts.

The first is the EP. The players understand the concept or the play and their specific responsibilities for each play.

F-Right 72 Ghost Tosser



The West Coast is a command rather than a concept. Each player has a responsibility assigned within the play call.


(T) Solo Right ‘B’ right 322 Scat ‘Y’ Stick Lion




The advantages of the EP over the West Coast are:

1. EP is best suited for a quick paced offensive scheme.
2. Play could be called at the line of scrimmage (Jordan Jordan) because the defense doesn't know what that means whereas many defenses know what Double Wing Right etc.... is.

Note: Combining points 1 and 2 you get the picture of how much quicker a play call can be using the EP scheme because you can call the plays from the LOS. WC may have some emergency plays with single name identifiers but most of the calls would have to be called in the huddle.

3. EP has an unlimited play design potential. Basically draw any route you want and name it. Whereas the WC is based on verbiage and the more complex the play design the more complex the play call becomes which further slows down the offense from snap to snap.

That's what I've gotten out of this so far. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

@NE-VT , you should fix the name Ehhardt in the thread title. it might generate more views...

 

[conway]

I think the 5yos among us might still be unclear as to why/how "73" tells the 5 offensive lineman that they need to block for Brady without any additional help. What does the "7" mean? What does the "3" mean"? I was a lineman in high school in an offense that, for it's time, was relatively complicated. The vast majority of our pass plays had either "60" or "61" blocking. Despite playing in it for 4 years, I couldn't tell you why it was numbered that way. I understand the 0 and 1 referred to essentially right and left. Maybe the 6 was in reference to the number of blockers, though I don't think so. It's clearly not that way in the system referenced above.

 

[NE-VT]

@NE-VT , you should fix the name Ehhardt in the thread title. it might generate more views...

Fixed thanks. Please forgive my frequent typos, and always feel free to call them out!

I think the 5yos among us might still be unclear as to why/how "73" tells the 5 offensive lineman that they need to block for Brady without any additional help. What does the "7" mean? What does the "3" mean"?

Unfortunately, I am also a "5yo" when it comes to that question! Well, I have a bit of info, on it. I originally found the partial 2004 Patriots playbook on the website below. I also noticed they have a 1974 Patriots playbook, which should be an early EP one. I just downloaded that 1974 one and plan to read it. The file for the 2003 playbook is missing.

NFL Playbooks

I say my copy is partial because big chunks of it are randomly missing. Still, I was able to find this relevant info:

The 7 refers to empty protection (only 5 OL blockers). The second number being odd or even was left right, in some sense.

Unfortunately, I can't give a complete answer because the 2004 is missing too much. Maybe the 1974 one has more info. It also sounds like it might have been the same system as your high school. Do you remember if you folks kept one back in the backfield to help block? Do you still have a copy of that playbook? I think I lost mine.

 

[Tony2046]

@NE-VT

You're going to love this. It's the 2004 Patriots playbook. Downloadable.

2004 New England Patriots Offense Charlie Weis Pdf


Edit: Never mind. I see you already have the link.

 

[NE-VT]

@NE-VT

You're going to love this. It's the 2004 Patriots playbook. Downloadable.

2004 New England Patriots Offense Charlie Weis Pdf

I will double check, but I think that is the one I have been using. It has a bunch of pages missing . The 2003 one is entirely missing, but I downloaded the 1974 one...

Edit: The 1974 one is pre-EP.

 

[Tony2046]

I will double check, but I think that is the one I have been using. It has a bunch of pages missing . The 2003 one is entirely missing, but I downloaded the 1974 one...

The 2003 and 2004 playbooks are on the same page although 2004 is listed before the 2003 book.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

I agree with all of that. It also reminds me of what OD said in second video. For the purposes of speed you might just abbreviate the entire play call "blah blah ... Hoss-Y Juke" as "Juke" (assuming that is the only Juke route in the game plan).

This seems to play off of how memories are stored, as you suggest. If you think the defense knows what your "Juke" route is, you could change it with "Barry" (as in Barry Sanders). I recall that Brady called a audible "Jordan" in the last AFCG. I wonder if that was a reference to an abbreviated play name. It would make sense from a memory perspective.

My personal favorite -- the name for the "ineligible receiver" play against the Ravens in the 2014 playoffs was "Raven". It's like they knew Harbaugh would go ballistic over it!

 

[patfanken]

I have on many occasions stressed the importance of how "semantics" and the effect it has on football success. Going back to my days as a coach back in the 70's and 80's, you cannot believe the amount of time coaches spend in the off season discussing how to communicate large amounts of information in the minimum amount of words, even back then. BTW- this this struggle holds just as true on the defensive side as well.

I think we all owe a debt of gratitude to NE-VT, Luuked, and Tony for not only starting the thread, but adding to it with a great discussion that can only edify our understanding of what we see each Sunday. It also helps explain the unexplainable, which is why have the Pats been so good for so long. Brady and BB is the easy, dare I say, lazy answer. But this thread shines a light on a factor that most fans don't know about and adds to the appreciation of what what we are seeing.

NONE of this is easy to understand, even with all the charts, clips, and explanations. But the concept that is most important to understand is that over the years, BB has taken EP language concepts, and created a language that allows the Pats to morph into any offensive style that BB deems necessary to win the next game on the schedule. Power, spread, or something in the middle are all options for the Pats, and it has proven to be an enormous advantage.

Having an advantage such as that, when you so often are playing close games against equally talented teams, can be the difference to winning or losing. At any rate, the topic just adds to my awe about the way the Pats run their program. In a league that almost mandates uniformity, the Pats manage to stay a step ahead.

 

[Tony2046]

I think the 5yos among us might still be unclear as to why/how "73" tells the 5 offensive lineman that they need to block for Brady without any additional help. What does the "7" mean? What does the "3" mean"? I was a lineman in high school in an offense that, for it's time, was relatively complicated. The vast majority of our pass plays had either "60" or "61" blocking. Despite playing in it for 4 years, I couldn't tell you why it was numbered that way. I understand the 0 and 1 referred to essentially right and left. Maybe the 6 was in reference to the number of blockers, though I don't think so. It's clearly not that way in the system referenced above.

So this is the best answer I can come up with. Hopefully someone can expand on it and/or correct it.


There are 4 basic pass blocking scheme concepts. 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's.

Note: There are different identifiers for Run Blocking schemes.

So it's not an individual designation. e.g. 73 doesn't mean 7 linemen or blockers etc.... although even numbers seem to mean right and odd numbers left.

What each Pass blocking scheme identifies:

1. Whether Assignments vs Man or Zone and /or vs 3/4 or 4/3 Defensive fronts.
2. Who and how many are responsible for pass protection.
3. Which Defender each player is responsible for.
4. Which Offensive player is the Hot read.
5. The QB's drop. (Under center, Shotgun, 3,5,7 step drops)
6. Who the QB should identify as the Mike.
7. QB Audibles.
8. And a few other things.

So back to your (and my) question of what does 73 mean.

It means: (I think)

1. The QB is under center and I believe a 5 step drop.
2. Only the Offensive linemen are pass protecting. RB and TE are releasing into passing routes.
3. One of the Receivers/RB/TE will be a Hot route.
4. And more that I'm not sure about.










Edited. Thanks NE-VT.

 

[Tony2046]

Having an advantage such as that, when you so often are playing close games against equally talented teams, can be the difference to winning or losing. At any rate, the topic just adds to my awe about the way the Pats run their program. In a league that almost mandates uniformity, the Pats manage to stay a step ahead.

That is just so true.

 

[NE-VT]

So this is the best answer I can come up with. Hopefully someone can expand on it and/or correct it.


There are 4 basic pass blocking scheme concepts. 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's.

Note: There are different identifiers for Run Blocking schemes.

So it's not an individual designation. e.g. 73 doesn't mean 7 linemen or blockers etc.... although even numbers seem to mean right and odd numbers left.

What each Pass blocking scheme identifies:

1. Whether vs Man or Zone and /or vs 3/4 or 4/3 Defensive fronts.
2. Who and how many are responsible for pass protection.
3. Which Defender each player is responsible for.
4. Which Offensive player is the Hot read.
5. The QB's drop. (Under center, Shotgun, 3,5,7 step drops)
6. Who the QB should identify as the Mike.
7. QB Audibles.
8. And a few other things.

So back to your (and my) question of what does 73 mean.

It means: (I think)

1. The QB is under center and I believe a 5 step drop.
2. Only the Offensive linemen are pass protecting. RB and TE are releasing into passing routes.
3. One of the Receivers/RB/TE will be a Hot route.
4. And more that I'm not sure about.

Nice post! I found this O'Brien video on empty protections that is topical.

 

[slam]

Nice post! I found this O'Brien video on empty protections that is topical.

Wow, that made my head spin.

 

[K. Dog]

Wow, that made my head spin.

I understood about six words of this video ("Tom Brady is a bright guy").

 

[rochrist]

I will double check, but I think that is the one I have been using. It has a bunch of pages missing . The 2003 one is entirely missing, but I downloaded the 1974 one...

Edit: The 1974 one is pre-EP.

Huh. I just got the 2003 one from there a couple of says ago.

 

[NE-VT]

Wow, that made my head spin.

I agree, the protection stuff is super confusing. I think that is true for any system. I originally just said "73 sets the protection" has a hand wave because the rest of the play call is much more understandable to me. I included the other two OB videos but not this one for the same reason. But once folks wanted to OL details I thought I should just give everything I have!

It also reminds me of why players complain about PFF player grades. It is sometimes super hard to tell which player messed up given a complicated protection scheme.

Huh. I just got the 2003 one from there a couple of says ago.

I am glad you had me double check! It looks like the pdf was reposted, or maybe the file was only missing on my end temporarily from some strange error.

2003 New England Patriots Offense Charlie Weis Pdf

I noticed that a few route concepts might be different between 2003 & 2004,

 

[captain stone]

I will double check, but I think that is the one I have been using. It has a bunch of pages missing . The 2003 one is entirely missing, but I downloaded the 1974 one...

Edit: The 1974 one is pre-EP.

Right. Red Miller was Fairbanks' OC from 1973 until he became the Donkeys HC after the 1976 season. Erhardt was the RBs coach during that same period before he replaced Miller as OC.