historypete
11-13-2007, 10:58 AM
I figure since I can't stand the man as a playcaller and gameplanner I would throw in my two cents about what we should do. The first thing is that you have to understand what the Patriots are probably going to do to stop you, and counter that by developing matchups that benefit us.
So, I would think that Belichek is going to devise a gameplan for his defense that will prevent us from being conservative and ball control. He will jam the line with 8 guys and blitz the hell out us; hoping that we either run into it and gain 2 yards every time or make JP beat them by throwing.
The Patriots defense is built around two things: Aggression and Discipline. They don't have the fastest LBs in the world, but they get to the QB and they make plays. Their secondary is average I think, with the exception of Samuel who is a beast. They rely on the front 7 to get pressure and make plays.
To counter this we must find matchups that get our offense in a positiion to succeed. That means finding ways to get Evans and Lynch in favorable situations where they can make plays. To do this I think the last thing we should do is go 2 TE for most of the game and try to play ball-control. This is playing into Belicheck's hands. We go out and attack his aggressiveness with a short to medium range passing attack by spreading the field.
I would go strictly with 3 and 4 wide sets. Our best asset for our WR is speed and quickness. By doing that we get some favorable matchups because NE will either stay in the 3-4 or go to a nickle. If they go Nickle we can run the ball easier, if they stay 3-4 we run crossing routes and slants to get separation by using our speed.
The other thing is I would rarely use our TE's in this game. Keep them on the bench. The reason I say this is because they are not athletically gifted enough to be a factor in the passing game. This is all about matchups, and our TE against any of their LBs or DBs is not a good matchup for us. I would run a 3 wide set with both Lynch and either Wright or Jackson in the backfield. Any of these guys on a pass pattern with a LB or S on them is a mismatch. I don't know how effective Marshawn will be with his ankle, but I think Jackson could be an excellent threat in the slot or out of the backfield. This also provides NE with a problem because they have to decide who they are covering, who might run the ball and it will slow down their pass rush.
As for running the ball, I would not go with slow developing run plays like counters. I would have our guys line up on the Oline and smack the Pats in the face. Our guys are too big and too slow to be pulling all the time. They are big and strong so let them man up and hit the guy in the mouth. Let Marshawn run straight up the gut or off tackle. You do this from a 3 and 4 wide sets because it opens up the defense. They have to bring in more DBs to compensate. This provides your Oline with a more favorable matchup with their LB and DL so they can win a one on one battle. By condensing the field and bringing in Royal, Gaines and Neufeld we put ourselves in a situation that plays into the Patriots favor.
The final thing I would do is move Evans around. We just can't keep him on the outside and have him run Go Routes, 20 Yard Dig Routes and 10 Yard Come Backs. They should put him in the slot, they should bunch their reciever sets so the DBs can get picked off and one of our WR are running open. Andre Reed was so good because he could be effective anywhere on the field, and that is what we need to do with Evans.
Wow, this is long so I'll sum it up. I believe we don't sit back and play ball-control because that is letting the Patriots Defense dictate the flow of the game and I'm sick of that crap. We need to find favorable matchups to exploit their aggressive defense and we do that by moving guys around to spots were they're not expected to be. This means getting more of our RB's involved in the passing game to get an edge on their LBs, and hiding Evans.
I believe this type of attack could be carried out by both JP and Trent. I know some firmly believe that we should strickly play a ball-control game and keep the score down. Against any other opponent that may work, even though it has been tried many times this year and it has led to a bunch of angry fans here. But against the Pats, a team that has scored over 350 points in 9 GAMES we can't. To win we need to SCORE and this is the best way I think we can at least try to put up points.
Sorry for the long essay by the way.
So, I would think that Belichek is going to devise a gameplan for his defense that will prevent us from being conservative and ball control. He will jam the line with 8 guys and blitz the hell out us; hoping that we either run into it and gain 2 yards every time or make JP beat them by throwing.
The Patriots defense is built around two things: Aggression and Discipline. They don't have the fastest LBs in the world, but they get to the QB and they make plays. Their secondary is average I think, with the exception of Samuel who is a beast. They rely on the front 7 to get pressure and make plays.
To counter this we must find matchups that get our offense in a positiion to succeed. That means finding ways to get Evans and Lynch in favorable situations where they can make plays. To do this I think the last thing we should do is go 2 TE for most of the game and try to play ball-control. This is playing into Belicheck's hands. We go out and attack his aggressiveness with a short to medium range passing attack by spreading the field.
I would go strictly with 3 and 4 wide sets. Our best asset for our WR is speed and quickness. By doing that we get some favorable matchups because NE will either stay in the 3-4 or go to a nickle. If they go Nickle we can run the ball easier, if they stay 3-4 we run crossing routes and slants to get separation by using our speed.
The other thing is I would rarely use our TE's in this game. Keep them on the bench. The reason I say this is because they are not athletically gifted enough to be a factor in the passing game. This is all about matchups, and our TE against any of their LBs or DBs is not a good matchup for us. I would run a 3 wide set with both Lynch and either Wright or Jackson in the backfield. Any of these guys on a pass pattern with a LB or S on them is a mismatch. I don't know how effective Marshawn will be with his ankle, but I think Jackson could be an excellent threat in the slot or out of the backfield. This also provides NE with a problem because they have to decide who they are covering, who might run the ball and it will slow down their pass rush.
As for running the ball, I would not go with slow developing run plays like counters. I would have our guys line up on the Oline and smack the Pats in the face. Our guys are too big and too slow to be pulling all the time. They are big and strong so let them man up and hit the guy in the mouth. Let Marshawn run straight up the gut or off tackle. You do this from a 3 and 4 wide sets because it opens up the defense. They have to bring in more DBs to compensate. This provides your Oline with a more favorable matchup with their LB and DL so they can win a one on one battle. By condensing the field and bringing in Royal, Gaines and Neufeld we put ourselves in a situation that plays into the Patriots favor.
The final thing I would do is move Evans around. We just can't keep him on the outside and have him run Go Routes, 20 Yard Dig Routes and 10 Yard Come Backs. They should put him in the slot, they should bunch their reciever sets so the DBs can get picked off and one of our WR are running open. Andre Reed was so good because he could be effective anywhere on the field, and that is what we need to do with Evans.
Wow, this is long so I'll sum it up. I believe we don't sit back and play ball-control because that is letting the Patriots Defense dictate the flow of the game and I'm sick of that crap. We need to find favorable matchups to exploit their aggressive defense and we do that by moving guys around to spots were they're not expected to be. This means getting more of our RB's involved in the passing game to get an edge on their LBs, and hiding Evans.
I believe this type of attack could be carried out by both JP and Trent. I know some firmly believe that we should strickly play a ball-control game and keep the score down. Against any other opponent that may work, even though it has been tried many times this year and it has led to a bunch of angry fans here. But against the Pats, a team that has scored over 350 points in 9 GAMES we can't. To win we need to SCORE and this is the best way I think we can at least try to put up points.
Sorry for the long essay by the way.