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Indefinite New England Patriots Thread (2 Viewers)

I think Josh McD has figured out that having short routes and Brady getting rid of the ball in 1.5-2.0 seconds can neutralize any blitz or pass rush. Brady seems to have mastered reading defenses (legally or illegally) and positioning the chess pieces in the right spots. In his last 16 games (which includes an appearance in the meaningless Week 17 game last year against the Bills):

425 of 636 (66.8%)

4701 passing yards

44 passing TD

11 interceptions

104.4 passer rating

55 rushing yards

1 rushing TD

I'm not sure how teams will stop all the underneath stuff, the pick plays, the rub routes, the RB and TE out wide mismatch plays. But IMO getting a pass rush or blitzing is not going to be part of the answer.

 
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I agree with Yudkin, the Pats have realized they can ignore a great deal of pressure by simply executing quickly and efficiently.

The Pats offense is a machine right now and the four TE goal line package is a ####### thing of beauty.

 
Hats off to the Pats O Line. Brady's quick read & release is key, but that interior line is doing excellent work and several times created the space for Brady to step up in the pocket and deliver strikes downfield.

I had concerns both due to the youth of the interior and no longer having Dante around to coach em up. I know the line coach was there last year, but that was a veteran group with tons of experience. Scarnecchia alwasys seemed to be the guy that took the young guys to unexpected levels in the past.

They handled one of the better ( on paper and in $$$ ) D lines very well. Things are looking good for a little bit longer in NE.

 
Run It Up said:
I agree with Yudkin, the Pats have realized they can ignore a great deal of pressure by simply executing quickly and efficiently.
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With the exception of the regular season during the big Moss year this has always been the case during the Brady era...it is unstoppable...in the past they have gotten into a little trouble when they went away from...the first Super Bowl loss to the Giants being the prime example of that...

 
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Boston said:
Run It Up said:
I agree with Yudkin, the Pats have realized they can ignore a great deal of pressure by simply executing quickly and efficiently.
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With the exception of the regular season during the big Moss year this has always been the case during the Brady era...it is unstoppable...in the past they have gotten into a little trouble when they went away from...the first Super Bowl loss to the Giants being the prime example of that...
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Executing quickly requires Brady to know where he's going without going through all of his progressions. This requires Brady to have a good read of the defense before the snap. The Pats enable this with their choice of personnel and pre-snap movement.

For football strategy junkies, the Pats might be the most interesting team to watch before the snap.

On a related note, Bill Barnwell had a great breakdown today (lots of GIFs) of the 4 TE package in the first two games, how they use both pre-snap motion and run different routes on both left and right sides to get the matchups they want and get easy TDs (at least when Chandler isn't dropping them).

 
I think Brady is a little atypical compared to other QBs. He seems to look at how defenders are positioned, call an audible, and just trusts his read from before the snap like 60-70% of the time and gets the ball out in under two seconds. He doesn't seem to survey the field and then pick someone to throw to all that often. It's usually when he holds the ball longer that bad things happen. He can get sacked, stripped, or picked when he tries to operate more downfield.

What I have noticed so far this year is NE and Brady has gotten a little greedy. There have been plays where they had Lewis out of the backfield or someone underneath for a first down and Brady went downfield instead, forgoing the easy short yardage play.

I think defenses need to play man on Gronk and Edelman while still putting everyone else in a short zone. Only rush 3-4 guys and drop 7-8 in coverage. Line four guys up in a zone to take away the 5 yard routes while draping another player on Gronk and Edelman and leave one guy back as a safety. Brady is not a threat to run, if they try to run instead there are still players close enough to the LOS to prevent big pick ups, and then defenses will try to make Brady go further down field than he is comfortable with. Also, by then the D-line might have a shot to hit him or disrupt him (and we know he has happy feet and will dump the ball early).

What has been messing with defenses so far is NE keeps putting people on the outside that normally wouldn't play there. They have had TEs and RBs flanked wide a ton, and teams don't know what to do with that.

 
I think Brady has gotten greedier but I think it's more game theory than anything.

After Moss they almost never took deep shots. Brady almost never tried to run for yards. He does both more often now and I think it's because defenses just don't expect it.

 
Some of the worst offensive play calling I've ever seen from Belichick/McDaniels when they had a big lead. Hated the first 4th down call and the second one wasn't much better, the risk/reward in both made no sense. Also hated the back to back goal line passes to Chandler, reeked of trying to get him a TD instead of going with the best call in that situation.

 
Baloney Sandwich said:
Some of the worst offensive play calling I've ever seen from Belichick/McDaniels when they had a big lead. Hated the first 4th down call and the second one wasn't much better, the risk/reward in both made no sense. Also hated the back to back goal line passes to Chandler, reeked of trying to get him a TD instead of going with the best call in that situation.
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Agree with the deep balls on 4th down, but I don't mind the going-for-the-first mentality. With Belichick criticizing his own coaching, sounds like even he agrees with criticism of the low-percentage deep shots.

Disagree on the Chandler plays. Chandler was open on both. On the first, the pass rusher got a hand high enough to force Brady to adjust his throw at the last moment. Gotta give credit where it's due. On the 2nd, Chandler outright bobbled an easy catch, allowing the defender to chop the ball away.

 
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Baloney Sandwich said:
I'm normally a big fan of going for it on 4th but both made no sense giving where the game was at in each situation.
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Agreed...there is a time and a place for this and I usually love how aggressive the Pats are...but sometimes these situations allow the opponent to gain momentum and this was one of them...also, the Pats D was playing solid so this wasn't a game where you couldn't trust them to make a stop like the infamous Indy call...

 
If they had converted either of those the game would have been over.

I didn't have a problem with it, no reason to shift gears to play into your weakness.

Pats were leading by more than two scores, they take their foot off the gas then they have to defend against the deep ball, their weakness.

 
PFF Grades for week 2:

Offense - Offense numbers are exciting, very impressed with their Oline. Brady, Vollmer, Gronk, Solder and Edelman top the list.

Defense - Surprised to see Chandler Jones, Jamie Collins and Ninkovich with negative overall grades. Collins and Jones combined for 6 sacks and Nink had two clutch tackles - that being said he is looking sluggish. Fortunately Hightower and Sheard have been killing it. Mccourty and Butler also had positive grades.

 
I've been wondering how you approach a game like this when it's kind of a weird opponent. One way: Pop Quizzes All Round

And it's great. Great way to keep focus. Heart Bill.

Edit: Also, just watched some of "Do Your Job". Edelman icing down his shoulder after every time they practised the double pass...

 
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Kind of exciting news.

Pats traded a 6th for Jonathon Bostick from the Bears.

Bostick has been dealing with an injury but is a great prospect. Bears are in firesale mode whether they know something about Bostick or not.

 
The Bears are convinced he can't produce in their scheme.

He's a really athletic linebacker similar to Collins but never seemed to take that next step, he's been struggling with an injury for a while, hopefully the Pats insisted on an extensive physical.

 
In case you guys missed it, Pats cut a handful of dudes from their practice squad, then traded Michael Hoomanawanui to the Saints for DE/DT Akiem Hicks.

Hicks is a good pick up, hes on a contract year and we get out from under Hooman's pricey deal for a good depth player on the DL, the net difference is about a 800k cap hit.

Hicks is a big boy, 6'5" 325, plays 3-4 DE and 4-3 DT. Makes me wonder if the Pats are gonna splash schemes into their mix.

The Pats now have so much depth on the front 7 a third of the team are defensive linemen or linebackers, almost all of them are flexible.

 
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That's good, Chandler probably won't get cut over the BYE week! lol jk

I kinda like the early bye for this team and the younger players, as well as guys like Easley, LaFell etc to get healthy.

 
Why I heart Bill, reason #63937: Blowing up the "continuity is the most important thing on O-line" narrative.

Edit: Also Mike Reiss took a look at some Hicks tape.

And, in case you didn't know it, Bill Simmons is back. I recommend subscribing just to make it a talked about thing and therefor another up yers Goodell.

 
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Can't find the post, but someone said something about Bostick being comparable skill set wise to Collins. Got me wondering if that's exactly the intent of the acquisition. Not so much depth at a position as depth at a skill set.

 
Old Smiley said:
Can't find the post, but someone said something about Bostick being comparable skill set wise to Collins. Got me wondering if that's exactly the intent of the acquisition. Not so much depth at a position as depth at a skill set.
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He does have a similar skill set, just freakishly athletic. Faster than Collins for sure, at least he was before his injury. Hes not as explosive though, but Collins might be the most explosive LB in the game.

Definitely similar skill set.

 
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Old Smiley said:
Mike Reiss ‏@MikeReiss 1h1 hour ago

Full-pads practice today for #Patriots. Part of defensive focus will be working on fits in run game. "Physical," one player says.

Can someone help me out? What is "fits in run game"?
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I assume he means getting the right players into the rotation for the running downs.

I think we'll be seeing a heavier front this week. Heavy edge rusher rotation to keep em fresh while having a big inside, Branch, Siliga, Brown and Hicks.

Probably see more Mayo this week than in the past, might get to see some Bostick - but I think he might be dealing with injury still.

 
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This close to game time, what are they up to? Elevate a practice squadder?

Edit: Upon further review, probably not. Got to commit X weeks to bring someone up from practice squad, right?

 
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