JamesTheScot
Footballguy
Ever hear of a coverage sack, smartass? Ever hear teams talk about stoppping the run first and making the QB beat you? Ever hear about teams trying to mask coverages, running a nickel or dime heavy game plan or rolling coverages over to account for stud WR's? These are schemes to derail a passing game that don't necessarily require pressure as the primary mechanism. No #### that pressure can stop the passing game. But I didn't say that pressure was the way to stop the Pats passing game did I? I said it was the secret to stopping the offense in general much the same way as it was for the Martz led Rams.So no, putting pressure on the QB isn't the only way to stop the pass nor is it the only way to stop an offense. And I'm sure you recognize that trying to bring pressure can backfire on you when you have to compromise your coverage to do so...especially against a QB who excels at avoiding the pass rush.When Brady went down, people wondered if NE would refocus on the run to protect Cassel which would then raise the question whether defenses would continue to focus primarily on pressure or just sit back, stop the run and dare Cassel to beat their coverages. Why blitz and risk giving up the big play when the newbie QB hasn't shown he can decipher your coverage scheme? But with all the untouched defenders putting helmets on Cassel, I look more to the blocking and breakdowns in pass protection than I do to Cassel not "feeling the pass rush". I think D's have for the most part opted for running the same gameplan against Cassel that they would employ against Brady. I think Brady would be taking more sacks this season as compared to last season as it appears to me that D's have figured out how to overcome the Pat's pass protection schemes.Borat said:
