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New England Patriots Aim To Cool Jets After Settling Bills
Published: September 17, 2009
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After a shaky first half, the Patriots came together in the second half, and especially on the last two drives, to dispatch the Bills, with some help from a fumbled kickoff return.
If Patriot nation was sweating the first half, they were breathing a huge sigh of relief after Brady and company put on a clinic in the space of 76 seconds, exploiting the Red two coverage (out of the Cover 2 shell) that the Bills apply in red zone defense by running the smash concept and splitting the field up the middle (pushing the safeties to their zones since they must cover vertical routes), forcing a man-to-man on Tight End Ben Watson.
Not only did they pull this off to perfection, they also did it twice, to squeeze out a narrow victory, 25-24. Matt Bowen of NFP and Chris Brown of Smart Football both provide an excellent analysis of this play, and their websites are recommended reading.
Suffice it to say that it proved in a big way that vintage Brady has returned.
The Jets, meanwhile demolished the Houston Texans, in rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez’s first start, setting the stage for a week two face-off that was further inflamed by Nose Tackle Kris Jenkins’s declaration to treat the game as the Super Bowl.
It also did not help that Jets Coach Rex Ryan issued verbal pom-poms by exhorting season ticket holders in a recorded phone message to show on Sunday ready to burst their vocal cords.
One would imagine this sets the stage for a colossal confrontation.
However, upon closer examination, one sees that the Jets/Texans game was not a well executed one. The Texans did not rehearse well for the heavy blitzing and pressures that Ryan’s Jets brought, and this is all the more surprising considering Ryan’s background as the defense coordinator in Baltimore where his forte was to throw the house at the opponents quarterback with overload blitzes or heavy pressure up the middle.
Indeed you could almost say that Ryan imported the Ravens defensive schemes, even going as far as using Kris Jenkins as his own personal Ray Lewis, motioning him to hybrid linebacker and at the snap, running him through the A gap behind ILB David Harris and Bart Scott, as part of a five man blitz.
Instead of going to hot reads or having his receivers run sight adjustments (occupying spots vacated by blitzers) Matt Schaub tried to beat the blitz, which is a losing proposition. Even more mystifying was the lack of minute or even halftime adjustments on the part of the Texans.
Knowing how much Bill Belichick knows the Baltimore defense, it will be interesting to see what he comes up with for this coming Sunday. I believe the key is not to have maximum shotgun protection for Brady because that is giving Ryan a target to throw the house at.
The key will be for Brady to get rid of the ball fast, and for that to happen, Belichick will entrust him with the offense and allow him to throw hot, and have his receivers run sight adjusted. I think we should expect to see a lot of underneath stuff, with short pass completions to the flat, as well as extensive screens.
On the defensive end of things- it is well worth considering that the Jets offensive coordinator is Brian Schottenheimer, son of Marty Schottenheimer who was at the wrong end of a pink slip after losing the ’06 playoff showdown to the Patriots who were underdogs at the time.
Schottenhemier brings a smash-mouth philosophy to the offense which dictates that the Jets will throw in plenty of runs and especially screens which the Patriots defended poorly in their first game. This will be a critical factor in the game.
With that it mind, I would not be surprised to see New England use a majority of 4-3 fronts, with Ron Brace and Myron Pryor activated, especially with Jerod Mayo injured. In fact, when he got injured during the Bills game, the team shifted to a 4-3 front. My expectation is that Gary Guyton will move to the mike position with Pierre Woods occupying the will (weak-side linebacker).
There are a few reasons for this: Sanchez has shown an excellent ability to throw on the move, and outside of the pocket, and this must be contained. It is critical to collapse the pocket quickly and force him to throw, throw, and throw, and especially throw with as little time to make decisions as possible.
In the backfield, we may see a disguised cover two that turns to a cover three at the snap to contain Tight End Dustin Keller splitting the safeties up the middle. Expect a great deal of mixed and disguised looks on the defense, to keep the Jets offense on edge.
The Jets and especially their coach are hyping this game as the next big thing, but odds are it will not be the contest many people expect it to be. The Texans are not the Patriots. The Jets are playing a much more prepared and professional team.
Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com
Tom Brady to NFL: We’re On a Mission
Published: August 17, 2009
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It took only until the second possession to see what was so sorely missed all of last season—a beautiful rainbow from Tom Brady to Randy Moss along the right sideline. And though it ended in a pass-interference by ex-Patriot Asante Samuel, one almost expected to hear Guy Lombardo strike up “Seems Like Old Times” with his orchestra.
Omitting the company script, Brady chose to be frank at the press conference, afterwards: “We are on a mission.”
Indeed, the first half unfolded with a sense of purpose, a crisp execution not seen in a Patriots pre-season game in quite a few years. The Patriots opened with a shotgun max protect with a H-back formation in the backfield to protect Brady since it was the first live rush he’d faced in over a year; in a two TE, two WR, and a H-back with David Thomas being the assigned fullback to block (a H-back is a hybrid fullback/tight end).
On the next few plays, the Patriots went to a three wide formation, and with the help of a new-look, pass-rushing 4-3 front with a scary front featuring Burgess, Wilfork, Pryor and Seymour, the Patriots held Philadelphia to six points in the first half while Brady engineered two drives with both touchdowns coming courtesy of Chris Baker who was acquired because of his vastly underrated blocking ability.
Brady’s last drive before the half once again proved beyond a doubt why he is an elite quarterback. With 5:07 the Patriots went to it’s patent hurry up offense, eating up 75 yards in 10 plays, with one surprising play where Brady ignored the audible and called his own sneak to convert a third and one, then correctly diagnosed an inside safety blitz which he assigned Faulk to cross-block, buying himself time to fire a 35-yard bullet to a falling Moss to move the offense to the 12-yard line where he promptly found Baker again for his second touchdown of the game.
The second half, however, was cause for Patriot Nation to worry again about the steep drop-off in bench talent that contributed to the misleading close-victory score 27-25. With No. 2 quarterback Kevin O’Connell put in idle, Belichick chose to throw newly-acquired Andrew Walter to the sharks. Walter, who was easily confused by the blitz-happy Philadelphia defense, wasn’t helped much by his weak grasp of the Patriot playbook.
Judging from their sense of purpose and dedication, even to the smallest assignments, it is clear that this team is on a mission, led by a hungry and vengeful Brady, eager to return after a season away from the field. Despite a flaw here and there, which is to be expected of preseason when teams mix up personnel- rookies with veterans, the executions were overall good.
Snapshots
Who’s up
TOM BRADY: For obvious reasons. Other than tentatively stepping through his long throws (he must throw all his weight on his surgically repaired knee in order to complete the follow through, a very hard mental task to complete), Brady performed well, especially on the mental level, in pre and post snap reads.
JULIAN EDELMAN: Playing in place of Wes Welker, the rookie put on an one man show, exhibiting his versatility and eluding skills when he successfully returned a punt.
PAT CHUNG: Already demonstrating his game-changing talent by registering five tackles and blocking a kick attempt. His subsequent hustle on another kick attempt at the end of the game was enough to cause kicker David Akers to go wide left which is an usual indication that he kicked too quickly. This affected the outcome of the game.
MYRON PRYOR: It was hard to ignore his motor. His explosion and power was surprising for a man of his size, and helped him to register a sack and several hurried passes.
CHRIS BAKER: Acquired for his underrated blocking, Baker reined in two touchdown passes, taking advantage of undue attention to the receivers.
Who’s OK
THE DEFENSE: Only the solid performance of the four-man front and the nickel and dime pass rushing (Tully Banta-Cain and Burgess, et al) prevents the defense from ending up in the “Who’s Down” category. While the secondaries performed good, and certainly better than last year, the squad still has trouble containing the dink and dunk, and closing down the slot and taking away the short intermediate passes.
JEROD MAYO: An unremarkable night, but this will probably change.
Who’s Down
JOEY GALLOWAY: It’s bad enough being motioned on the line of scrimmage by a rookie (Edelman) on a three wide-out formation, and while he did decent blocking, looking hesitantly and generally at a loss did not help him any better. This, in my opinion, has put him on the bubble. With the depth chart at wide receiver very plentiful, Galloway has plenty to do.
ERIC ALEXANDER: Poor tackling and play execution has moved this linebacker down the depth chart. It looked at times as if he were taking plays off, especially plays not happening in the flat.
ANDREW WALTER: Easily confused by the Philadelphia defense, he did not make a correct pre-snap diagnosis of the Eagle’s coverages or fronts at any point in the game, and obviously bad things happen, including an unblocked sack that put him on the ground. His tentative grasp of the playbook is probably an impediment at this point. A lot of work for this man to do if he wants to win the No. 3 quarterback position.
