PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Mike Dussault

Well That Sucked (Patriots Offense Edition)…

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General thoughts/feelings after the game. I don’t check the stats or look back at anything, just the gut reaction of what I saw unfold.

The good thing about week two losses is that by the end of the season they are a distant memory. But this loss today to the Jets has left me baffled.

Our offense looked like a machine in the first half, moving the ball on the Jets defense yard by yard, exerting their will. Brady was moving the ball around to multiple receivers and it seemed like there would be little the Jets could do to stop this offense.

But in the second half I was having flashbacks to 2009. I mean, this was a vintage 2009 game. First half they look great. The we gat a total collapse in the second half. 

While Brady showed flashes of trust with Aaron Hernandez, Gronk and Tate were invisible in the second half. Losing Kevin Faulk didn’t help.

With the Jets missing Calvin Pace and Darrelle Revis this was a prime opportunity to take out a divisional rival on the road. When the teams meet again in December it will be the Jets who will probably have more talented players back on the field.

Last year the Pats could point to not having Welker when they lost there in week two, but this time all we’re left to say is that Brady is still developing chemistry with those not named Welker, Moss, or Faulk.

I’m sure Bill O’Brien’s name will be back in the news again this week. Debating his game plans and use of threats outside of Moss/Welker.  Though not even they could do anything in the second half.

Brady has to take some of the responsibility as well, never seen someone go from so hot to so cold so fast.

Clearly the talent is there on this team, especially on offense. That’s what is so frustrating. It’s all there. When they were clicking versus the Jets they were unstoppable.

But somehow that all just came apart at half time.

And in the second half they weren’t even facing Revis. Jason Taylor was banged up! I don’t even know who was playing in their secondary. And the shmoes shut down an offense that had been clicking on all cylindars.

We all saw Hard Knocks. The Jets barely had 53 guys good enough to make out their roster. Their backups were torched in every preseason game.

How did this happen? I’m at a total loss.

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https://www.patspropaganda.com/28844/

An Xs and Os View of the Jets

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If you’ve had a chance to check out the Patscast podcast one of the regular guests is Jay Shields. Jay is a Patriots-centric Mike Mayock on the show, and shares his insights on the Patriots schemes from an educated football background. In my unending quest to become a more knowledgeable football fan I’ve found Jay’s commentary to be fascinating. Below is a post that Jay made on the popular PatsFans.com messageboard, providing a little more insight into what the Jets do on defense and how you beat it. Enjoy (and I suggest you grab a pen and paper to illustrate Jay’s description.:

Let’s start with the two most basic concepts behind Ryan’s fundamental attack. His scheme relies upon attacking the blocking scheme of the offense and forcing a quick ball release. This is achieved through disguising the Mike backer, overloading a gap, and pressing receivers off of the line. In order to understand how this attacks blocking schemes, it is necessary to first understand the fundamentals of a pass blocking scheme.

Typically, the first call made after the offense breaks the huddle is the identification of the Mike linebacker. This is sometimes made by both the QB and center, othertimes just by the center. Think of the Mike backer as the strength of the defensive formation. Just as you would hear defenses call out “strong left”, offenses will call out “52 is Mike”. Almost everything in defensive football boiled down it it’s most basic, fundamental level flows through the Mike linebacker. This is in large part because of the premium on the middle of the field. Look at how defenses are built. Nose, Mike and Will, SS. Everything from flow to the football to coverage to blitzing runs through the Mike. From 2-gap 34 to Ryan 34 to Johnson 43 to Tampa-2, it all places a premium on the alignment and responsibility of the mike. If he’s not there to blitz or eat a blocker he is there to compensate for a weakened area. In the context of the passing game, he is your best key in the anticipation of a blitz or coverage. Take this read away and the offense is already in an anticipation disadvantage.

The next part of what makes Ryan’s scheme effective is the overload blitz. This is again an attack on the pass protection concept. As a very general rule, most protections rely upon the blocker to defend a zone of closeness. Take the man closest to your face, and put a premium on defending the most direct line to the football. This is in response to stunts and loops that are designed to confuse man blocking scheme. For example; the offense is set in a singleback set with the TE aligned to the right of the formation. The defense is in a basic 43 call. In a very basic call the tackle is responsible for the weakside end, and the guard is responsible for the 3-technique. When the ball is snapped the 3-tech drives across the face of the guard, drawing him inwards. The defensive end accelerates towards the outside shoulder of the tackle, pulling him outwards in his drop steps. There is now a large rushing lane opened in the B-gap. The Will backer attacks the B-gap and the back steps up to block the Will. Tackle has outside responsibility, guard has inside responsibility, back has blitzer. Same thing would have happened if the 3-tech shot the B-Gap, and the Mike came through the A gap. Now, let’s add a walked up free safety coming through the B-Gap off of the azz of the Will. No matter what the o-line does, someone is going to come free. This example isn’t perfect nor absolute but it does a good job of illustrating my point.

You can read the rest of Jay’s post here…

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Have you gotten your new Fitzy’s badass Brady t-shirt yet?

https://www.patspropaganda.com/have-you-gotten-your-new-fitzys-badass-brady/

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skzII7iUdwY

Say hello to the newest New England Patriot Danny Woodhead. When watching Hard Knocks this season I made a note that Woodhead seemed like the kind of player the Patriots always love. Yes he’s undersized, but he competes as hard as anyone and can/will play wherever you need him to. I think this signing is far more than just an information grab about the Jets. Believe me, what the Jets do isn’t that complicated.

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)

https://www.patspropaganda.com/say-hello-to-the-newest-new-england-patriot-danny/

Fred Taylor on Benjarvus & LoMo

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Taylor had plenty of positive things to say about fellow running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis. “Benny, he’s always here asking questions,” Taylor said. “He follows Kevin [Faulk] like he’s his baby brother — in at 6 [a.m.], doing all the things, conditioning early in the morning, weights throughout the season, conditioning after practice. He hits the hole extremely hard. He’s like me, always working on his pass-receiving. He’s improved in that area. He’s a guy that’s waiting on his opportunity. I think he deserves it. He sticks his head in there, he doesn’t spend a lot of time laterally, east and west. He’s always downhill when he’s running the ball. You’ll see him improve more the more opportunities, the more reps he gets in the game situations. He’s being patient, waiting for it.”

Asked how that compares to former Patriot Laurence Maroney’s work ethic, Taylor said: “Laurence, he had his — not quite the same. And this isn’t me throwing him under the bus. But he would work. It would take him a few snaps to kind of get him going. He would work when he felt there was a sense of urgency and a need to, as opposed to, ‘Let me make these deposits and then later I can go in and make a withdrawal and still have more.’ That wasn’t necessarily his mindset, like Kevin and Benny and Sammy [Morris] and a few other guys on the team, not just our position. That light switch, you have to turn it on and start getting the picture and grasping that concept, and that’s what we’ve been trying to instill in him. Hopefully, that switch comes on, and he won’t need anybody to push him that extra step. He can do it when the doors are closed and nobody’s watching. That’s what it takes to be special in this league.”

WEEI