An Independent Patriots Blog
Belichick explains how Patriots can avoid pass-interference flags | Comcast SportsNet – CSNNE.com
Good stuff in here on a key point of emphasis this week. I’d hammer Flacco for just going after PIs but you know, Brady’s second to him in it so it’s uh, fine.
One thing that’s been talked about recently that didn’t really ring true to me was Jamie Collins as a cover guy on tight ends. I just didn’t remember Collins being in coverage vs. tight ends much at all this year, and he definitely was never solely manning up a tight end for an entire game.
So I went back and looked at Pro Football Focus’ coverage numbers and here’s what I came back with:
Collins was in coverage against tight ends just 15 snaps this season, while he was in coverage against running backs for 29. He had a good 1.9 coverage rating for the season, and this included plenty of snaps against wide receivers as well.
Hightower had just 7 coverage snaps against tight ends this year, and 19 against running backs. He had a team second-best (to Revis) 8.9 coverage rating, albeit with a small sample size.
In comparison, PFF has Patrick Chung in coverage on TEs for 26 snaps and Devin McCourty for 13. Chung had a solid .8 pass coverage rating for the season.
So while Collins does have some ability to cover tight ends, the Pats seem to prefer a safety to cover them. There were also games like the one against the Colts where Brandon Browner had Coby Fleener for 5 coverage snaps while Collins had him for 2.
This makes me think covering Owen Daniels is one of the more interesting tactical decisions this weekend. Is Chung up to it? Or will they use some Browner on him?
But thinking Collins will just man him up all game is not the case.
Bruschi’s Breakdown — New England Patriots vs. Baltimore Ravens – ESPN Boston
Must-read as always…
Just how important is a healthy offense line for the Patriots offense and Brady to be successful?
Solder, Connolly, Stork, Wendell, Vollmer (7-1 record) — Weeks 5, 8-14: Brady: 214-320 (66.9 percent), 2,433 yards, 21 TDs, 6 INTs, 103.6 QB rating, 4 sacks
Any combination besides above (5-3 record) — Weeks 1-4, 6, 7, 15, 16: Brady: 160-263 (60.8 percent), 1,675 yards, 12 TDs, 3 INTs, 89. 8 QB rating, 17 sacks
What Saturday’s game comes down to.
Patriots offensive line at full strength vital to offense, Tom Brady’s success. — Ryan Hannable
(via wordsspokenofwise)
https://www.patspropaganda.com/just-how-important-is-a-healthy-offense-line-for/
THIS. YES.
On the 15 DPIs drawn by Flacco, 11 of the accepted penalties have come on throws more than 15 yards downfield. The common theme among them? Underthrown passes. Six of the penalties have come as a result of an underthrown downfield pass with the receiver coming back for the ball but the defender failing to adjust.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/on-the-15-dpis-drawn-by-flacco-11-of-the-accepted/
