Boston Globe: Bedard/Scout takes on the Patriots 4-3 Under

Here’s more on the 4-3 Under from Bedard with some takes from some NFL scouts as well:

What the scouts also noted was how the Patriots just let their linemen loose to go upfield, which is quite a departure from their traditional two-gap scheme.

One thing I’d question Bedard about is that I believe he has the Cunningham/Moore backwards in his analysis. Cunningham was the Strong side defensive end, and Moore was the weakside defensive end. I don’t know if that’s how it will play out when the bullets are really flying but it seems to make sense to me.

Bedard did elaborate on some of the differences between the 4-3 Under diagram from the last article and what the Patriots showed.

Other elements, such as the nose tackle playing on the weakside of the center, were different.

This is a slight tweak to the 4-3 Under that appears to spread out the pass rush across the line rather than focusing solely on the weak side. This isolates the defensive tackle (hopefully Haynesworth) on the strong side with a one on one match up with the guard. If the right tackle tries to block down on the DT the result would be a tight end trying to block both the defensive end and the SLB.

Interesting stuff. Can’t wait to see how it looks when the games really count.