PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Who is our toughest opponent ? Not including bal, Pitt, or Houston

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Definitely the 49ers, that should be an excellent game especially in December on Sunday Night Football. Coming off a short week after playing the Texans on Monday night should make it even a little more challenging. But ultimately you want your team to be ready to play tough physical football in the playoffs and the 49ers should provide the perfect pre-playoff warm-up for us, especially for our offense.

Do you think that this new hybrid defense we are seeing could become a new type of base defense set that other teams could try and emulate? If so, what should it be called? A “2-5” maybe? Or maybe the “75 defense” after Big Vince like when Buddy Ryan named the 46 after Doug Plank?

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Oh I love this question! As I’ve written about a little bit I’ve been calling this defense the “Double Nose”, because it’s really like having two nose tackles from the old 3-4 in the middle, often two gapping, while trying to free up five other linebacker types to make plays. So in some ways you could also call it a 2-5. You’re right too though, 75 is a huge part of being able to run this defense because of the way he can control two gaps.

Here’s a good article about what the Pats did last year on defense from Chris Brown of SmartFootball.com. But last year was a lot closer to a traditional 4-3, even though they were mixing up gap responsibilities. They still do that but the biggest personnel switch has been going from someone like Shaun Ellis who is 6’ 5", 290, to someone like Rob Ninkovich who is 6’2", 260 at left defensive end. Ninkovich is really the key to this whole defense working against the run because he’s smaller than a traditional 4-3 defensive end. Usually the left defensive end spot is the place that gets run at the most.

Nink held up well against the run against the Titans, and though his pass rush numbers might’ve suffered a bit, he did everything they needed him too.

Ultimately the Patriots defense has evolved to this because in the modern NFL you need more athletes on the field, to not only get after the passer on every down, but also to deal with the numerous kinds of evolving threats that are becoming more and more common place.

So yes, I do think we could see more teams trying to emulate this style, but you really must have dominant nose tackle types like we have in Wilfork to make it work. Kyle Love’s improvement has also been a huge factor in making this defense work, and I’m sure we’ll see plenty of Ron Brace in there too before it’s all said and done.

5 keys for Patriots vs. Cardinals

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As required by the NFL blogger code of content here are our five key areas to watch this weekend when the New England Patriots take on the Arizona Cardinals.

1. Challenge the edges of the Cardinals defense – There’s no question the strength of the Cardinals defense is along their defensive line, but their outside linebackers struggled in week one. Sam Acho and O’Brien Schofield are inexperienced and haven’t seen a precision offensive attack like the Pats’ blitzkreig. The Patriots were extremely successful against the Titans running Stevan Ridley at the edges and I’d expect that to continue this week. So whether it’s on the ground or through the air, challenging the outside linebackers looks like the way to go, especially if we can get them matched up on Gronk or Hernando. What they’ll want to avoid is trying to run right into the teeth of Calais Campbell, Dan Williams, and Darnell Dockett.

2. Jam Larry – I’m most looking forward to seeing how the Pats take away the Cardinals top weapon, Larry Fitzgerald. Regardless if they have one cornerback on him regardless of where he lines up or just roll coverage to him it will be important to be physical with him at the line of scrimmage. A common strategy against the Pats defense is to attack them with short passes and with Kevin Kolb’s experience in the west coast offense in Philly I’d expect we’ll see a good deal of this from the Cardinals. The Patriots defense cannot allow Fitz to make quick catches and then make plays with his feet. Force Kolb to hold the ball, and allow some time for the pass rush to get there. If Larry is given a cushion he’s going to eat us alive.

3. Spread and Dead – The Cardinals defense cannot be allowed dictate what they want to do. Going to the no-huddle will allow the Pats to counter the defense’s aggressiveness, while also testing the conditioning of the Cardinals d-line and the communication amongst some of the more inexperienced players.  I’d expect this means a little more of Woodhead than we saw last week, but Ridley should still get his fair share of touches. This could also be where we truly see how close Brady and Brandon Lloyd are to being on the same page. Don’t be surprised to see Wes Welker with 8+ catches either.

4. Protect our Tommy – Yes, this is somewhat of a generic key but it’s really true for this weekend. Campbell and Dockett combined for 10 QB pressures and 4 sacks against the Seahawks. Using the no-huddle can help keep them at bay, but the Patriots offensive line must play up to the task. There’s no secret that when teams get to Brady the Pats offense becomes very ordinary. The Cardinals will throw a fair share of blitzes as well so the communication must be airtight. The entire key to the Cardinals game plan should be to get to Brady by any means necessary, and it’s up to the o-line to make sure that doesn’t happen. It’s a new group, and Dan Connolly may or may not be out there. This will be an excellent test for them, against an experienced and physical three-man front.

5. Win – As always, this is all that matters. The Pats have always been tough to beat in Foxboro and the last thing they want to do is allow an NFC West team to come in and push them around on their turf. We know they’re probably due for a dud sometime in September but with a challenging three weeks ahead the Pats can’t afford to slip up against a team they should really beat.