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Bruschi’s Breakdown: Despite shaky QB, Cardinals a threat to Patriots – ESPN Boston

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Bruschi’s Breakdown: Despite shaky QB, Cardinals a threat to Patriots – ESPN Boston

[The Cardinals] base sets will be in the 3-4 alignment and then in sub situations, they’ll try to confuse you with where the pressure is coming from. Against the Seahawks, they overloaded one side of the offensive line on the right, and then came from the left, with others dropping out. So deciphering the combinations and pressure packages will be important. Tom Brady will use the “molasses” count. That’s when you’re at the line of scrimmage and you give a “Blue 80! Blue 80!” and it looks like you’re about to snap the ball but you stop. Because when the defense hears that, they get to the line of scrimmage and show you where they’re going to be. So it’s a dummy count in a sense. At that point, Brady will point out the “Mike” (middle linebacker) and set the protections, and that’s a way to counter the different looks. And that’s important because the Cardinals will move around and bring combo coverages and aggressive blitzes.

Will Patriots attack the Cardinals like they attack the Steelers?

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There’s been a lot of talk this week of how much like the Steelers the Cardinals are in their scheme and style, and thus it’s been helpful to take a look back at the Pats games against Pittsburgh recently to get a sense of what the game plan might be.

The tough thing is that the Pats are one of the few teams not afraid to try and run on the Steelers. In 2010 the Pats averaged 4.3 yards per carry and went over 100 yards. But will they be willing to do the same thing against Darnell Dockett and Calais Campbell, the unquestionable strongholds of the Cardinals D? Tough to say, especially since they lack a true power back like they had with Benjarvus Green-Ellis who pounded the Steelers in 2010.

Offensively the one element that has almost always been present against the Steelers is the use of misdirection and trick plays, most memorably the Brady-Moss-Brady-Gaffney TD bomb from 2007. This can be a good way to get an over-aggressive defense to hurt themselves, and it’s a safe bet the Pats will have some surprises ready for the Cardinals.

But the biggest element offensively to me seems that we should expect a lot of spread and hurry up. The Cardinals would love nothing more than to line up across from the Pats and have a drag-out fight, and what the Pats usually do against teams like that is never give them a chance to get settled.

Force Campbell and Dockett to be on their heels, spread their defense out and pick the best match-up. So for this reason I think it’s safe to say we’ll see a lot more of Wes Welker this week.

Defensively I think we’ll continue to see what we’ve seen all year from the Pats. Their Double Nose 4-3 was dominant against the Titans in every facet so there’s no reason to try and protect that from the Cardinals running or passing games.

The most interesting match-up of the day will of course be Larry Fitzgerald against the Pats secondary. We can’t forget New England was the worst team in the NFL last year against #1 wide receivers, so this is a real chance to show some improvement over 2011.

The question will be if they try to match up one DB the whole time on him, or maintain sides like they usually do and just try to execute regardless of who is on him.

There’s no question that Pittsburgh is a more talented team than Arizona, especially on offense, but the principals that have made the Patriots so successful against Pittsburgh (6 wins, 3 losses since the 2001 AFCCG) should remain in place. There’s a reason the Patriots have lit up the vaunted Steelers defense more than anyone else, they know how to play against them. It’s just a matter of execution, just like it will be Sunday.

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While Gronkowski brings his own unique style, it’s Hernandez that’s the offensive hybrid every other team in the league now covets. “He’s the x factor that makes the Patriots offense hard to match up with from a personnel standpoint,” Sam Monson, an analyst for Pro Football Focus, said of Hernandez. “Gronkowski is a nightmare too, but in the same way any great tight end is always tough to defend. Hernandez forces teams to make a decision about whether to treat him as a wide receiver or part of the run game before the huddle, and that tends to change personnel groupings on defense.”

patriots – Aaron Hernandez: The Patriots’ flexible flyer – WEEI | Christopher Price

Great, must read article from Chris Price…

https://www.patspropaganda.com/patriots-tight-ends/

NFL Videos: Sound FX: A twin sense featuring Devin and Jason McCourty

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NFL Videos: Sound FX: A twin sense featuring Devin and Jason McCourty

Good video from last night’s Sound FX featuring the McCourty brothers. A good amount of smack talk from Jason especially.

One of the more surprising things that maybe I shouldn’t be that surprised by is how much of vocal leader Devin is in pregame. Guess that’s why he’s a captain, eh? But usually he seems pretty soft spoken.

And I really wonder if that uncalled PI on Devin could be a hugely lucky break in getting his season off to the right start. He looked like 2011 Devin there for a second, but it went uncalled and hopefully gives him a confidence boost that he never got in the early games last year.