Join Erik Frenz and I this morning at 10:30am EST for the PatsPropaganda & Frenz Podcast. Listen in via the player to the right or immediately afterwards on Itunes.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/join-erik-frenz-and-i-this-morning-at-1030am-est/
Can’t think of a better way to kick off Patriots – Giants week that this.
Or perhaps you prefer this version:
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
https://www.patspropaganda.com/cant-think-of-a-better-way-to-kick-off-patriots/
ESPN First Take: Is the Patriots defense good enough to win a Super Bowl
ESPN First Take: Is the Patriots defense good enough to win a Super Bowl
It might shock a lot of people that I’m actually linking to an ESPN First Take segment but I found what Eric Mangini said in this clip to be very interesting. You can ignore Skip and Parker, unless you want to hear Skip actually argue for the Pats D, but we’ll sum up what Mangini had to say.
In a nutshell it’s that unlike most NFL teams the Patriots defense will continue to evolve over the course of the season. They will not keep doing things that are not working so it’s hard to really make a definitive judgement about them at this juncture. Wouldn’t be prudent (little Dana Carvey George HW Bush there for you). He also attributed the switch to the 4-3 as being part of the problem.
I can’t believe I’m about to type this but I LOVE HEARING MANGINI’S INSIGHT INTO THE PATRIOTS.
NESN/Howe: Film Breakdown Shows Tom Brady Was Thrown Off By Steelers’ Man Coverage, Disguised Blitz Schemes
Good stuff here from Howe, and it seems like Dick Lebeau did in fact do just what we talked about last week in terms of doing the Mangini-esque “everybody walking around” presnap thing. Here’s a nice little nuggett:
The Steelers also used another effective tactic to disguise their blitzes. At the time of the snap, there were 24 occasions when at least six defensive players were in the box within one yard from the line of scrimmage, almost making it look like a picket fence. The Steelers show that look on a regular basis, but it’s extremely tough to recognize where the pressure will be generated. They used another wrinkle by occasionally using just one or two down linemen in the middle of that formation.
They blitzed with at least five pass rushers about half the time out of that look. Some of the blitzes were very basic and could have been recognized before the snap based on the location of the tight end or running back, but the Patriots didn’t pick them up as well out of that look. With that type of formation, the offensive linemen have to be perfectly on point with their blocking assignments because there’s almost no time to adjust.
PFF/Palazzolo: Re-Focused Patriots @ Steelers
PFF/Palazzolo: Re-Focused Patriots @ Steelers
Good stuff as always from Palazzolo and here’s your Gary Guyton nugget…
LB Gary Guyton (-3.1 Pass Cov) saw 32 plays in coverage, and managed to give up first downs on all four completed passes in his area. He even benefitted from two Pittsburgh dropped passes. Many will point to his interception as a sign of good pass coverage, but it was a small sample as he showed up negative on 10 of 12 graded plays on the day.
