Congrats to Drew, he had our vote for sure. Sorry to Houston Antwine, he’s definitely deserving to get in at some point but Bledsoe set the stage for the dynasty. But most of all he made it fun to be a Patriots fan again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0oVt
New Tom Brady highlight video alert!!
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
https://www.patspropaganda.com/new-tom-brady-highlight-video-alert/
After the New England Patriots 2004 season, coach Bill Belicheck and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels went to Gainesville, Florida to meet with Urban Meyer, scout some of his offensive players and discuss the spread option with him. Over the next few years, they would form a great bond and change the New England Patriots offensive attack from an old, smashmouth, Earhardt-Perkins offense left over from the Charlie Weiss and Bill Parcells era, to a new spread attack. The rest is history!
The 2007 New England Patriots went on to break every offensive NFL record with this new spread attack. They grew tired of stumbling into super bowls and barely winning them by three points. They wanted the offense to be explosive and be able to dictate to the defense. If you watch their offense, they use multiple formations to run the same plays, similar to Meyer’s spread. The exception is that the NFL quarterback can’t run. At least, not yet.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/after-the-new-england-patriots-2004-season-coach/
PressBox: A Friendship Forged: Dave Pietramala and Bill Belichick
PressBox: A Friendship Forged: Dave Pietramala and Bill Belichick
This is a nice article about BB and the lax coach from Johns Hopkins forming a friendship, and is yet another in an endless line of pieces that make it seem shocking that BB is actually a nice guy with a personality and interests.
“You know how they are. Maybe they’re happy with what they got (in-house),” McGinest said. “They do have a young linebacking squad. Maybe they like what they have, and those guys will start to get it pretty soon.”
“The Patriots are pretty smart. They probably have some free agents they’re eying,” McGinest said. “I think it’ll be good for them to go after some veterans to mix in with the younger guys they have. … Depending on how long the lockout goes, will determine how active they can be in free agency.”
Willie McGinest
https://www.patspropaganda.com/you-know-how-they-are-maybe-theyre-happy-with/
Not all 3-4 Defenses are created equal
Not all 3-4 Defenses are created equal
Good stuff here as we do a little more offseason X and O updating. A lot of casual fans are unaware of the intricacies between the different 3-4 defenses but this is a nice little primer showing how the Patriots (or Fairbanks-Bullough) is different that those that came from the Lebeau or Phillips trees.
When people think of the 3-4, they associate it with Pittsburgh’s Zone Blitzing scheme. Pittsburgh’s Zone Blitz 3-4 is just one of three versions of this defense. The other two versions of this defense that are used much more than the Zone Blitz are the Phillips 3-4 and the Fairbanks-Bullough 3-4. Not all 3-4 defenses are created equal, nor are the players that play in these systems.
Chuck’s version of the 3-4 is the Fairbanks-Bullough, which is commonly referred to as a 2-gap 3-4 system. Most coaches who are from the Parcells/Belichick coaching tree run this system. The Fairbanks-Bullough 3-4 gives teams the greatest amount of flexibility compared to other 3-4s. The linebackers in this system are extremely versatile and are capable of doing any and everything on the field. (I.e.; Mike Vrabel) When you mix the roles of the four linebackers from play to play, you can cause mass confusion for an offense. The reason this system is a 2-gap system, is because the defensive lineman are required to cover the gaps on both sides of an offensive lineman. The defensive linemen in this 3-4 are very stout so that they can occupy the offensive lineman, and allow the linebackers can make plays. It’s a more conservative version of the 3-4 compared to the other two versions. It’s typically known as a “bend but don’t break” kind of defense.
X-and-O Flashback: How Welker makes Patriots offense go (2009)
X-and-O Flashback: How Welker makes Patriots offense go (2009)
This is an article from a couple years back but if you love x’s and o’s like me it’s well worth the read.
One thing you’ll notice from the video is how adroitly Welker adjusts the nature of his route to the coverage he faces. Against tight man coverage, he might jab-step and juke a defender and make a flat cut to get open, while against loose man coverage or a softer zone he might “speed cut” the route — i.e. roll the cut in a way that is not quite as precise but where he doesn’t lose speed as he changes direction.