Measuring the Impact of Rob Gronkowski on Tom Brady, Patriots Offense | Bleacher Report – Erik Frenz
Two-for Wednesday with Frenz, and another great read on the Gronk from him. Easy to say it now, forget Brady, Gronk is that Pats’ offensive MVP.
I understand from the Christensen article that the Patriots are not ready to play man coverage with Logan Ryan in the line up. My question is: is he only a pure zone corner in the Devin McCourty mold? Or is it just the coaching staff opting to ease things up for him as he still is a rookie?
Yeah, I’d say more of the later, but still, certain guys like Dennard just have a knack to play man. Ryan still has a lot of development in front of him and believe me, there’s always a place for a smart zone corner who knows how to pattern read and jump routes (see Asante).
The biggest piece as I see it is Talib. The number one corner who can man up a number one receiver. If you’ve got one of those the trickle-down effect will be positive even if you have a bunch of corners behind him who are better zone guys.
Ultimately it’s about playing to your strengths, but I think if you have three good man corners like the Pats now have in Talib and Dennard on the outside and Arrington on the inside, you’ll have a good pass defense in today’s NFL.
I’d say the Pats defenses of the 2000’s, especially the later teams like 2006 and 2007 were veteran crews that were good at pattern reading. They’d give up yards but they’d make you pay for mistakes, often with pick-sixes. It’s just that now, there are too many good quarterbacks, too many good schemes, to sit back in zone consistently.
Defenses have to challenge and attack now.
Patriots Mental Mistakes in Coverage Need to Be Fixed Before NFL Playoffs | Bleacher Report – James Christensen
Nice writeup from James Christensen, showing how the Pats got mixed up in coverage against the Texans on a couple big plays. Obviously, man defense is a lot easier to play than zone while trying to recognize routes. Once Dennard is back (and he was at practice today), they’ll be able to go back to primarily using man, the defense they’ve excelled in this season.
I was there for five years,” Belichick said. “It was five important years in my life, for myself, my family and all that. Obviously, we’ve all moved on, and I have a job to do here and that’s where my loyalty is, is to Robert (Kraft), the Patriots organization and this football team. So it’s no different than how I feel, honestly, about the Colts, or the Lions or the Broncos. I feel differently about the Jets. We won’t put them in that category.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/i-was-there-for-five-years-belichick-said-it/
Patriots Take 2: Tom Brady shredded Wade Phillips blitz in shootout – Going Deep – Boston.com
Patriots Take 2: Tom Brady shredded Wade Phillips blitz in shootout – Going Deep – Boston.com
Good stuff as always from Frenz (we’ll be back with a podcast tomorrow)…
Despite all their changes and injuries on defense, the Patriots have used 186 unique lineup combinations on defense, which is actually the 11th-fewest in the NFL. However, they’ve fielded 11 different starting units on defense, tied with the Chicago Bears and San Diego Chargers for the second-most different combinations.
Patriots were fortunate to hold on in Texas – Sports – The Boston Globe
Patriots were fortunate to hold on in Texas – Sports – The Boston Globe
It’s not getting much mention yet this week, but the Pats o-line is certainly starting to string together a good stretch of games. Especially the interior guys, who were inconsistent early this season.
Center Ryan Wendell and right guard Dan Connolly had a little trouble at times, but the offensive line was excellent overall in pass protection, allowing only one sack in 42 passing plays. We counted 16 Houston blitzes, and Watt seemed to twist or stunt on every single play. But the five offensive linemen worked well together, correctly handled their assignments, and kept Tom Brady clean for most of the game. Nate Solder had a really nice bounce-back game after allowing two sacks to the Broncos’ Von Miller. Logan Mankins had another nice game, but did miss a block that would’ve sprung Vereen for a big gain on a screen pass.
Grading the Patriots vs. Texans: Halftime adjustments key New England win | masslive.com
Grading the Patriots vs. Texans: Halftime adjustments key New England win | masslive.com
The All-22 film reviews are pouring in this morning. Good stuff from all the beat guys and I try to pick out nuggets that stood out to me in my own watching of it. Here’s one from Nick Underhill…
One negative about the switch to more 3-4 looks: Rob Ninkovich and Chandler Jones are often forced to drop into coverage. Ninkovich dropped back into coveage 10 times Sunday, while Chandler Jones dropped back five times. If it’s about getting the best 11 men on the field and putting them in a position to succeed, a 4-3 look with Chandler Jones and Ninkovich as the ends and either Jamie Collins or Dane Fletcher essentially taking the place of one of the defensive linemen may be a stronger front.