gameplan

It comes down to team defense. You’re going to have to play solid coverage early and take away any quick-striking routes, and hopefully by the time patterns develop and the combinations are forming, you possibly have a rush up the middle. This is where the possibility of not having 6-foot-6, 310-pound defensive tackle Tommy Kelly, who left Sunday’s loss to the Bengals with a knee injury and didn’t return, could hurt them. You want to try to get in Drew Brees’ face this week, or at least get someone with 2-3 yards of penetration and their hands up because Brees is a short player – you see him every week tilting that chin up, with that face mask and helmet at a 45-degree angle to help him get a line of sight over taller defensive linemen that are usually blocking his line of vision. Up-the-middle pocket pressure is something you have to generate. Last week against Chicago, that’s a Bears defense that will take away the big play and make you earn it down the field by completing passes in front of them. That’s somewhat of a philosophy that the Patriots might try to adopt this week.

https://www.patspropaganda.com/it-comes-down-to-team-defense-youre-going-to/

With Belichick, I think he needs to be careful of overcoaching this week. The Patriots have gone into big games before and said, “Fellas, this is what we did last time. Just forget about it, and this is what we’re going to do this time.” The idea is to bring so much of an adjustment level that it confuses the other side. But at this time of year, I don’t think it’s about confusion. I think that previous game means a lot. I think you watch that game, see what was successful, how you succeeded and how you failed, and translate that to this week. If it worked, keep it in the game plan, and if it didn’t, take it out. I don’t think this is the time of year that you want to tinker too much. Sure, there will be some slight wrinkles and adjustments. I think you can make those on the sideline. But after scoring 42 points on Houston the last time, I don’t know how many changes you really want to make.

https://www.patspropaganda.com/patriots-texans-3/