patriots

For Justin Smith and Aldon Smith this week, it’s all about the ‘grab.’ When they are on separate ends – Aldon Smith on the left and Justin Smith on the right – there is nothing to worry about there. But when they line up on the same side, that’s when you really have to game-plan for it and get your protection slid that way. Even if you do, Justin Smith does one of the oldest tricks in the book, something we used to do a long time ago. It’s a ‘game’ they run and it’s called a ‘TE’ stunt – the ’T’ is for tackle and the ‘E’ is for end. The ’T’ is the first letter because the tackle goes first, into the ‘B’ gap. And then the ‘E’ is the second letter because the end loops around the tackle. We used to call it a ‘ME’ game, because the defensive tackle would call it, looking to the defensive end while saying ‘me, me, me’ – as in ‘I go first’ into that gap. When that defensive tackle goes into that gap, you want to stay in between that guard and tackle and get penetration so your defensive end can loop around. It sounds simple to block, right? Well, this is what happens. Justin Smith, if he’s on the right side, when he gets into that gap he uses his left arm and gets under the armpit of the offensive guard and he grabs and holds. That stops the offensive lineman from being able to pass the penetrator over to the offensive tackle and switch to the looper. If the tackle has a fist full of jersey or an armpit, or he has the hand hooked, the guard can’t come off, and the end has a clear path to the quarterback. This is something Justin Smith does very well.

As always the last word of the week on the last game goes to Bedard’s breakdown. Interesting stuff throughout…

The Patriots were even more aggressive, bringing extra pressure against Schaub on 52.5 percent of his throws. That’s the most since at least the start of the 2010 season. Cornerback Aqib Talib’s man-to-man coverage ability doesn’t seem to have much of an impact on the Patriots’ pressures. The Patriots blitzed on 38 percent of the throws before cornerback Aqib Talib left with a hip injury and 68 percent after he departed — despite a 21-0 advantage. This was clearly a game plan choice by the Patriots, similar to the approach taken against the Bruce Arians-coordinated Colts (this season) and Steelers (the previous two). Both the Texans and Arians rely on play- action and deep drops by the quarterback to threaten the defense vertically.

One thing about the Houston offense, and the running game in particular – it’s coming off a sluggish outing against the Titans. In that one, Foster had 38 yards on 14 carries, an average of 2.7 per carry. Justin Forsett had 64 yards on 14 carries, while Ben Tate added with three for 18 yards. And in the second half, Johnson didn’t have a catch, Schaub threw for 40 yards over the last two quarters and the Texans were 2-for-9 on third down.

Houston also has a steady and consistent defense – the group has given up some big plays, but they’ve managed to do just enough to win games all year long. They also have defensive lineman J.J. Watt, who has swallowed opposing offenses whole over the course of the 2012 season. (Watt is the ultimate statistical anomaly – he has 15.5 sacks and 15 passes defensed this season.) While there are some questions about the state of the Houston cornerbacks, more often than not the pass rush cancels out any problems they have had.

My Friday column is up on Bleacher Report, and you can probably guess it but I’m talking about turnovers in the playoffs.