MMQB: How to Slow the Patriots' Offense

[mayoclinic]

Nice read from Jenny Ventras, interviewing NY Jets DC Dennis Thurman.

http://mmqb.si.com/2015/01/08/how-to-stop-tom-brady-and-the-patriots/

Thurman's basic take on how to slow the Pats' offense:

1. Start with stopping the run. Makes the offense more 1-dimensional, makes you put an extra guy in the box allowing the offense to exploit matchups, and takes away play action.

2. Blitz because you want to, not because you have to. Mix it up with a variety.

3. Disrupt Gronkowski. Pay attention to him on every play, try to throw off his timing with Brady, and bracket coverage on him.

4. Remember that they're creatures of habit. “You can talk about being game-plan specific, but there are certain core things you’re going to do every week,” Thurman counters. “You have to look at the human side of it, that coaches are people, and people are creatures of habit. They are going to do certain things at a certain time from a certain position on the field, and your ability to anticipate those, and to study those as part of your preparation, becomes as big as anything.”

5. Don't look at the personnel on the field, look at the final picture.

6. Make Brady do some thinking. “There’s nothing he hasn’t seen already,” Thurman says. “But at the least, you want him to have to do some thinking, and have to do some reading, once the ball is snapped.” Disguise pressures and coverages.

Sounds reasonable, though not easy to do. Some of it seems not that specific to the Pats, but just good defensive strategy.

 

[SVN]

Jets defended Gronk well but a lot a of it was because of bad oline i think. Jets of course caused a lot of trouble. Ravens successfully shut down jimmy graham mostly. Remains to be seen how they handle Gronk.
We cant get into 3rd and longs too much. Ravens will have and edge there.

 

[Gronkandez]

I think stopping the run is huge. Brady really takes advantage of LBs that cheap in to hit those crossing patterns. Also, jamming Gronk at the line is a must.

 

[SVN]

Double Gronk.Chip him at the LOS, be physical. Flood the middle of the field and force Patriots to consistently throw outside or deep all game to beat you .

 

[Oswlek]

Some of it seems not that specific to the Pats, but just good defensive strategy.

I'd say all of that reads as such. Substitute Gronk's name with whatever top target any other team has and you've got a recipe for beating just about any team. To really get Pats specific, I'd like to hear how they would disrupt Gronk while accounting for every other receiver and the run game. Not saying it can't be done, just that "disrupt so-and-so" is pretty standard stuff.

 

[IllegalContact]

sounds like edelman is going to have 22 catches for 395 yards and 5 TD because if they do those things, he's going to be wide open

one difference between this game and the last game is that all the ravens had to focus on in the passing game was the short routes with the slot WR's......the pats are much much more complete on both sides of the ball AND much more physical as well

another difference is that brady is more mobile than he has been in previous meetings......quite possibly a career high in rushing yards is coming

the overloading blitzes from one side or the other can be muted by either QB playing under center or decisive draws out of the shotgun. break one tackle and the RB is gone for 20

 

[doesntmatter1]

If I was trying to stop this offense I would double Edelman and every now and then run a cb blitz with the corner that is covering Amendola. For the first quarter only, I would run blitz a lot. If our run game is stopped early we will give up trying to pound it quick. Lastly, I would put the most physical corner you can find on Gronk all game and have them do their best to prevent inside breaking routes. I wouldn't even double Gronk because it doesn't seem to slow him down much.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

If I'm blitzing I'd double Edelperson because he's the outlet. And cover Gronk short inside (posting him up in effect) with a corner to best eliminate the quick outlet. The safety would be deep incase Brady throws OVER the CB to Gronk. Rely on my remaining LB to worry about the RB as a safety valve assuming he's not blocking for Brady.
This forces TFB to look for LaFell or the other TE (God help us all if it's Hooman). Looking takes time. Effective overload blitzes eliminate time & distract the QB or make him throw too early even when not reaching the QB.

 

[mayoclinic]

I'd say all of that reads as such. Substitute Gronk's name with whatever top target any other team has and you've got a recipe for beating just about any team. To really get Pats specific, I'd like to hear how they would disrupt Gronk while accounting for every other receiver and the run game. Not saying it can't be done, just that "disrupt so-and-so" is pretty standard stuff.

I agree. I think that if a defense was able to take away the opposing team's running game, disrupt the timing to their #1 receiver and bracket him to limit opportunities, and throw their QB off balance with disguise and creative rush packages, that they'd be doing a pretty darn good job of "slowing down" that offense. Pretty much covers all the offenses with pocket passers. For mobile QBs, you also have to limit broken plays that get extended with breakdowns of either coverage or running lanes, and that may affect your pressure packages. But it's pretty basic stuff - just very hard to do well.

 

[Oswlek]

If I'm blitzing I'd double Edelperson because he's the outlet. And cover Gronk short inside (posting him up in effect) with a corner to best eliminate the quick outlet. The safety would be deep incase Brady throws OVER the CB to Gronk. Rely on my remaining LB to worry about the RB as a safety valve assuming he's not blocking for Brady.
This forces TFB to look for LaFell or the other TE (God help us all if it's Hooman). Looking takes time. Effective overload blitzes eliminate time & distract the QB or make him throw too early even when not reaching the QB.

See, this is more like what I'm looking for.

"When Tom is blitzed opposite Edelman, he looks at Julian first 72% of the time. Gronk is the first read on 22% of the remaining downs and the second read a ridiculous 87% of the time. So what you do is double blah blah blah..."

Maybe I'm just a pain in the arse, but that would be more satisfying butter for my muffin.

 

[Sicilian]

In agreement with those saying this sounds like a good plan to shut down most offenses. The good news is it's a hard plan to execute consistently. The bad news, it only has to be executed well on one day for us to have a disappointing end to our run.

 

[mayoclinic]

Reiss provides some data suggesting that a 4 man rush for the Ravens may be more effective against Brady than the blitz:

74 of 132 for 713 yards with three touchdowns and seven interceptions.

That is what Brady has produced in three playoff games against the Baltimore Ravens -- a 33-14 wild-card round loss after the 2009 season, a 23-20 victory in the AFC title game after the 2011 season and a 28-13 defeat in the AFC Championship Game the next year.

Even in victory, Brady hasn't been at his best against the Ravens in the postseason .... In the game the Patriots won, Brady's first of two interceptions came on a four-man rush. Pressure off the edges hemmed him in the pocket, and he tried to fit the football into a tight window up the right seam to receiver Julian Edelman that was nicely played by cornerback Lardarius Webb. The second pick was an ill-advised deep ball to Matthew Slater against a three-man rush.

While those two plays obviously don't tell the whole story, another good example came the following year when a four-man rush pushed the pocket just enough and super-sized linebacker Pernell McPhee (6-foot-3, 280 pounds) powered into undersized center Ryan Wendell (6-2, 300) and tipped a pass over the middle that was intercepted.

So it came as no surprise that when ESPN's Stats & Information punched up numbers relating to Brady's postseason play against the Ravens, the data supported the idea that the four-man rush was the key. Against it, Brady has completed just 50.5 percent of his passes with all seven of his interceptions and a 15.9 QBR.

Meanwhile, when the Ravens brought pressure (defined as five or more rushers), Brady's numbers spiked to a 77.8 completion percentage, 89.1 QBR, with one touchdown and no interceptions. Brady aced pressure on 21.3 percent of dropbacks in the three playoff games against Baltimore.

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-england...775763/ravens-have-had-tom-brady-on-the-ropes

 

[Sicilian]

Reiss provides some data suggesting that a 4 man rush for the Ravens may be more effective against Brady than the blitz:


http://espn.go.com/blog/new-england...775763/ravens-have-had-tom-brady-on-the-ropes

Good find. If my memory serves, when the Patriots were annihilating teams with the hurry up offense a few years ago, it was Baltimore that played them a little bit differently than most. Rather than trying to match the myriad of different formations that the Pats were throwing at them, they basically said, "We're going to line up how we line up, and we're not moving when your guys move. If you're going to beat us, you're going to beat us physically, not mentally." and it worked fairly well. It seems like the most effective game plans against us in recent years have been conservative ones that rely on guys simply winning their one on one battles.

So, channeling my inner John Madden, I say the best way for the Ravens to beat us on Saturday would be to play well.

 

[goheels22002]

If I was trying to stop this offense I would double Edelman and every now and then run a cb blitz with the corner that is covering Amendola. For the first quarter only, I would run blitz a lot. If our run game is stopped early we will give up trying to pound it quick. Lastly, I would put the most physical corner you can find on Gronk all game and have them do their best to prevent inside breaking routes. I wouldn't even double Gronk because it doesn't seem to slow him down much.

It would be great if you were the Ravens Defensive Coordinator. The Ravens don't have a cornerback not on IR that would get past the practice squad on the Patriots. Putting one of those guys in single coverage on Gronkowski would be a gift. The more I look at the Ravens, the more I see the 2011 Patriots secondary (Sergio Brown, James Ihedigbo at safety, and Sterling Moore, Arrington, Chung and McCourty at corner).

My guess is that the Ratbirds are going to load up on Gronk's side so as to keep him busy pass blocking rather than pass catching. The Patriots will respond with putting him in motion constantly so they can't line up over him, except on running downs.

As to the OP and Dennis Thurman's comments - Tim Wright and Julian Edelman should have big days, and watch for Tyms going deep at least twice to test that crappy secondary. I would not be surprised at all if Brady plays a little Joey Jump Ball with Tyms and Wright to get a long gainer and pick up some penalty yards. A little taste of their own medicine is in order.

 

[mayoclinic]

The Ravens don't have a cornerback not on IR that would get past the practice squad on the Patriots.

They do have Lardarius Webb.

 

[Sicilian]

The more I look at the Ravens, the more I see the 2011 Patriots secondary (Sergio Brown, James Ihedigbo at safety, and Sterling Moore, Arrington, Chung and McCourty at corner).

A strange thing to find confidence in, considering that secondary won that AFCCG.

 

[mosi]

That was basically the denver plan last year, no? Stop the run and make Brady beat you. Without Gronk, that is a much easier thing to do. The Pats with Gronk, with Edleman, with Vereen, with Lafell and with, yes, I think he is going to have a big game, Amendola! will be much tougher to defend.


By big game, I mean 1-3 potentially big time plays, not 14-183 yards!

 

[goheels22002]

A strange thing to find confidence in, considering that secondary won that AFCCG.

Amazing, right? Sterling Moore stripped the immortal Lee Evans in the end zone. Nevertheless, I remember cringing every time the ball went up against that secondary. Edelman played cornerback in that game.

Also, Brady practiced against those guys.

 

[patfanken]

This was a good article. The thing that stood out to me and rang true was that, despite the week to week nature of the Pats offense, ultimately they tend to go back to the same foundational plays over and over. After that the rest was pretty basic stuff that you try to do against alll offenses. You try to disrupt and confuse the QB, stop the run game, and shut down the top receiving threat.

There were a couple of insightful comments and some stats that were interesting as well. But other than that it was just another guy telling us what we already know and making it look like he just discovered the cure for cancer.

BTW- If the Ravens think they are going to get to Brady with a 4 man rush, they are going to be disappointed. They only way a 4 man rush is going to get there is if its part of zone blitz package. I think the Ravens are going to be in some kind of blitz/stunt 50% of the time. maybe more when they discover a straight 4 man rush isn't going to do the job.

 

[A man named Brady]

Rush four flood the middle of the field and dare the patriots to beat you on the outside. The problem with this only a handful of teams in the league can get pressure with 3 or 4 rushers