PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

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What do you think about the Cowboys giving the rest of the NFL a blueprint to slow down the Patriots’ offense?

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I never buy that inevitable talk every time some team sticks with the Pats offense for a (usually short) period of time. I do like how the Cowboys had a new wrinkle to throw at the Pats but the problem is that they didn’t have a counter punch to that.

Just about any team with a good front seven can get some shots on Brady, but how many can do it for 60 minutes? That’s the question and that’s the blueprint.

I always go back to Eric Mangini’s gameplan against the Pats in 2010 when he was with the Browns. He went into depth about it on ESPN later that season and made a few good points that are still true:

1. If you’re not lying you’re not trying: DISGUISE PRESNAP. You can’t let Brady know what you’re going to do. Guys should be walking around and not give away any keys as to what is comein

2. Have two gameplans, one in the first that should be coverage heavy. Disguise like you’re going to blitz a lot, but drop almost everyone. Then, once the Pats figure that out (Which they will) you need a second gameplan for the second half to throw them off again. Then you can go back to the stuff that worked in the first.

3. 60 minutes: It’s a cliche but once Brady figures out what you’re doing he’s going to torch it. Look at SB42. All of sudden they march down the field and take the lead after not being able to move the ball most of the game. Luckily for the Giants that Eli and the offense had a miracle drive of their own.

So I like some of what the Cowboys did but they didn’t do it long enough as the Pats put up 30 points on them. There’s long been a blueprint to slow Brady down, it’s just not many teams have the personnel, creativity and full-game discipline to execute it.

Patriots vs. Cowboys All-22 Review: Defense Edition

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Lots to like in this game even though the Cowboys were without Tony Romo, Dez Bryant and others.

The headline has to be the heavy dose of press man coverage. Everyone thought this would be a zone defense after Revis and Browner walked but that has not been the case and personally I’m thrilled. You just can’t play zone defense and expect to stop a good QB.

But especially nice was to see the defense being aggressive against a lesser quarterback, when they’d often just sit back in zone and wait for mistakes against these kind of guys in the past.

Here are some general observations on a small sample size:

Logan Ryan
 was the regular CB with Butler, but in sub packages he came off for Brown in the slot and Coleman in the outside. I think this might be because Ryan is probably the best against the run of that group, but is more limited in coverage perhaps. Coleman continues to get chances and looks like he belongs. He’s feisty and was one of my favorite Patriots fits coming out in this draft.

Dominique Easley
 continues to impress me more against the run than the pass, which isn’t really what we expected. He’s just so fast off the ball that he has an instant leverage advantage on an offensive lineman looking to pull. He’s just so disruptive in those situations (see below), but when he’s straight-up pass rushing he wasn’t really winning, at least not like Sheard did a couple times.

Malcom Brown
 had his best game as a pro, holding strong at the point of attack but also being active on the move. It’s a good sign that he’s starting to show positive signs. He tied with Branch for leading defensive tackle snaps with 23.

Jamie Collins was everywhere in this one. Hard to pick out just one play illustrating how he dominates in every facet, but look at the screen shot below and know Collins makes that tackle for a 3-yard gain. Could’ve gone for 30 if he wasn’t so athletic in beating blockers.

McCourty was used on Witten and they doubled him with Jordan Richards quite a few times as well. Not really as outside the norm for McCourty as I might’ve thought. We saw him manning up tight ends last year, with Antonio Gates one example that comes to mind.

I don’t want to keep hammering a guy coming back from injury but didn’t see much out of Mayo in his 29 snaps. If Hightower is out for a while I have real concerns about who’s going to be next to Collins. Mayo still has okay speed, but is generally pretty easily blocked and doesn’t really make much of an impact. Maybe it’s just being next to Collins anyone would look average. But there’s just a lack of strong direct force from Mayo, if that makes sense. Not so much tentative, just a step behind where he was and unable to navigate the wash.

Jabaal Sheard is such a beast I’m not sure how much longer he’s playing less than Ninkovich. He’s the perfect weapon for this defense and if you want to talk about offsetting the loss of Revis, he’s your guy.

It was nice to see the defense go down to the end of the game playing man coverage and not sitting back in prevent zone like they often have in the past. They weren’t quite as aggressive and mixed in some Cover 2, but still had a majority of man coverage concepts.

I keep coming back to one thing – why haven’t the Patriots committed like this to pass rush about five years ago? Now we’re seeing more and more defensive personnel with one or even no defensive tackles. Just the LBs and LB/DE hybrids lining up all over the place and causing havoc getting to the QB. This is why the defense is better now, I don’t care who the corners are. 

Pats Posits Tuesday Edition: Around the League and Is the Pressure off TB/BB After SB49?

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Getting ready to jump into the All-22 as soon as it’s posted and looking forward to focusing on Dallas’ defensive effort to stop the Patriots as well as the Pats’ usage of Devin McCourty
 on defense as it seems his role is evolving a bit.

– One thing that’s been on my mind is how winning Super Bowl 49 seems to have taken some of the pressure of TB and BB and now they’re just able to relax and do what they do. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, or maybe it’s just my own personal feelings, but even with the Deflategate stuff there’s a renewed sense of calm around this Patriots team. Or perhaps it’s just renewed faith that what they’re doing works. Hopefully it continues to translate into the winter months.

– Great win by the Bengals this past weekend, coming back on Seattle to move to 5-0. I know they’ll never be Super Bowl favorites until they win a playoff game but in a league where there’s not as much parity as some might have you believe, I think the Bengals are going about it the right way. 

Too many teams are in a constant cycle of hiring coaches, drafting quarterbacks, throwing those quarterbacks immediately into the flames and then as soon as they fail everyone is out and the process starts over. But the Bengals have stuck with their coach and quarterback despite whatever flaws the national media wants to point out. 

There are only so many truly elite quarterbacks out there. It’s impossible to try to model a franchise after the Patriots. Instead the Bengals are smartly sticking more to a Giants model. No, they don’t have Brady or Manning but they’ve had enough continuity that they’ve settled in as a very good football team. 

They’ve also drafted well and in all the right spots in a similar way that I would do it. Only take a non-linemen in the first round if they’re a can’t miss (AJ Green). Don’t reach for a quarterback. Focus on winning the trenches and you’ll be okay. The Bengals might just have an Eli-Giants Super Bowl run in them one of these years if they just stay the course. They have all the right talent at the right spots, just comes down to their quarterback putting together three or four mistake-free games. 

Too many teams don’t try to build this kind of team, instead blowing things up over and over because they don’t turn into a 12-win team season after season. 

– The next three games will tell us a lot about the Patriots. We really need to see them handle adversity and I’d bet some is coming with the Colts, Jets and Dolphins coming up. At the quarter point of the season we’re just starting to understand what the Patriots have – and if they stay healthy I think they could be a better overall team than last year’s edition. But there will be a team to poke some holes in the Patriots unbeatable facade and how they respond is what will define this edition of the Pats.

– Are the Broncos the worst 5-0 team in league history? Look, their defense is great but I don’t think anyone is scared of Peyton Manning as the weather gets worse. Do the Broncos even want homefield in the playoffs? Seems their best bet would be to hope they have to go to Indy’s dome. Still, I can’t wait to see the chess battle between Brady and the Broncos D next month.

– I don’t even really dislike any of the Colts players, no, I want a win this weekend specifically for their management, ownership and group of outspoken self-righteous fans and media members who were so vocal during the offseason. I will try to refrain from overconfidently thinking this will be an easy beatdown. The Colts are bound to put together a good game against us sooner or later, but I’d be shocked if New England doesn’t bring their A-plus angry game this Sunday.

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