It’s on.
Brandon LaFell, New England Patriots
https://www.patspropaganda.com/designingsport-brandon-lafell-new-england/
“To get a chance to come out and compete … I was a backup quarterback as a freshman in high school, didn’t even get to play and we were 0-8. Went to college as the seventh quarterback. I barely played my fourth and fifth year (at Michigan) and got drafted in the sixth round. Was the fourth quarterback here my first year. You gotta learn to compete. You gotta love to win. I think that’s a great motivation, to get on the field and try to win. It’s fun to do. I don’t think you take those things for granted. That’s really the motivating factor.”~Tom Brady on his motivation to restructure his contract
https://www.patspropaganda.com/patriotsgurl-to-get-a-chance-to-come-out-and/
Highlighting the rise of Patriots’ sub defense – New England Patriots Blog – ESPN Boston
Highlighting the rise of Patriots’ sub defense – New England Patriots Blog – ESPN Boston
We’ve reached new levels with the sub defense this year, surpassing 70% for the first time. There’s little question about the evolution of the game, however, as Reiss notes, the Pats played more 2-TE sets this year so they actually saw more regular (4 DB) defenses this year.
For Patriots, defensive evolution is constant | Comcast SportsNet – CSNNE.com
For Patriots, defensive evolution is constant | Comcast SportsNet – CSNNE.com
Good read from Tom E. Curran, but it’s really stuff we’ve been talking about since 2010-ish with nickel being the new base.
As I’ve written about a lot here on then blog in recent years, the Pats defense is almost more of a 2-5 now when they’re in a run-stopping personnel package. One of the tackles just comes off in nickel, and for the pure passing downs they might even sub that final DT for Chris Jones or even Chandler sliding inside.
What’s making things work well now is the versatility of the linebacker-types who can blitz, cover or stop the run. Wilfork/Branch/Siliga/Chris Jones eat up the space inside while the others set the edges and make the plays.