Quick Patriots Offensive Breakdown

[Ex Pat New Englander]

This isn't the typical Tom Brady offense that we have seen for the last two years. Gone is the quick count passing game that has proven so effective in the past. Tom doesn't have the confidence in these recievers to run the no huddle passing attack. They will still manipulate the defense with quick counts, or run up to the line and feign a quick snap only to let the defense stew in their own juice, but you won't have to worry much about Tom using the hurry up as a way of exploiting favorable passing matchups. The Patriots will go quick count with the running game and this will inevetibly lead to a few cheap 12 yard runs by the Patriots. Otherwise, I don't think the Patriots run game should concern the Panthers all that much. Your base defense can handle it.

 

Besides Gronk, there isn't a single match up problem for the Panthers to be concerned with on the Patriots offense. Danny Amendola tore his groin from the bone and has lost his ability to make quick cuts on underneith routes. He still has some speed, and the Pats have been using him to challenge defenses up the seam, but he isn't capable of doing what he was signed to do, that is, win quickly with a fast move and get first downs.

 

Julian Edelman is a terrific punt returner and a decent slot reciever. He isn't Wes Welker, but at this point he is the toughest Patriot wide reciever to cover underneith.

 

Aaron Dobson is a rookie. He's big and soft. He fails to get consistant seperation or really challenge the defensive back for the ball and is more of a finesse guy. Dobson and brady have been getting better at the back shoulder throw, but he isn't a go to guy and has dropped a lot of catchable balls this year. 

 

The wild card here is the third down back Shane Vareen. He's coming back from a broken wrist. If healthy, he's a match up problem for teams lacking good cover linebackers. He'll split wide and become a wide reciever too.

 

Blount is only a issue if the Panthers fall behind and their defense gets worn done. Otherwise, he's a slow train. 

 

 

I don't think Brady will get much time to throw. He can handle edge pressure, but what kills Brady is pressure up the middle as he needs to step into his throws to be accurate. if your linebackers can hang with Gronk and Vareen, and your defensive backs avoid mental coverage breakdowns, then I think you will shut down this offense.

 

Brady will have to be very patient or else this will get ugly fast.

[Ex Pat New Englander]

Defensive breakdown.... later

[SauceBoss]

"there isn't a single match up problem for the Panthers to be concerned with on the Patriots offense. "

 

-FTFY

[Ex Pat New Englander]

"there isn't a single match up problem for the Panthers to be concerned with on the Patriots offense. "

 

-FTFY

 

Besides Vareen and Gronk....

 

The rest is smoke and mirrors. If your coaches do their job in preperation, then you'll be fine.

[Argus Plexus]

This guy sounds depressed.

[MHS831]

We have the best cover MLB in football and Davis is pretty solid too.  Not sure about Klein yet, but I think coverage is a weakness.

We were able to shut down Gonzales in the second half, so we have some ideas about controlling the TE--but that was with no White or Jones to deal with.

 

This defense gets middle pressure.  Short, Cole, Edwards, and Star---they should be able to control the middle. I do not think we will have to blitz much, which is a good thing. 

[Jackofalltrades]

Thanks for the insight, I have to agree.

What does concern me is Tom's ability to manipulate defenses with his eyes and body language, which could lead to some issues with the young guys; ie rookies.

Brady is as good as he's ever been, but the lack of tools has crippled him. The key, as always, is winning at the line of scrimmage.

[jrh687]

I was talking to my roommate from Boston and I mentioned how I thought whether we could shutdown Gronk would be the biggest factor in the game and he made the point that the key will be if Amendola can get open while we're focused on Gronk. If we cant keep both those guys in check then were in trouble.

[Darth Biscuit]

Gronk and Amendola are valid weapons for sure.  imo the key is going to be Star, Kraken and CJ hitting Brady early and often.

[Snake]

For some reason I am just not worried about this game. The Pats are good but we just faced one of the best teams in the NFC and handled them very well. I think if we lose we beat ourselves with mental mistakes on offense.

[Ex Pat New Englander]

For some reason I am just not worried about this game. The Pats are good but we just faced one of the best teams in the NFC and handled them very well. I think if we lose we beat ourselves with mental mistakes on offense.

 

That's what I'm thinking as well. One of these quarterbacks is going to press and make a mistake.

 

Belichick will probably try and keep Cam in the pocket and hope he makes a mistake. I still think Cam needs to run it up the gut often if he sees a hole just to keep Belichick thinking about that aspect of his game. The Pats inside linebackers are big, and Cam could probably make them look foolish in the open field.

 

As for Brady, his only chance will be to keep your pass rush off balance with a good mix of screens and draws. He'll also try and dictate the tempo of the game by running hurry up and using the full play clock to his advantage. This may seem like a small point, but it is very aggravating for a pass rusher to be forced to line up quickly, prepare for a quick running play and then have wait. It's a gimmic, but it's one the Panthers coaching staff will have to prepare the team to face.

 

Since gronk's return, Brady has been force feeding him the ball. The Panthers could make him pay for this by tipping some of those up the seam passes. I'd suggest that you double Gronk, but that will only open up the field for other recievers. Your best bet is to mug him off the line and hope this gives your pass rush the time it needs to disrupt Brady.  

[Achilles]

One thing that may happen, if we get consistent pressure up the middle, is that Brady will get frustrated and start blaming other players.  I've seen this happen many times over the years.  When things don't go right for the Pats offense, Brady will yell at his teammates (especially the o-line and those young WRs).  If we can get his frustrated and make him dance a little in the pocket because he can't set his feet or step into his throws, the pressure will start to mount.  If we can get some hurries and sacks early, it will give our offense a chance to grab the first half lead.

 

They will need to work the short routes and have a least 3 quality receivers who can sit down in the underneath zone.  We were able to handle SF, but V. Davis did leave the game before halftime.  Gronk is bigger and stronger (not necessarily a better TE) than Davis.  We will probably have to be even better in underneath coverage which puts a lot of pressure on Keek and TD.  Plus, they do have several backs who like to pound the rock.  So our LBs again must have superb games.

 

All in all, the Pats are able to throw up a crapload of points, but they haven't seen anything like our defense this year.  Put Brady on his arse and everything else falls into place.

 

We are going to need to score some points this week and we can't afford all the drops and fumbles.  The Pats can put up 20 on a bad day, so we will need to score 30 plus I think to make this a comfortable win.

 

In my mind SF was the more difficult matchup, so I think I can be optimistic, especially since we are at home and it is a primetime game featuring Cam and this amazing D.  I'm super excited and can't wait for kickoff.

[xerxes]

I live in the Boston area, and Pats fans have been very down on the Patriots despite the record.

The defense is very banged up, but the offense is hitting it's stride. As others have said, it comes down can our offense control the clock, and can our defense get to Brady. Should be a good game.

[Ex Pat New Englander]

I know I'm cheering early onset dementia, but I'm excited for the first time we get to see Tolbert and Spikes meet in the hole. That's football.