New England Patriots balance, versatility critical calling cards
Last year’s Super Bowl was supposed to be a treat pitting one of the greatest offense’s in NFL history against one of the greatest defenses in NFL history, but instead what we got was total domination by the Seattle Seahawks “Legion of Boom” against a Denver Broncos passing attack that failed to do anything right. Their normally excellent receivers failed to generate much separation, and Peyton Manning couldn’t drive the ball into tight windows or throw guys open, as the Seahawks clamped down after generating a fast lead.
Tom Brady and the New England Patriots must be sharp from the get-go in order to prevent history from repeating itself, because the Seahawks pass defense will prevent offenses from coming from behind by shutting down the big-play threat. The Patriots were able to take advantage of the Baltimore Ravens cornerback situation in the divisional round, and their running game and defense allowed Brady and Julian Edelman to carry a passing attack to a solid performance after a slow start.
It’s awfully hard to recover from slow starts against a defense that has the best top-four group of DBs in the league in Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Byron Maxwell, and Kam Chancellor. Injured or not, Sherman and Thomas are nearly impossible to beat, and they’ve made just about every quarterback-receiver combo to test them sorry.
Let’s take a look at the NFC Championship game as an example of what Sherman does to elite quarterbacks and receivers. The Jordy Nelson–Aaron Rodgers combo has been arguably the league’s most deadly duo over the past two seasons, and yet neither player had success against Seattle. Rodgers threw it at Sherman twice, with one of those passes getting picked off. The other went for six yards, and it didn’t matter that Sherman suffered an elbow injury during the game; he didn’t give up an inch.
See, you can’t beat Sherman with someone who takes time to get open, and the same goes for the rest of the Seahawks corners. If you want to beat the ‘Hawks secondary, you have to spread the ball around and utilize those guys with short-area quickness.
There’s this misconception that the Seahawks can’t cover quick wideouts with great lateral agility; it’s not that they can’t cover those guys, but it’s the fact that those are the only types of wideouts who have a great chance of sustained success against the Seattle DBs. I mean, Demaryius Thomas couldn’t even gain enough separation against the Seahawks in last year’s Super Bowl, as he mostly racked up unhelpful dink-and-dunk passes in the midst of a huge deficit.
The Patriots need to be worried about what happened to the Broncos last season, because their game is built on ball control and building precise, methodical drives.
They can use Rob Gronkowski in different alignments to keep him away from Chancellor, generate mis-matches with the explosive Shane Vereen, use sleeper TE Tim Wright (please keep this guy in mind on Sunday, because there’s a reason why the Patriots chose him in that Logan Mankins deal…and it deals with more than just insurance for Gronk), and utilize the short-area quickness receivers of Edelman and Danny Amendola, who both are excellent at getting open. They can do all of this in the passing game while staying on balanced with the running game, which will presumably be led by LeGarrette Blount.
Unfortunately, all of that goes out the window if the New England Patriots are down by a significant margin, which, again, happened a few weeks ago against the Ravens. Fortunately, it’s unlikely for them to fall behind by something like 14 points, since the Patriots defense has the ability to stop the Seahawks. The ‘Hawks big-play passing attack could play into the Patriots hands thanks to star free safety Devin McCourty, but Marshawn Lynch is the big worry.
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See, the Patriots did a great job of stifling the Ravens wide receivers, but they had major issues against Justin Forsett, who ran all over the Pats run defense, which is actually solid. Most people will say that Brady vs. the Legion of Boom is the most pivotal matchup on Super Bowl Sunday, and that’s a perfectly valid statement. But, in my opinion, this game will come down to how the Patriots fare out against the elite Lynch, since everything else will follow from there.
The Patriots are about to face the fastest, smartest, strongest, most athletic, and best defense in the NFL, and it’s the “smartest” superlative that makes the Seattle Seahawks especially difficult. Bill Belichick and Brady have to scheme this game perfectly, and then it just comes down to execution. They have to keep Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril away from Brady, get to the second level and effectively seal off the Seahawks linebackers and safeties in run D, and spread the ball around in the passing game to find the best matchups.
It will be a constant battle for Brady and his receivers, and he needs to make use of every single weapon he has on his hands. Brady’s done this throughout his career, of course, and his ability to use everyone at his disposal is what makes him so effective. The Patriots have to be willing to sacrifice receivers, move people around constantly, and put their most important players- such as Edelman and Gronk- in a position to succeed.
Look, the Patriots calling card as an offense is their versatility, and they need to use it to the max against the toughest challenge Brady will face in his entire career. Guys like Thomas and Sherman pay as close attention to fine details as Brady does, and the same can be said when comparing Pete Carroll to his New England successor Belichick. Chess pieces such as Wright and Vereen must be used, even if Wright’s over/under for receiving yards is at 0.5.