Can Two Tight End Set Return New England Patriots to Super Bowl?
By Jim Vickers
The New England Patriots recently traded for Martellus Bennett and appear to be retooling another prolific two-tight end offense.
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The first time I witnessed an NFL coach attempt to use two tight ends as a base offensive formation was in 1992. The coach was Dick MacPherson.
Back then, the New England Patriots held training camp at Bryant College in Rhode Island. MacPherson was in his second year as head coach and had taken over the unenviable task of rebuilding a franchise that went 1-15 in 1990. He went a promising 6-10 in 1991, and was implementing a two-tight end power offense behind tight end Marv Cook and Ben Coates.
Throughout training camp, the formation seemed to struggle. Running backs couldn’t turn the corner on sweeps, blitzes weren’t picked up well in practice and neither tight end seemed like a formidable passing threat.
Despite a reasonably talented roster, it failed miserably. Offensive numbers declined. Pass protection faltered to the tune of 65 sacks, leading to four different quarterbacks starting multiple games and a 2-14 record.
Unfortunately for MacPherson, who was subsequently fired, he envisioned a double tight end base for a power game.
Patriot’s head coach Bill Belichick utilizes the formation in a more dynamic fashion.
In 2011, New England had the young pair of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. They formed one of the best tight ends tandems in NFL history, racking up an amazing 2,237 yards between them. Both players blocked well in both the passing and running game. Quarterback Tom Brady threw for a career high 5,235 yards and New England reached the Super Bowl.
And while Belichick and Brady have had many excellent seasons, that may have been the finest use of the double tight end set ever. It’s rare to find two players with the complete tight end stature and skill set.
So successful were the 2011 Patriots that ESPN’s John Clayton penned a piece about other team’s attempting to mimic the offense prior to the 2012 season.
In the article, he quotes Colts head coach Chuck Pagano:
“Coming off of the AFC Championship Game, nobody knew better than the Ravens going into that game with the two guys [Gronkowski and Hernandez] that [the Patriots] have. It is across the league. You can see it more and more every year.
“You can choose to put a defensive back on them, and they will be undersized, they will get out-muscled and they will get ‘big-boyed’ for the ball. Then you can put a safety or a linebacker on them and they can’t run with them. So we feel like the two guys [Allen and Fleener] that we added, and Dominique [Jones] is a physical presence, that guy is 260 pounds and moving around really well. It is a matchup nightmare for any defense.”
Unfortunately, all that came to an end with Hernandez’ arrest and conviction for murder.
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Since then, we’ve seen Gronk wreak havoc on secondaries, when healthy. He seems to just take over games at times with his height, weight, speed and pass-catching ability — particularly in traffic.
Last season, New England received media praise for their pairing and usage of Gronk and Scott Chandler. After their 28-21 victory over Pittsburgh in Week 1, Erik Frenz of Boston.com of the two tight-end offense.
However, what the Pats fielded with Gronk and Hernandez was head and shoulders above anything since.
However, with the signing of the 6’7” Bennett, who clocks a 4.68, 40 yard dash at 250 pounds, opposing defenses may be seeing more of this formation than they’d like.
Bennett posted 916 yards receiving in 2014 with the Chicago Bears, earning him a Pro Bowl appearance. If Bennett gets back to that form, pairing him with Gronkowski’s 1,100-plus yards could see New England generating more than 2,000 yards from the tight end position once again.
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Expectations are perennially high in New England. Fans expect the post-season here. However, adding Bennett and the possibilities he brings are the type of things contenders need to do to neutralize playoff-caliber defenses and reach Super Bowls.