Playbook - 1st & 10 Defense
This is an example of an unsuccessful play by The Patriots Defense. The scheme is fine, the execution is mediocre, but the killer is the missed tackles. Honestly, this would have been a pretty successful play had the tackle been made on the first try. Unfortunately, #28 Steve Gregory takes a bad angle, and whiffs on his attempt. Likewise, #37 Alfonzo Dennard makes a weak attempt at a diving arm tackle. The tackle is finally made by #55 Brandon Spikes after a gain of 9 on 1st and 10.
As you can see, The Patriots are in a Nickel Defense with #37 Dennard, #24 Arrington, and #23 Marquise Cole as the CBs. The secondary takes a fairly "vanilla" look with 2-high Safeties #28 Gregory and #32 McCourty, but the defensive front has an interesting look to it. There are 6 players on or near the line, showing the potential to blitz from any angle.
We have seen HERE that The Patriots are willing to use Rob Ninkovich and Chandler Jones in coverage, so this front has lots of possibilities. #50 Ninkovich could jam the WR or blitz. #51 Mayo could blitz or drop into a middle-zone to cover the TE. #55 Spikes could be in man-cover on the TE or he could blitz. #95 Jones could even drop into coverage on the TE if Spikes was assigned to blitz. That's 4 players that could be doing one of two things. Even #75 Wilfork and #74 Love have options (which gap to attack)
The Bills have to be ready for the blitz, and they are. The Patriots rush doesn't get much pressure on the QB because he unloads quickly. Dennard is assigned to cover the deep sideline while Gregory steps up on the underneath routes Fitzpatrick hits his RB Jackson on an in-cut before Steve Gregory can step up into position. Gregory is just a step late, and he lunges weakly at Fred Jackson. Dennard comes up to help, but he too is exploited by Jackson in the open field. Finally, the sure-tackling Spikes brings him down with McCourty assisting.
This play should have been stopped for a 5-yard gain by Steve Gregory. At the very least, Dennard should have stopped him for 7. However, this 9 yard gain on 1st and 10 made it easy for The Bills to keep the chains moving. Last week against Buffalo we saw an entirely different set of problems than we've seen this year. The problem was not with coverage, but rather finishing tackles. The Patriots just made it too easy on The Bills by allowing them to pick up big chunks after contact.
As you can see, The Patriots are in a Nickel Defense with #37 Dennard, #24 Arrington, and #23 Marquise Cole as the CBs. The secondary takes a fairly "vanilla" look with 2-high Safeties #28 Gregory and #32 McCourty, but the defensive front has an interesting look to it. There are 6 players on or near the line, showing the potential to blitz from any angle.
We have seen HERE that The Patriots are willing to use Rob Ninkovich and Chandler Jones in coverage, so this front has lots of possibilities. #50 Ninkovich could jam the WR or blitz. #51 Mayo could blitz or drop into a middle-zone to cover the TE. #55 Spikes could be in man-cover on the TE or he could blitz. #95 Jones could even drop into coverage on the TE if Spikes was assigned to blitz. That's 4 players that could be doing one of two things. Even #75 Wilfork and #74 Love have options (which gap to attack)
The Bills have to be ready for the blitz, and they are. The Patriots rush doesn't get much pressure on the QB because he unloads quickly. Dennard is assigned to cover the deep sideline while Gregory steps up on the underneath routes Fitzpatrick hits his RB Jackson on an in-cut before Steve Gregory can step up into position. Gregory is just a step late, and he lunges weakly at Fred Jackson. Dennard comes up to help, but he too is exploited by Jackson in the open field. Finally, the sure-tackling Spikes brings him down with McCourty assisting.
This play should have been stopped for a 5-yard gain by Steve Gregory. At the very least, Dennard should have stopped him for 7. However, this 9 yard gain on 1st and 10 made it easy for The Bills to keep the chains moving. Last week against Buffalo we saw an entirely different set of problems than we've seen this year. The problem was not with coverage, but rather finishing tackles. The Patriots just made it too easy on The Bills by allowing them to pick up big chunks after contact.
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