Life Without Gronk
I went back to review last year's AFCCG against The Ravens, and I made a few observations. First of all, I noticed that we struggled to convert our red zone opportunities. Secondly, Brady and the offense failed to finish the game with a late 3rd down conversion. Finally, I noted the fact that Gronk's ankle injury occurred late in the 3rd quarter when The Patriots were trailing 16-20. Life without Gronk is a definite downgrade, but proved that we could overcome a deficit without him last year in a game against these Ravens.
Also, the depth at TE is better than it was last year. In 2011, Gronk and Hernandez were the only TEs on the roster in the playoffs. Gronkowski was ineffective for 5 more quarters of postseason football after his injury, but The Patriots had no other options. In 2012, we have seen solid contributions from both Michael Hoomanawanui and Daniel Fells. While these guys are not dynamic playmakers in the passing game, they have held up nicely as blockers.
Gronkowski has had some bad playoff luck in his first three years, but everything happens for a reason. Gronk's injuries the past two years have given a new dimension to the saga of Tom Brady. Brady wants desperately to add to his trophy case, and to do that the weight rests squarely on his shoulders. The match-up problems created by Gronkowski won't be there on Sunday. Brady is going to elevate his game in order to compensate, but he's Tom Terrific, so I'm not worried.
I am just not sure what Josh McDaniels is going to do against The Ravens. The Patriots have relied upon their 12 personnel packages to do the heavy lifting this year. Against most teams, our talent at TE creates a dilemma for the defensive play-caller: Base D or Nickel? Against Nickel, Brady tries to run it with Ridley, and against Base D, he tries to exploit LBs in coverage with Welker or Hernandez. McDaniels might just stick with the status quo, or he might break out a new chapter of the playbook.
Personally, I think that we should try to implement some 2-RB sets. The emergence of Shane Vereen coupled with the loss of Gronk should be reflected in the snap tally. Likewise, although Vereen will not be able to block like a TE, he has a lot of flexibility in his alignments. I expect him to fill a bit of the void left by Julian Edelman. In addition, it might be worthwhile to design a few plays that have Vereen and Woodhead on the field together.
I think that The Patriots will continue to "do what they do," but The Ravens are a worthy enough opponent to pull out all the stops. Ray Lewis has a huge impact of his Defense, and it shows in the statistics. However, the biggest asset that Ray Lewis provides to his team is his brain and his mouth. The hours of film study. The awareness. The heart. Ray Lewis will have his guys ready for what The Patriots do, and that's precisely why we need to break out something new and different to catch the birds by surprise.
The biggest challenge will be getting the ball into the endzone for 7, and not settling for 3. Gronkowski was our biggest red zone advantage, so what now? First of all, we've got to start taking shots at the endzone from further out. Instead of driving inside the 10, maybe we should think endzone anytime we're inside the 30. Also, we need to run the ball effectively in the red zone. Last year, BJGE did some hard running inside the 10, and Brady had a few nice QB sneaks (2 that went off tackle and 1 that went over the pile).
Finally, if we get an opportunity to run the clock out at the end of the game, we've got to convert the 3rd downs. Last year, we opened the door for a Flacco-Evans pass that was ever-so-close to being a TD. Sure our Defense has improved from last year, but we need to close the door when we have a chance. Gronkowski would certainly be a big help, but with all the other talent around Brady, Gronk needs to be considered a luxury, not a necessity. We have planned for this scenario, and we're ready to do whatever we need to do to win the game.
Also, the depth at TE is better than it was last year. In 2011, Gronk and Hernandez were the only TEs on the roster in the playoffs. Gronkowski was ineffective for 5 more quarters of postseason football after his injury, but The Patriots had no other options. In 2012, we have seen solid contributions from both Michael Hoomanawanui and Daniel Fells. While these guys are not dynamic playmakers in the passing game, they have held up nicely as blockers.
Gronkowski has had some bad playoff luck in his first three years, but everything happens for a reason. Gronk's injuries the past two years have given a new dimension to the saga of Tom Brady. Brady wants desperately to add to his trophy case, and to do that the weight rests squarely on his shoulders. The match-up problems created by Gronkowski won't be there on Sunday. Brady is going to elevate his game in order to compensate, but he's Tom Terrific, so I'm not worried.
I am just not sure what Josh McDaniels is going to do against The Ravens. The Patriots have relied upon their 12 personnel packages to do the heavy lifting this year. Against most teams, our talent at TE creates a dilemma for the defensive play-caller: Base D or Nickel? Against Nickel, Brady tries to run it with Ridley, and against Base D, he tries to exploit LBs in coverage with Welker or Hernandez. McDaniels might just stick with the status quo, or he might break out a new chapter of the playbook.
Personally, I think that we should try to implement some 2-RB sets. The emergence of Shane Vereen coupled with the loss of Gronk should be reflected in the snap tally. Likewise, although Vereen will not be able to block like a TE, he has a lot of flexibility in his alignments. I expect him to fill a bit of the void left by Julian Edelman. In addition, it might be worthwhile to design a few plays that have Vereen and Woodhead on the field together.
I think that The Patriots will continue to "do what they do," but The Ravens are a worthy enough opponent to pull out all the stops. Ray Lewis has a huge impact of his Defense, and it shows in the statistics. However, the biggest asset that Ray Lewis provides to his team is his brain and his mouth. The hours of film study. The awareness. The heart. Ray Lewis will have his guys ready for what The Patriots do, and that's precisely why we need to break out something new and different to catch the birds by surprise.
The biggest challenge will be getting the ball into the endzone for 7, and not settling for 3. Gronkowski was our biggest red zone advantage, so what now? First of all, we've got to start taking shots at the endzone from further out. Instead of driving inside the 10, maybe we should think endzone anytime we're inside the 30. Also, we need to run the ball effectively in the red zone. Last year, BJGE did some hard running inside the 10, and Brady had a few nice QB sneaks (2 that went off tackle and 1 that went over the pile).
Finally, if we get an opportunity to run the clock out at the end of the game, we've got to convert the 3rd downs. Last year, we opened the door for a Flacco-Evans pass that was ever-so-close to being a TD. Sure our Defense has improved from last year, but we need to close the door when we have a chance. Gronkowski would certainly be a big help, but with all the other talent around Brady, Gronk needs to be considered a luxury, not a necessity. We have planned for this scenario, and we're ready to do whatever we need to do to win the game.
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