4 Patriots Plays That could Help Them Win SB XLVI

Here is just a few plays I came up with to help the Patriots get past the New York Giants. Hope you enjoy.

This play is basically just a running play, but I'm going to break it down. You have Hernandez left, Gronkowski on the end of the offensive line, Brady in the shotgun with Green-Ellis to his right, Welker in the slot on the right, and Ochocinco outside. But the most important part of this play is that Hernandez and Gronkowski are both on the same side, and the Giants are more than likely going to double both. And you need a big body of Gronkowski and Hernandez, like a linebacker. So now you have 2 linebackers to the left, and only one in the middle, because Welker and Ochocinco will have CBs on them. The free safety is going to hover over Hernandez and Gronkowski in an attempt at bracket coverage, and the SS will try to cover Welker and Ochocinco (mainly Welker). But the Giants have to put all their big bodies, all their beef, to the left on Gronkowski and Hernandez, so the smaller bodies will be right. Which is perfect for the Patriots. Play action to Green-Ellis from the shotgun. Now Green-Ellis is basically going to run a short flat route in basically a screen, with Welker and Ochocinco blocking their men, while right guard Marcus Cannon pulls to the right as another big body. In my mind, because the big defensive players will be on Gronkowski and Hernandez, this play could be big, and even be a touchdown.

In this play, Branch is lined up wide left, Gronkowski on the end of the line, Brady in the shotgun, Hernandez beside Brady as a running back (the Giants will immediately think run if Hernandez is in the backfield), Welker in the slot to the right, and Ocho wide right. Basically the same formation as the last play, with slightly different personnel. Brady's primary route will be Welkers, with his in-out route (he goes forward, then left, and then turns to his left to end up going right again), Ochocinco will be Brady's secondary route, with a corner-post route that I've seen Ochocinco run well many times. Branch will be third with his hitch, then Hernandez on his arrow-slant route. Gronkowski will be last on the read with his option out-post, because he likely won't be open on the route, but his big body will still require double coverage even if injured, and if he's open, it could be a great play. The key to this play is that it's outside. A couple different route on the outside, which isn't covered very well by the giants if they run the same defense they did the last time they played us (a lot of press coverage and doubling of both right ends, keeping the middle of the field cloudy so Brady couldn't figure out coverages).

This is a pretty simple defense I think could help shutdown the Giants O. The Giants like coming out in this formation, with Manningham outside left, Cruz in the slot to the left, Manning under center with Bradshaw behind him, Ballard on the end of the offensive line on the right, and Nicks wide right. I have Arrington in Nicks, Fletcher on Ballard, Mayo blitzing, Spikes dropping into a zone over the middle of the field, Ninkovich calling pre-snap whether he'll blitz or whether he'll pick up Cruz (if he does blitz, Spikes will be the bottom of the bracket coverage, with Ihedigbo over the top) and McCourty on Manningham. Ihedigbo will be dropping into pass coverage if Ninkovich doesn't blitz, and Chung would be doing the same. I think this defense could be good, with Wilfork requiring double-teams, and NE blitzing 5 total guys (unless Ninkovich covers Cruz) to help get pressure on Eli and stopping any outside run, with Spikes plugging any holes he sees over the middle.

This play is pretty simple, with New England in an unbalanced formation to combat Man coverage and Zone coverage. Ochocinco would be mid-way between the numbers on the field and the end of the line of scrimmage, Woodhead next to Brady in the shotgun, Hernandez on the end of the line of scrimmage on the right, Welker in a bunch with Branch. Ochocinco would be running a corner-post again, which would probably require double coverage, and if he isn't doubled, just heave that ball up there to him. Woodhead would stay behind to protect Brady, and Hernandez would be running basically a rounded post, so that he keeps speed through the whole route, to occupy the upper-middle of the field, causing a safety of linebacker to take him, Welker running an arrow route to the outside (basically running just past the line of scrimmage, to the outside horizontally), and Branch running a delayed Drag route. This play would keep safeties on their heals, as well as attack the Giants linebackers, making them play smart football. Welker would be Brady's first choice on this play, with Ochocinco being his second deep over the middle, Hernandez and Branch could be read at relatively the same time on the third routes, because Hernandez will be in the same line of sight as Branch on this play.

So what do you guys think? Would these plays work in the game? Tell me below in my comment box!

New England Keys To Beating The New York Giants

Keys For New England To Beat The New York Giants

     This game obviously is huge for our beloved New England Pats. And there's a lot that goes on in a game that make a difference, so right now I'll name a few things New England NEEDS to do in order to beat the NYG.

     1) Rush Effectively

     The New York pass D may not be the best, but that pass rush is killer. So why not make sure that they don't know what's coming? Rushing well forces the Giants defensive lineman to look more at what's coming instead of just rushing head on. If they know NE is going to pass, that makes their job easier? Where's the fun in that? I expect the Patriots to rush early and often with the diverse rushing weapons they have to keep the Giants pass-rushers at bay. New England is 23-1 all time when Green-Ellis scores a touchdown, and 8-0 so far this year when he does. Rushing would also help New England manage the clock and keep our defense off the field, so they can play their aggressive style all day without being as tired. Which leads me to my next key:

     2) Play Aggressive On Defense

     All postseason, New England's Defense has played a very aggressive style, always attacking and never letting off the gas. The last time the New England Patriots played the Giants, the defense did a relatively good job of not letting the Giants go anywhere (until the fourth quarter hit). I distinctly remember early in the game, on a third and long. Obviously, the Giants are gonna pass. And Manning throws it deep over the middle to Jake Ballard, and right as Ballard goes to make the catch, he had a nice meeting with Brandon Spikes, which cause an incomplete pass. If New England can go out there and just hit somebody and play hard, they'll be alright in my mind. They also need to be aggressive at the line of scrimmage. Wilfork and his fellow D-Linemen, as well as any blitzing linebackers, have done a good job of making Offensive Linemen look like turnstiles as someones entering an amusement park, as the D-Linemen enter the park to have some fun. I think the D can do that early on and force some negative runs for the Giants, that will force Eli to pass. That might seem like a bad thing, but every incompletion is a clock stoppage, instead of a moving clock that rushing would cause. That would be great for the Pats, so the conservative offense can eat the clock up.

     3) Win The Turnover Battle

     The Patriots are normally really good at winning the turnover battle, but sometimes, and in playoff games of recent years, they don't. The Patriots need to maintain possession and not fumble or throw interceptions in this one. That's one reason I expect BenJarvus Green-Ellis to have a good game with a lot of plays. He doesn't fumble often. In fact, never in his professional career. So he should be utilized as New England's main rusher. And on defense, we know the Giants will try to pass because the New England pass D was 31st in the regular season. So the defense needs to make plays on the ball and get interceptions, as well as hitting people hard to seperate the ballcarrier from the ball. That is going to be big for the Patriots in this game.

     4) Use Our Receivers (yes, that includes Ochocinco)

     I was looking at the film from the Giants-Patriots Week 9 matchup, and the Giants did a lot of playing press coverage on the receivers and they doubled both tight ends, while also bringing their safeties in closer to the line of scrimmage, completely disrespecting the deep pass, because, well, New England wasn't throwing deep. So in this game, if Brady sees them try to do that, (and I suspect they will, because it worked last time) I expect that he'll audible a receiver like Ochocinco to a fly route, and let him beat the tight coverage like we know he can, and throw a deep bomb. I'm sure the Giants wouldn't play as tight of coverage anymore, so Brady could go right back to Welker or Branch or Gronkowski or Hernandez or whichever receiver is the best option. Keep their pass D on their heels. Make them pick their poison. New England has too many options to cover. Between two TEs that both demand double coverage and arguably the best route runner in the league. They can't cover everyone.

     If New England can accomplish these four simple things, I believe they can completely obliterate these New York Giants.

Is the Super Bowl Ochocinco's time to shine?

Is The Superbowl Ochocinco's Time To Shine?

You know, there's been a LOT of hate towards Ochocinco this year. I don't get it though, because he's done relatively well when he's gotten play time. But BB hasn't given him much. So do you think he can be big against the Giants? I say yes. And here's why.

     1) The Giants will play press coverage

     The last time the Patriots played the NYG, they played a lot of press coverage on everybody. And it worked amazingly well. They stood Welker and Branch up at the line, while double covering Gronkowski and Hernandez, which left New England begging for ways to move the ball, as most of the day, the Pats O only got a few yards each pass play. But Ochocinco is a deep reciever. He can beat a tight coverage, and then be wide open for a deep bomb TD. The Giants won't be expecting it, as I doubt they've gameplanned for Ochocinco at all. So if Brady sees tight coverage, and drops a beauty into Ochocinco's hands for a deep TD, do you think the Giants will stop playing such tight coverage? Yes, they will. They'd be stupid not to. And that would open everything up for Welker, Gronkowski, and Hernandez. That could allow the Patriots to keep the ball moving all day.

     2) He's playing for his Father

     Just like how the entire New England team has been playing for Myra this year, Ochocinco is now playing for Myra and his Father. If he plays like Brett Favre did after he lost his father, the Giants D will be in for a very long day.

     3) The Giants like to blitz

     We all know about the Giants defense and how they enjoy blitzing their linebackers like Mathias Kiwanuka. But we all also know that blitzing leaves less men to cover receivers. So let's say the Giants only blitz Kiwanuka and their 4 linemen. That's 5 blitzers and 6 men in coverage. So there's 6 Giants defensive players in coverage against 5 NE receivers (barring a RB or TE staying behind to block). And even with Gronkowski injured, the Giants will want to double him, and double either Hernandez or Welker. So now there's 2 defensive players covering Gronkowski and 2 defensive players covering Welker, with one on hernandez and one on Branch. So who's going to cover Ochocinco? They'll have to take a man off Welker to cover Ochocinco, or just not think of Ocho as a threat, just like the Broncos did against New England in the regular season matchup. And when the Broncos did that, Ochocinco got a wide open touchdown. So in my mind, there's too many weapons for the Giants to cover. 

     This is why I think Ochocinco will have a stellar performance against this New York Giants defense, and lead New England to their fourth Super Bowl title in 11 years.

The Playoffs Are coming: Chad Ochocinco

What We Learned From The Week 15 Game

     The win this week against Denver was really a phenomenal win. The O played pretty good, and the D played pretty good. So what should you take away from this win?

     1) This Defense can adjust mid-game to stop an offense

     I don't know if any of you noticed, but Sunday, early in the game, Bill Belichick had this defense coming out in a 4-3, with one of the linebackers on the line. And the option was just destroying the defense at that point. So Belichick decided to turn back to his favored 3-4, which gave the D more linebackers to read the option and make their move on it, which helped the defense stop Tebow and the Broncos.

     2) Chad Ochocinco can be the deep threat WR we need

     I think we all know that Ocho caught a TD early on a nice go route. The defense doubled Welker on his short out route, and Ocho started his route with a little vertical running, and then he faked the post route which moved the CB to the inside, and then he went outside and vertical and completely smoked his Corner. If New England can continue to use Ochocinco like that, he can be a massive contributor to this offense. However, Brady targeted Ocho on another deep route in the game which would have been great, if not for the fact that Ocho ran a hitch and Brady threw a go route. So he still may not be perfect, but he did what he had to.

     3) Mark Anderson can fill in for the now injured Andre Carter

     Andre Carter fell during the game holding his leg. As it turns out, he's out for the year with a quad injury. But throughout the rest of the game, Mark Anderson did an amazing job filling in, forcing fumbles and getting pressure n Tebow. If he can play well the rest of the year, he could be a big player for us.

     4) Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski aren't the only offensive weapons we have

     For several weeks, basically, we all thought Welker and Gronk were the only offensive weapons we had. This past week, Brady did a great job of spreading the ball, with Ochocinco and Hernandez both scoring once, and Danny Woodhead, BenJarvis Green-Ellis, and Tom Brady running in for scores too. Which showed that if teams double cover both Welker and Gronkowski, Brady will take advantage.

Patriots-Redskins Postgame Analysis

     The game was rather disappointing. I think it was probably the most dis-satisfying win of the year. Sure the Colts game was close, but they weren't close all game. They only got close when BB started using the prevent and when he started experimenting more. But the Skins keeping up all game? NOT good.  So here's some things we learned.

     1) This defense, as Bart Scott said last year, can't stop a nosebleed.
     Allowing Rex Grossman to dictate the tempo? Allowing huge runs? Deep bombs to Jabar Gaffney, Santana Moss, and the like? Not even coming close to the WRs in coverage, but instead allowing nobody within 5 yards of them? As Charles Barkley would say, that's turrible. Sure there was that trick play, but where was the tackling? Just bad. There's absolutely no communication between defensive players. Jerod Mayo and Rob Ninkovich were supposed to be the new Tedy B and Mike Vrabel. And Brandon Spikes should have been the new Ted Johnson. Now, Spikes is still out, but what's wrong with Jerod Mayo this year? Him and Ninkovich NEED to talk before the snap so they know what they're doing. Ninkovich has been a pleasant little surprise though. I mean, I knew he was good, but he's playing great out there. Blitzing, reading plays, etc. I think he's the new captain of the defense. Also, we need pressure on the QB still. Andre Carter may have had that streak of several sack games, but the fact of the matter is that those sacks were because of bad quarterbacking. It's taking too long to get pressure. We need our lineman to get in on the QB early in the play so that he needs to hurry with his decision making. Hurried decisions are usually bad decisions. With this defense continually allowing bad QBs to throw for 300+ yards, I'm worried about our playoff chances. Every team that's currently leading their division, and most in the Wild Card hunt have good QBs. Flacco, Roethelisberger, Schaub, Carson Palmer, Andy Dalton, etc. Those QBs will eat our defensive backs for breakfast.
     2)  We need to utilize Chad Ochocinco
     OK OK, sit back down and pick up the mess you just made when you spit out your coffee. I'll be here when you get back. Ochocinco, sadly, had the surest hands on the team yesterday. Sure he only caught one ball, but he didn't drop any. He was hardly on the field. Even if he won't get the ball, put him on the field. Have him run some deep routes. Posts, seams, go routes, and corners. Let him stretch the D. Welker can't be the only #1 caliber WR on the team even with Gronkowski and Hernandez. Ocho showed to me that he can run routes properly in the system. That out route against Washington was beautiful. It may have only been 15 yards, but it was a pretty 15 yards. And it got us a first down when we needed it. I think if we can manage to use Ochocinco to stretch the field, like he did against the Jets, Welker and Gronk and even Branch can get done their work underneath. And if the safety dosn't follow Ocho deep and instead doubles Gronkowski, well, just throw it up to Ocho. Let him do his job. He could still be a great part of this offense.
     3) Bill O'Brien isn't cut out to be an OC
     With Julian Edelman being an ex-QB all though college, why have I yet to see him throw the ball after catching it? We ran a play like that with Moss, who never played QB, so why isn't a QB doing it? And why are there no screens to the RB and hardly any to the WRs? Why have we not seen any trick plays other than a little WR reverse? O'Brien needs to start being predictable. We lost in the playoffs last year because we kept trying the exact same thing over and over. The same thing we ran all year. Nothing unpredictable. The same thing this year. Welker running a slant, Gronk running an out, Hernandez on a hitch, it goes on. Early this year, we had Welker running 30-40 yard routes. And the defenses never knew what to expect. So you combine that with no-huddling, and the defense couldn't stop us. But now it's all the same. No variety. All it takes is doubling Gronkowski and knocking Welker down at the line (let's be real here, most corners have a 20-40 pound advantage on him), and we'll be forced to give the ball to Hernandez and Branch. Those guys aren't our big playmakers. We need to mix it up. And we need to no-huddle more on the first series. Because facing some of these high-powered offenses, we'll need points early. Run a lot of fast routes early on, run the ball a lot, and then run a nice play action. Keep the D off balance.
     4) This team can not make it deep into the playoffs
     Now, I know we all wanna think that Brady can play exceptional football for the 4 games straight that he'd need to in order to carry this team, but the fact of the matter is, well, he can't be amazing EVERY game, and the odds of this defense stepping up when he doesn't are slim. To beat some of these teams like Baltimore and Pittsburgh and Houston, Tom Brady would have to light it up with at LEAST 3 TDs, and have BJGE get at least one more. Because these offenses in the playoffs are incredibly talented and can run all over this D. We need to make sure the O can keep up, but right now, in all honestly, playing a D like Pittsburgh, the offense will end up being stopped several times. Which means out D will need to do the same. I'm not sure it can. If BB can manage to find something to motivate this defense, then we have a shot. So BB, get started finding motivation, cause right now this team looks un-motivated as ever.