The Patriots

[richpjr]

Got to agree with you on this analysis, especially points 1 & 2. I thought much the same while watching the game.

The annoying thing about the short passes is that by playing so many DBs, our coverage should have been better, not worse, than it would have playing more linebackers. But clearly the run game destroyed us and affected everything.

[like54ninjas]

I think its just a few things.

FG Kicking.
They have had better clutch FG kicking in postseason. A number of teams playoff run ends with a missed kick. Almost every year it happens.
Not to them. Chargers missed postseason in Lynn 1st season because of horrible FG kicking.
It matters a lot. Games are often decided by one score or missed opportunity to score.

Home Field.
They have only won Superbowl when they had a bye. One less game to play and 1st game at home with 2 weeks to get prepared & healthy. Also being at home allows offense to operate without crowd noise while the opposing offense has to deal with the noise. And your facing a team that just played and has to travel with 1 week to prepare and get healthy.

The GOAT.
Brady is just so good at taking what defense gives him. Extremely quick decisions that negates a great pass rush. He will nickel & dime a team to death better than any QB ever. And he is usually at his best in big games.


The answers to the above.
Beat them at their own game.

1. Have great FG so you can win close games.

2. Get home field advantage so Patriots have to travel and your team has 2 weeks to prepare.

3. Rivers can nickel & dime the Pats to death and keep Brady off the field and the Chargers defense fresh. Stay patient & make Tom impatient because he is on the sideline.

Much easier said than done.
But I believe that is how to do it.

Good breakdown/analysis Critty. I would throw in health, gameplan, and team mindset.
Billyboy always has his team prepared and focused during the postseason. We need that killer instinct and out of the box game plan.

[powderblueboy]

Pats are the all time rhythm offense and Bradley didn't do anything to disrupt it. From what I remember, Chargers couldn't stop the short passing game - didn't really try - & the run defense went belly-up the longer they were on the field. Does Bradley's "vanilla" D work against them? Probably not.

Tillery wouldn't have had any effect that game on D.

Wade Phillips on the other hand kept Brady guessing the whole time. If Bradley were the Rams D coordinator, the Super Bowl would have been a blow out. Still pissed off about that.

The Pats D last playoffs featured strong d-back play & a middling front 7. Lots of schemed pressure & press coverage from Belichick. He's good! He put them in a lot of good schemes to stop the run as well when needed. Belichick values strong corners over strong edge rushers - he can always manufacture pressure.

[powderblueboy]

Rivers could not nickle & dime that Pat D to death because the Pat D contested everything close. Lots of pressure from the Pats at all angles & levels. They forced Rivers to go deep & a few times Rivers would just heave it up to receivers down field before taking a hit.

That's what they'll do next time as well. Pats were possibly the healthiest team going into the playoffs last year; that should be taken into account. They were missing no starters, except for Chung in the 2nd half of the Super Bowl. That won't happen again this year.

[sonorajim]

Pats are the all time rhythm offense and Bradley didn't do anything to disrupt it. From what I remember, Chargers couldn't stop the short passing game - didn't really try - & the run defense went belly-up the longer they were on the field. Does Bradley's "vanilla" D work against them? Probably not.

Tillery wouldn't have had any effect that game on D.

Wade Phillips on the other hand kept Brady guessing the whole time. If Bradley were the Rams D coordinator, the Super Bowl would have been a blow out. Still pissed off about that.

The Pats D last playoffs featured strong d-back play & a middling front 7. Lots of schemed pressure & press coverage from Belichick. He's good! He put them in a lot of good schemes to stop the run as well when needed. Belichick values strong corners over strong edge rushers - he can always manufacture pressure.

The most obvious LAC deficiency was lack of effective pass pressure (DT). 2nd was run D (DT-LB). 3rd was FS coverage. Tillery actually might have helped but starting a #3 CB, not having starting quality LBs or FS was huge. No doubt BB & TB were licking there lips wanting to get at us in that condition.

[powderblueboy]

The most obvious LAC deficiency was lack of effective pass pressure (DT). 2nd was run D (DT-LB). 3rd was FS coverage. Tillery actually might have helped but starting a #3 CB, not having starting quality LBs or FS was huge. No doubt BB & TB were licking there lips wanting to get at us in that condition.

How do you get effective pass pressure in under 2 seconds? It was pitch & catch in under two seconds for Brady and the Patriots that first half. Not having Perryman is to blame? Chargers didn't play aggressively on D & Brady kept them on the field the entire 1rst half. By the 2nd quarter they were gassed.

[bartman83642]

The annoying thing about the short passes is that by playing so many DBs, our coverage should have been better, not worse, than it would have playing more linebackers. But clearly the run game destroyed us and affected everything.

You would think so but then again with DB's trying to play linebacker and being out of normal positions it probably is a bit tougher than we realize. Especially considering getting pounded with that run game and not having the same size as the LB's.

[Heatmiser]

Gordon cannot be counted on. He has serious, life long I am afraid, addiction and mental health issues. Brady is another year older. I really do believe, firmly, that Belicheck and his staff cheated and continue to cheat. I have to hope that at some point it catches up with them

TG

[Steve]

Since Mike Williams isn't as fast as Tyrell Williams was, and Keenan has never been a burner, it will be interesting to see if we still try and go deep as much with those two as our primary receivers.

Floyd was never all that fast. NOt any faster than Mike Williams anyway. But he knew how to set up DB, and had the long strides to cover a lot of ground. When DB's try to get a jump on the crossing routes we love to throw, or we go play action, the WR can get behind the D, regardless of the WR speed.

Speed helps, but play design and offensive consistency can keep giving the offense opportunities to take shots, and in the end, since long passes are kinda low probability plays, it is the number of times you take those shots that matters.

Remember, Benjamin upgrades our speed over Tyrell Williams, so if it is just the speed, then I don't think we are missing anything. Benjamin is one of the fastest WR in football. Much faster than Williams. Benjamin is not as good a route runner and has inconsistent hands, but his lack of playing time last year was because he was the 4th WR in a 3 WR offense where no one got hurt.

Henry is going to give defenses a fit. A LB cannot cover him, and taking S out of deep coverage is going to make it easier to get the WR deep.

[Steve]

How do you get effective pass pressure in under 2 seconds? It was pitch & catch in under two seconds for Brady and the Patriots that first half. Not having Perryman is to blame? Chargers didn't play aggressively on D & Brady kept them on the field the entire 1rst half. By the 2nd quarter they were gassed.

Inside rush may not get to the QB that often (quickly) but it does get the QB off the mark and can disrupt the timing. That is why TIllery is such an important addition. We didn't have an inside pass rush last year.

[richpjr]

Floyd was never all that fast. NOt any faster than Mike Williams anyway. But he knew how to set up DB, and had the long strides to cover a lot of ground. When DB's try to get a jump on the crossing routes we love to throw, or we go play action, the WR can get behind the D, regardless of the WR speed.

Speed helps, but play design and offensive consistency can keep giving the offense opportunities to take shots, and in the end, since long passes are kinda low probability plays, it is the number of times you take those shots that matters.

Remember, Benjamin upgrades our speed over Tyrell Williams, so if it is just the speed, then I don't think we are missing anything. Benjamin is one of the fastest WR in football. Much faster than Williams. Benjamin is not as good a route runner and has inconsistent hands, but his lack of playing time last year was because he was the 4th WR in a 3 WR offense where no one got hurt.

Henry is going to give defenses a fit. A LB cannot cover him, and taking S out of deep coverage is going to make it easier to get the WR deep.

I believe Floyd ran a 4.44 40 and Williams ran a 4.57 so he was a bit faster. Good point about TB getting more snaps and clearly he is the fastest WR we have (not sure about any of the UDFAs).

[sonorajim]

How do you get effective pass pressure in under 2 seconds? It was pitch & catch in under two seconds for Brady and the Patriots that first half. Not having Perryman is to blame? Chargers didn't play aggressively on D & Brady kept them on the field the entire 1rst half. By the 2nd quarter they were gassed.

How long does it take Bosa, Ingram or Tillery to travel 15 feet ? Obviously somebody has to beat the blocking.
Not sure Brady avg getting the ball out in under 2 but up the middle is the must obvious answer. If 6'-6" Tillery gets two steps up field & raises his hands he's impacting the pass lanes, forcing QB movement. If Bosa - SupaMel beat their block, they're at the QB in 2. If we have LBs who can cover such as Davis, Perryman, Brown, White, a quality deep S such as Adderley, we can blitz. Take a free run at the line & actually bring it when the rest have range & ability to play the ball. It takes a quality team effort to beat the Pats offense.
Nor having Perryman (or Brown, White, Liuget) clearly impacted our run D. The Pats run game was a big part of their drives.
LOL! Brady definitely did not keep the LAC D on the field. NE zipped right through them for 5 first half TDs. Some LAC offense could have helped. We were clearly short too many components and clearly out coached in 2018 playoffs.