An idea to slow down the Patriots offense next time

[wnysteel]

i think the key is that you have to accept the fact that Brady is going to get the ball off before you can get near him. maybe only rush 2 lineman, and drop everyone else back into a loose zone within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage and clog up the throwing lanes. put 5 or 6 defensive backs on the field and then a few linebackers who are fast and/or can cover. exception might be gronk, you put darby or gilmore on him man to man. it can't be any worse than the 1st game

[Big Hurt]

It eats at my core to watch the Patriots execute their offense with such precision against the Bills. Despite the hate, I have to give them their props. The last two games that mattered, the not aging fast enough Brady, got rid of the ball in under 2 seconds on passing plays and just carved us up for 7 to 10 yards each play. My thought on a strategy is to have set plays where the guys in the back end of the D just tackle/hold every WR, TE and RB that goes out for a pass and then the D line sacks Brady. Bills would give up 5 yards for the holding and an automatic first down but you smack Tommy boy a bunch of times and get their receivers wondering what is going on. The idea is to disrupt their timing and get them off their game. They would employ this scheme for the first couple Patriots drives of the game, before they cross the 50 yard line and would do this every pass play. Patriots are going to get their yards anyway so why not give them the yards and smack him around!! After that they could sprinkle this strategy in randomly to keep them guessing and hopefully off on the timing patterns all game. You could disguise it so the D-call is either the mugging strategy, the fake mugging strategy or a blitz with legal coverage. Thoughts?

I had the same idea. But you need to mix it up. You can't hold every play but you can mix in simulated hold on some plays and really hold on some. When holding occurs, the play is still live. Defense need to hit Brady on those plays and hit him hard. When we hold, make sure we really hold, grab the shirt, I don't care. On Gronk, holding may not work. He will need to be gang tackle. Someone hold him up when he catch the ball, then the rest of the defenders rush to the spot and hit him high and low. Slam him on the ground. Brady may still be able to score. But we need to make him feel every hit.

Edited October 1, 2015 by Big Hurt

[hondo in seattle]

I think you blitz up the middle and jam the receivers at the line of scrimmage.

 

By the time the receivers break free, someone will be in Brady's face.

[Big Hurt]

People have tried jamming receivers but have rarely bothered Brady. He still got rid of the ball quickly.

[bisonbrigade]

Defensive backs are allowed contact within the first five yards I believe. Have Darby, Gilmore, Roby and Mckelvin jam the receivers at the line of scrimmage. Have Bradham jam Gronk at the line of scrimmage and have Aron Williams play man on Gronk behind him. Have two other safeties play two deep zone. The defensive line would play pass on every down. You dare them to run. My bet is that Brady's ego would get the best of him and he would force passes.

[HarryLime]

So basically, copy Seattle's defense. It did "hold" them to 28 points in the Super Bowl.

[Solomon Grundy]

How about the Dlinemen try JUMPING or PUTTING HANDS UP and try to bat the balls down or get deflections for INTs??

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

So basically, copy Seattle's defense. It did "hold" them to 28 points in the Super Bowl.

Copy the Ravens D that stifled them twice before they got cheated on.

[Tenhigh]

Defensive backs are allowed contact within the first five yards I believe. Have Darby, Gilmore, Roby and Mckelvin jam the receivers at the line of scrimmage. Have Bradham jam Gronk at the line of scrimmage and have Aron Williams play man on Gronk behind him. Have two other safeties play two deep zone. The defensive line would play pass on every down. You dare them to run. My bet is that Brady's ego would get the best of him and he would force passes.

 

From NFL. COM:

An eligible receiver is considered to be an obstructing opponent ONLY to a point five yards beyond the line of scrimmage unless the player who receives the snap clearly demonstrates no further intention to pass the ball. Within this five-yard zone, a defensive player may chuck an eligible player in front of him. A defensive player is allowed to maintain continuous and unbroken contact within the five-yard zone until a point when the receiver is even with the defender. The defensive player cannot use his hands or arms to push from behind, hang onto, or encircle an eligible receiver in a manner that restricts movement as the play develops. Beyond this five-yard limitation, a defender may use his hands or arms ONLY to defend or protect himself against impending contact caused by a receiver. In such reaction, the defender may not contact a receiver who attempts to take a path to evade him.

 

So I say don't just jam or chuck, BLOCK. Maybe bring in Mulligan to block Gronk at the LOS, after that he rushes Brady.

[DallasBillsFan1]

This is off topic from the original post, but prepare yourself for another 5-7 years of Tom Brady, if not longer. He is at the top of his game right now and takes good care of his arm. I recall thinking just 2 years ago that he had another 3-4 years left in the league. Boy was I wrong.

 

As good as he and Belichick are, there has to be an answer on how to play against his offense.

 

Or maybe the answer lies in what the Giants and Baltimore did years ago in Superbowls and playoffs: get penetration up the middle and hit Tom Brady. Unless you rattle him, he'll make you pay all day long.

Edited October 1, 2015 by DallasBillsFan1

[BillsFan130]

I really don't think it's a secret how to stop the patriots. You need pressure with 4 guys and got to jam their receivers at the line. You will rarely confuse brady, he's seen it all. Got to keep it simple and execute, just like the Giants in the super bowls. Much easier said than done though

[Nihilarian]

First off Brady doesn't simply throw to a "spot", he throws to the open receiver, and that might be to any number of "spots" on the field. Gee, if only the Bills were allowed 150 players on defense so they could cover all the "spots" Brady might throw to!

 

 

Seriously, Rex Ryan was so worried about giving up big plays that he opted for dropping into coverage rather then going all out after Brady, and how did that work out? Brady set a franchise record for passes against a Bills defense with 466 yards passing.

 

The very first play from scrimmage against Brady the Bills were off the line by five yards, and only rushed three D linemen (Kyle, Mario, Marcell)with Jerry Hughes #55 dropping into coverage on a WR in Aaron Dobson #17.

YEA, THAT"S RIGHT! A DE IN PASS COVERAGE ON A WR!!

 

The second series for the Patriots they were in max protect for Brady with just two WR flanked out on either side. The Bills had five on the LoS with Bradham being the fifth. The Patriots ran play action thus keeping the remaining two LBers frozen two yards off the LoS, and then they moved up to the line to stop the RB. But it was a play action pass and Brady hits #17 Dobson all by himself just past the first down marker. Why Gilmore was giving the WR a ten yard cushion I have no idea.

 

The next play the Patriots were five-wide empty backfield. The Bills rushed only three, and were stoned by being double teamed at the line except for Mario had to run the arc. Brady got the ball off deep to Gronk after 3 1/2 seconds. Meanwhile the Bills were dropping everyone else into coverage with Darby on Gronk, who caught that deep pass for 36 yards.

 

The next play was a penalty on Gronk, so its 1st and goal on the Bills 15 yard line now. The next play was a coverage sack by Mario on Brady because he had nowhere to go with the ball. The next play the Patriots went 4 wide, and initially the Bills rushed 3, and then sent a LBer late on the left side. Brady hit Edelman for 7 yards.

Now 3rd and goal on the Bills 8 yard line. NE goes four wide, and the Bills have five on the line the Bills, and only rush three!! Mario, Bradham, Marcell. Mario almost gets there as Brady goes out of the pocket to the area where Mario came from, and hits Edelman for a TD.

 

The next series for NE Amandola returns it to the Bills 28 yard line and a 15 yard PF penalty on Bills #27 ( Duke Williams) gives the ball to the Patriots on the Bills 13 yard line. The Bills rush four, and Brady hits Edelman crossing for 7 yards. 2nd and goal from the Bills 7 Pats RB dion Lewis off RG for 7 yards, and TD. Gronk singled up on Mario for a kick out block to open a hole for Lewis.

 

 

 

Bottom line is the Bills never really pressured Brady. They didn't try and jam the Patriots players on the line either, and instead were mostly playing off the line. Almost a 10 yard cushion by the Bills CB's & safeties. The Bills were almost always in soft nickle coverage that Brady exploited by hitting the underneath stuff. Then when they were at the goal line they used their multiple TE package to score.

 

The simple fact is Tom Brady is a first ballot HoF QB who has seen every coverage there is and will exploit any coverage unless the opposing team can field five Revis Islands.

 

The Bills would be better off attempting to jam Edelman and Gronk at the line, and play close man coverage while blitzing every chance you can. Brady can be hit, and once he is knocked around enough he will make mistakes just like every other QB. To be honest I was quite surprised the Bills played that soft coverage scheme against Brady considering he had three rookie O lineman protecting him. JMO

[jethro_tull]

The Patriots neutralized the Bills pressure defense by giving up the run and running 5-receiver sets. Brady was able to find an open guy among the 5 eligible receivers before the Bills could get to him. Very easy for him to do. The Bills did not have an answer for that attack.

 

At that point the Bills have to give them the run. You give them the run by rushing 4 and cover 2 on the 2 receivers most likely to get the ball. You also have to change the matchups, subbing more DBs for some of the slower coverage LBs because the Bills LBs cannot cover as well as they need to, especially against Gronkowski, Edelman or Dion Lewis who are the top (3) NE receivers by a mile.

Stop those guys and then you have to anticipate what the Patriots will do next when that starts working.

Edited October 1, 2015 by jethro_tull

[....lybob]

I'd play with some with 5 DL -I'd put Dareus directly on the center (K Williams subbing in) with Charles and Bryant directly on the guards - M Williams and Hughes would give a variety of looks sometimes playing directly over Gronk to give him a hit, sometimes dropping into coverage, sometime rushing from outside, sometimes crashing inside- Bradham is the odd man out - ultra tight aggressive coverage but we are potentially giving up the long ball.

[NextYearGuys]

All you have to do is jam the wr's at the line and blitz. Yeah, maybe we'll get beat deep sometimes but Brady can't run so he'll be forced to either scramble to Hughes or Mario's side or sit in the pocket and hope protection can hold up. Easier said than done though...

[MikeSpeed]

Here is my plan... On the first play that they empty the back field, bring everyone up to the line. Only rush 2 guys. The rest of them will grab a WR and tackle them as soon as the ball is snapped. Piling on is highly encouraged!

[RevWarRifleman]

That Pats** offense relies on timing as Brady is throwing to a spot more than throwing to a receiver. It assumes the DBs are always chasing the receivers. What you do is "flip the script" and ignore the receivers and cover the spots instead. Brady either throws picks or hesitates his throws, giving our D-line a little more time to sack him.

Ahh Promo, would that be known as "The Spot Resolution"?

[RevWarRifleman]

It eats at my core to watch the Patriots execute their offense with such precision against the Bills. Despite the hate, I have to give them their props. The last two games that mattered, “the not aging fast enough” Brady, got rid of the ball in under 2 seconds on passing plays and just carved us up for 7 to 10 yards each play. My thought on a strategy is to have set plays where the guys in the back end of the D just tackle/hold every WR, TE and RB that goes out for a pass and then the D line sacks Brady. Bills would give up 5 yards for the ‘holding’ and an automatic first down but you smack Tommy boy a bunch of times and get their receivers wondering what is going on. The idea is to disrupt their timing and get them off their game. They would employ this scheme for the first couple Patriots drives of the game, before they cross the 50 yard line and would do this every pass play. Patriots are going to get their yards anyway so why not give them the yards and smack him around!! After that they could sprinkle this strategy in randomly to keep them guessing and hopefully off on the timing patterns all game. You could disguise it so the D-call is either the mugging strategy, the fake mugging strategy or a blitz with legal coverage. Thoughts?

Jam all receivers, TE's & RB's that are lined up at/near the LOS. Then run blitzes to put the hurt on Brady. If you commit penalties, Pats will kill all game long.

[Nanker]

Screw that. Rush 11 and take the roughing the passer penalty.

Then do it again, and again, and again... till it bleeds.

[3rdand12]

I think you can get in trouble for those.

as compared to snipers

People have tried jamming receivers but have rarely bothered Brady. He still got rid of the ball quickly.

we did not though.

control the passing lanes, not the rushing lanes.

I said before the game and after the game, obscure his vision on the short stuff. Sure the Dl gets punched in the gut by O line men as soon as a hand gets up. But if that is what it takes to win..

and press press press.