Quote:
Originally Posted by B_Ambuehl
People act like what Belichik is doing this year with the heavy blitzes and man coverage is new. They started it last year towards the end of the season. They did it heavily against Rapistburger in the Pitt game and barely lost. Then they pounded San Diego with it in the divisional round and pounded the chiefs in the first half of AFCC. The 2nd half of that AFCC is a recipe how to counter it.
IMO it's moreso to make up for the pass rush deficiencies than it is anything else. In a base 4 man rush Belichik probably has bottom 5 pass rush personnel, and it's been that way most of the time since Chandler Jones left. But he messes with pressures and is consistently able to get rush production by creating free runs at the QB & matchups: DE against TE, LB against RB. The "amoeba" looks prevent the QB & Oline from getting clean reads & the secondary forces the QB to hold the ball. It's definitely a synergy where the sum is way way greater than the individual parts. Most of that front 7 are slapdick castoffs from other teams, and they were castoffs for a reason.
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Your first paragraph, that this started last year, is accurate.
That the Patriots front 7 is a bunch of slapdicks isn't.
Jaime Collins -- 1st round pick
Donta Hightower -- 1st round pick, and incredibly clutch player
Kyle Van Noy - 2nd round pick
Danny Shelton - 1st round pick
Nobody is pretending any of these guys is Khalil Mack, but Belichick hasn't had a guy like that in the front 7 since Lawrence Taylor so...