Super Bowl week is
upon us and it’s time to breakdown the final matchup for the ultimate prize,
the Vince Lombardi Trophy!!! Both teams come into this contest with exact
winning records (13-3), and both ranked first in their respective conferences.
As most expected, the Patriots would represent the AFC in the Super Bowl where
the road traveled for the Eagles came with tribulation as they lost their star
Quarterback in the process. This game has the potential to be a great contest
and shouldn’t disappoint. Let’s breakdown the Patriots and how they’ll shape
up.
The Patriots Offense:
This will be a juggernaut
of an offense as some called it, or, this offense will produce more than it did
with Randy Moss as other saw it. That didn’t come to pass in 2017 as the Pats
started slow out the gates and never saw the full potential on offense that
most expected. Some experts pegged the Pats to fulfill another unbeaten season
once Brandin Cooks joined the club. With all that said, the G.O.A.T Tom Brady
still finished atop the league in most passing statistical categories. Leading
the NFL in passing yards (4577), third in passing touchdowns (32), while
boasting a healthy 7.9 yards per pass, generating a league best 230 first
downs, and a completion percentage of 66.3% - was just another day in the
office for Brady. Adding to that, the Patriots finished the season as the
number one offense in the NFL for 2017. Finishing second in total pass yards
and tenth in total rush yards, was more than enough for the Patriots to
dominate their way to yet another Conference Championship (7 straight), while
earning the chance to defend their Super Bowl title.
While Tom Brady is who
he is and will continue to produce at a high level, the pieces around him offer
the greatest chance for sustainment which he enjoys on a yearly basis. The
addition of Cooks to this offense was exciting; as the thought of him running
wild through secondary’s having Brady dropping dimes for long yardage touchdown
was the expectation. Alas, that wasn’t the case as Cooks started the year not
on the same page while struggling to form chemistry with Brady. While his
season was far from a fail, Cooks wasn’t able to replicate his success seen
from his days in New Orleans. While no one questions the work ethic of Cooks,
he left a lot of plays on the field with a career low in catching percentage at
57%. Where Cooks production failed, others picked up the slack with great
execution. Rob Gronkowski again enjoyed another stellar year even though he missed
two games to injury. Achieving the 1000+ yard mark for the fourth time in his
career, Gronk again was the most reliable target in the Patriots offense. With
Chris Hogan, and Danny Amendola, rounding out the receiving options, one can
only imagine how this offense would’ve fared with Julian Edelman had he not
been lost to and ACL in preseason.
One of Bill Belichicks
biggest strengths as a coach is exploiting talent and generating the most
production from any player that dons his uniform. This is clear when you view
the Patriots backfield once again. Belichick refused to pay last year’s work
horse (LeGarrette Blount) in hopes to recreate the workload and production with
a four back system. Dion Lewis, James White, Mike Gillislee, and Rex Burkhead
became a rotating door as Belichick road the hot hand. Gillislee began week one
against the Chiefs on a masterful pace dropping three touchdowns - again
anointing Coach a genius. As the season wore on, Dion Lewis gained trust as
Gillislee found himself riding the pine due to ball control issues. The
greatest aspect of the Josh McDaniels offense in his time in New England has
been the use of his backs in the passing game. It’s no coincidence that Tom
Brady has one of the quickest releases in the NFL, as most plays in the
Patriots offense are short quick dump passes to generate chunk yardage. The
Patriots trio of running backs (White, Lewis, Burkhead), saw an incredible
amount of work in the pass game receiving targets an astonishing 143 times! That
production equates to 25% of the entire Patriots passing game, it’s nothing to
overlook.
The Offensive Game
Plan:
While it’s clear how
the Patriots attack most teams, this game plan should again rely heavily on the
usage of the running backs. Belichick likes to disrupt opposing game plans with
trickery and sleight of hand. New England and coach Belichick are masters at
showing their cards intentionally early, then adjusting to scripted plays in
how they intended to attack their the opposition forcing teams to play their
game. Tom Brady is fantastic at dissecting defenses no matter the plan of
attack. The best way to get Brady off his game is to generate constant pressure
with the least amount of personal. The short pass game will act as assistance
to the run as the Eagles front seven should be able to clog up the middle
halting much room to scamper. Brady should have more than a few plays deep to
Brandin Cooks, in hopes to loosen up the Eagles secondary as Ronald Darby
should be tasked with covering the speedster. If the Eagles are forced to
double cover Cooks with Darby and Jenkins, the Patriots running backs should
then see their share of the workload. Mychal Kendricks and Nigel Bradham should
pose as the largest obstacles for Brady in the short pass game. Both line
backers are built with speed and employ great athleticism able to run sideline
to sideline. Brady and company should and most likely will get creative in
trying to get the Eagles to blitz so to expose the middle of the field.
As we have seen and
have come to expect, Tom Brady is never out of any contest. His ability to
simply take his team on his back and will plays to happen is something we may
never again see from another player. The offense may start slow but will finish
strong as New England is the best in the business at adjusting at half time. If
the Eagles don’t play perfect football, Brady will again be hoisting the Super
Bowl for a sixth time.
The Patriots Defense:
Bill Belichick did
something in the 2017 offseason that he normally doesn’t do, make a splash free
agent big money signing. As always, the Patriots were in search of teams they
could pick apart pilfering good pieces in hopes to lure them to Boston. Former
Bills defensive back Stephen Gilmore found his way to a club that could finally
get him into the playoffs and with an opportunity at winning a championship.
Belichick knew going into the offseason that they required a solid back-end as
the front seven left a lot to be desired. With a pass rush and a line backing
core that can be easily exposed, Bill knew he needed a superb secondary to
generate pressure gaining coverage sacks. The Patriots indeed saw that formula
come to fruition as they generated 42 sacks good enough to be tied for seventh
place in the NFL. The Patriots defense the first five weeks of the season were
hard pressed to generate anything positive as they were gashed on many occasions.
The Patriots still finished the season with the 29th ranked
defensive unit as the first five weeks of ‘flood gates open’ were difficult to
overcome.
The Pats also are
nothing to write home about in terms of generating turnovers having intercepted
the opposition a mere 12 times, while recovering a near league low - 5 fumbles.
As great coaches do, they work and exploit their strengths as a unit producing
better in the aggregate. Head Coach hopeful Matt Patricia post week five has
had his unit playing great football. The Patriots finished the season with a
league best 14 points allowed per game average, quite impressive. Knowing they
struggle to create turnovers, limiting their opponents to score touchdowns made
them a true bend but don’t break unit. New England will have to get creative on
Sunday in hopes to slow down the Eagles stout run attack, with generating
enough pressure off scheme blitz packages to put Nick Foles on the ground early
and often. The Patriots still possess a top flight secondary that can cover
with the best in the NFL, as Gilmore and Butler are as close to shutdown
corners as we find in the league.
The Defensive Game
Plan:
The Patriots have been
the best team in the NFL since week five in terms of defensive points allowed
per game (14). The Eagles should fully expect the Patriots to blitz early and
often in hopes to rattle Nick Foles and get him off his game. The Patriots do a
decent job stuffing the run on most occasions leaving themselves vulnerable in
the middle of the field. Patrick Chung and Devin McCourty will have extremely large
roles in this contest and should be noticeable all over the field. Very
interesting matchups on Sunday will be Gilmore vs Jeffery & Butler vs Agholor;
they all should have their work cut out for them. Torrey Smith and Zach Ertz
may have bigger than normal roles where Matt Patricia will have to get creative
in how to stop these two potential X-Factors! Belichick has already gone on
record saying shutting down Foles will be a priority in this contest, if they
allow him to move the ball with ease they might be in some trouble (watch the sleight
of hand here!). With a subpar line backing unit, they will have their hands
full in stopping the Eagles run game that will be employed in full force. It’s
easy to say that turnovers will win this game, but for the Patriots it reins
true. New England must force turnovers in this contest which is something they haven’t
done with regularity all season. We should see another superb adjustment package
after half time regardless of the score. On paper the Eagles have the advantage
when going up against this Patriots defense, so Belichick & Patricia should
have their hands full. This defense indeed will have its work cut out for them
come Sunday.
To all the Patriot fans
out there – Good luck in making history continue!
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