Patriots continue having difficulty with backup and rookie QB's
by SyracusePatsFan on Dec 20, 2010 3:35 PM EST
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PrintThe Patriots over the past few years seem to have struggles with young and inexperienced quarterbacks, allowing them to make showings that no one expected from them. Do the Patriots just consistently underestimate these guys or do they just not have enough film to make a better game plan against these quarterback? I'm going to highlight a few of the struggles that standout to me, starting from 2007.
Week 12 2007: Eagles@Patriots(Pats 31-28)
Inexperienced QB: A.J. Feeley (27/42 345 yards, 3 TD's 3 INT's)
His performance: His very first throw of the game a pick 6, I thought it was just another blowout at that point. But the guy comes storming back putting together a few great drives. He really got going in the second quarter throwing two great passes to Greg Lewis. He didn't get much help from Westbrook (17 for 53, 1 TD, long of 14). He threw loads of intermediate routes over the middle. He also picked on Ellis Hobbs quite a bit (Nothing new there that season). He threw short intermediate routes before the Patriots pass rush could get to him much like the Patriots offense does now. In the end, he threw 2 interceptions in the final 4 minutes despite the Patriots giving them the ball up both of those times. Other than the first play and the final few minutes, he was tearing up the Patriots.
Next: Chad Henne
(Ok, I was too lazy to look over the 2008 season... Brady was out then so I don't use data from that season.)
Week 13 2009: Patriots@Dolphins
Inexperience QB: Chad Henne (29/52 335 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT)
His performance: Chad Henne performed almost as well as A.J. Feeley, but he wasn't carrying the team like Feeley was. He put together drives when he needed to, getting the ball out to his receivers and letting them make a play. He racked up the yards with the underneath routes and intermediate routes, picking on the Patriots weak secondary. Granted, he just managed the game, but he sliced up the Patriots defense with not too much help from his RB's: Ricky Williams was 18 for 72, no TD's and a long of just 11. Another example of Pats letting an inexperienced QB have a game that he shouldn't.
Week 14 2010: Packers@Patriots
Inexperienced QB: Matt Flynn (24/37, 251 yards, 3 TD's, 1 INT)
His performance: Just like the other inexperience QB's, he picked apart the Patriots over the middle, racking up yards on clock eating drives. He did get some help from Brandon Jackson(22 for 99, long of 12). Some may argue his long pass happened because Meriweather took out McCourty. It would have been a completion definitely, but I think McCourty would have tackled him after the catch, but regardless he capitalized on a Pats miscue. Great game for a guy's first start.
So are all these performances from the Patriots not having a good enough game plan because there is simply not enough film on these guys? Is it because of the other team bringing a great game plan? Or a combination of both? Probably both, not to mention a huge amount of swagger the rest of the teams bring just because they know they are playing the awesome Patriots. Granted, the Pats have beat up on some inexperienced QB's, but more often than not, they have great games against the Patriots.
The views expressed in these FanPosts are not necessarily those of the writers or SBNation.
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Don't forget Mccoy this year and Sanchez last year.
Dick Butkus, Former Chicago Bears Linebacker
"I wouldn't ever set out to hurt anyone deliberately unless it was important -- like a league game."
McCoy and Sanchez...
more of game managed that’s why I didn’t include them. First game in 2009 the Patriots were beat by the Jets defense mostly Sanchez had only 163 yards and 1 TD, but he still managed the game well for a rookie and didn’t throw any picks. The second time they faced Sanchez in 2009 he threw 4 picks and had a fumble, so they dominated him in Foxborough. Sanchez still isn’t that good, his numbers haven’t been as good against the Patriots as some of the other QB’s even in his second year. Colt McCoy did a good job of game managing but he didn’t make the list because he wasn’t carrying the team like A.J. Feeley or Matt Flynn (It was the Browns defense and Peyton Hillis who had 184 yards…) But you still have a valid point: In the first meeting with these inexperienced QB’s they didn’t force them to make mistakes!!!!!!! Thanks for reading!
by SyracusePatsFan on Dec 20, 2010 6:12 PM EST up reply actions
You know, I can live with this statistic right now
Because there won’t be too many teams in the Playoffs who will be using their back-ups. So long as the Pats can beat the QBs they know, we should be fine.
Next year, however…
I've been saying this forever!
I understand that Belichick’s defense is a “gameplan” defense, meaning that instead of having one style of play or one consistent book if plays, they change from week to week depending on their analysis of their opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. When you don’t have film on a guy, you don’t know his strengths and weaknesses, so you can’t really gear a gameplan toward him.
I think it’s a classic case of a smarty pants outsmarting himself. Instead of stepping back, seeing the obvious (inexperienced QB making his first NFL start = blitz all night long) and going with a simple game plan, Belichick adopted a wait-and-see approach, as if he expected Flynn to be the next Tom Brady. In a sense, he gave Flynn TOO much respect. Instead of assuming Flynn would react well to the blitz, you should have made him prove it.
Regardless, this is a weakness I can live with. If I have to pick one thing for the Pats to suck at, it would be defending against backup QBs.
I was thinking the same thing about that Eagles game
So many similarities to last night’s opponent: Sunday night game against a good, well-coached NFC team, starting quarterback out, successful recovery of an onside kick by the Eagles that robbed Brady of a possession and seemed to mess with the Pats a bit just like last night, and a team coming in that everyone in the national sports media thought had no chance since NE was coming off a blowout win on the road (36-7 at Chicago last week, 56-10 at Buffalo in 2007). And then, as now, some people are already saying that the Eagles/Packers have found (as John Madden put it then) a “blueprint” for how to beat or at least slow down the Patriots.
Almost eerie the number of similarities between the two games. Nice observations, Syracuse Pats Fan.
This is what makes Bill Belichick the best: He's playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers.
And of course the score was almost identical--31-27 last night, 31-28 in 2007
This is what makes Bill Belichick the best: He's playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers.
Yes and no
The Pats will bleed yardage against rookie QBs and the like, but they don’t tend to actually lose against them. Thus far, Belichick and the Pats have only lost to 3 rookie QBs – Ben Roethlisberger, Mark Sanchez (1 from 2 rookie attempts), and Colt McCoy.
Rookie QBs without scouting tape might play better than expected, but they usually give up a play or two that means the Pats win. In the meantime it might look awful, but the record still speaks for itself.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Contributing Writer at PatsPulpit
by Comedic.Sans on Dec 20, 2010 5:52 PM EST up reply actions
I've picked up on the same thing
Belichick likes to play to take away the best player on the other team. Normally that would be Rodgers, but with him out I think they focused their efforts on taking away Jennings (and Mathews on defense) and forcing Flynn to beat them with their other options. The problem was that they didn’t do much to Flynn. No disguise or confusion really (like what they did with Manning). When the QB doesn’t seem like a threat, they take away what’s left (like Westbrook, Brown/William, Jennings in the examples you mentioned) but tend to play soft on the QB, hoping for him to eventually make that key mistake.
The trick is…he usually does.
the other problem
is they took away Matthews and didn’t bother dealing with Raji. Brady has a few bruises from getting hit by that load, i’m sure.
There's not much you can do to gameplan away a NT or even a 3-4 DE
For outside pass-rushers (3-4 OLBs and 4-3 DEs) you can choose to keep TEs and bottle them up around the outside. But for those inside D-linemen, you’re stuck – you basically just have to hope the inside O-linemen can keep them out. About all you can do is keep an RB in to block pass-rushers, but even that doesn’t help so much just because BJ Raji is 350lbs and Danny Woodhead is 200lb. If Raji’s on a roll, he’s unstoppable, so if he gets past Koppen Brady was toast.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Contributing Writer at PatsPulpit
by Comedic.Sans on Dec 20, 2010 6:44 PM EST up reply actions
no I know
but in your game planning you would take into account the plausibility of your backs handling that size of a lineman or in the case of his first sack having someone block him at all. One play he just manhandled Mankins and that I would see as a not-much-you-can-do situation. Those other two plays, the line had to be out of position.
It's defiantely game planning
with guys like manning and such you expect pass and how they react. With young guys, i tihnk the pats expect heavy runs to alleviate the young QBs. Thus their formations are more run suited. And when these guys come out firing it throws the defense off their game plan.
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