Belichick's latest monster?

[BackInDaDay]

After reading an article on the Air Raid offense and it's assimilation into NFL offenses, i believe Rex 's defense just fell prey to the longest duration of AR concepts ever implemented in the pros.

Belichick and Brady have been blending AR into their O since the days of Texas Tech (Air Raid system) receiver Wes Welker. When they let him go, they signed fellow Texas Tech receiver Danny Amendola. A couple years ago they draft Jimmy Garoppolo who ran an Air Raid offense at Eastern Illinois. I'm not going to research their entire roster, but i think this stockpiling of skill position players familiar with AR offenses is no coincidence.

While all the attention's been on ex-Oregon coach Chip Kelly's Eagles, Belichick and Brady have been refining a high tempo passing offense of their own - based on AR. If our game was any indication - this doesn't appear to be a sometime thing. This looks like a commitment's been made to run this out of spread formations the majority of their snaps. It'll be interesting to see if that's the case.

Read this article, if such things interest you. It's from 2013, but i think you'll recognize much of what it describes.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1850629-is-the-nfl-ready-for-the-air-raid-offense.

Personally, it's helped me better understand what Rex may have been trying to do defensively in his coverage schemes this Sunday. What i thought was a lot of man under zone, was more than likely mostly zone - implemented with everyone but his D line. We obviously executed like crap, but at least now i'm not as bewildered by his defensive approach to what he thought was coming.

[johnwalter]

this is a fantastic thread - learned a lot. thanks!

[Buffalo Barbarian]

Were not a zone team Rex stick to what you know because the zone is not for us.

 

Now I know why are corners were off and why it failed miserably

[BackInDaDay]

Yeah, thanks - me too. I should be sleeping, but I love this stuff.. guess who Gronk played for at Arizona.. AR coach Sonny Dykes as his OC.. Ione of Dyke's old assistants is running AR at Kansas with - you guessed it - two big athletic TEs! I wonder if the O line play in this system has some specificity to it, considering the number of young guys Belichick now has. Somebody send up the Bandit signal.. he'd probably know.

Were not a zone team Rex stick to what you know because the zone is not for us.

 

Now I know why are corners were off and why it failed miserably

if you play man, you're gonna get washed out, but I hear ya.. we were horrible passing guys off. Aaron Williams appeared to trip over his own two feet - or got tripped by a teammate rolling left - before giving late chase to Edelman's 'against the grain' route to his right for the TD Edited September 22, 2015 by BackInDaDay

[Pete]

http://smartfootball.com/offense/the-air-raid-offense-history-evolution-weirdness-from-mumme-to-leach-to-franklin-to-holgorsen-and-beyond

[BackInDaDay]

http://smartfootball.com/offense/the-air-raid-offense-history-evolution-weirdness-from-mumme-to-leach-to-franklin-to-holgorsen-and-beyond

thanks for keeping me up even later.. great history!

 

I have to admire Belichick's use of the double TE within the system.. not sure if that began with him, or like everything else in this offense - was an adaptation of another coach's scheme.. I'm sure he and Brady have picked up concepts from all the AR guys in their building. That Pats team that eventually lost to the Giants in the SB was scorching most opponents that year, but I don't recall them executing at a high tempo.. this seems to be Kelly's influence on Belichick.. don't let em come up for air..

Edited September 22, 2015 by BackInDaDay

[bills_fan_in_raleigh]

What teams need to do to get air is steal from Billy cheat his scheme he used in SB25 have your defensive players fake injuries. gVes the D a free time out while the trainers attend to the "injured" player. A play or two later another guy goes down and other injured guy returns or is just rotated back in when rested.

[GG]

Surprised The Senator hasn't appeared yet

 

Great read though, and does add a bit of color to the defensive scheme. All-22 will be key to spot which players missed the assignments, besides the soon to be cut safety.

[Storm Front]

Great post. The way to beat Brady has always been to utilize a heavy pass rush. I think Rex may now know that he has to bring the heat. Shoot, he has the players for it. Bellichek was probably surprised that we didn't blitz.

[Nanker]

I'm shocked, do you hear me - shocked that Rex Roman couldn't come here in a single offseason and beat the crap out of the P*A*T*S* who have been running and refining the same scheme for over a decade.

 

Maybe there is something to be said for that continuity thing after all.

[PromoTheRobot]

I think the trick in defending this offense is by not defending receivers but by defending their reception spots. It looks to me like Brady is throwing to a spot rather than hitting a receiver. If you can cover those spots you can foil that offense.

[BillsVet]

Great observation and thread.

 

I know a lot of Bills fans chalk up NE's success to cheating, but they've been ahead of the curve for awhile now. Back in the early days, Belichick was a defense first coach but has morphed into a more offensive minded guy and makes it a point to talk with college coaches to understand other styles of play.

 

At one time the Bills were at the forefront of offensive innovation. They may not have invented the no-huddle, but they certainly perfected it. And, they had a GM who found the players to fit that scheme. The Patriots have done that with their offensive strategy and it's definitely hard to beat.

[GunnerBill]

Great observation and thread.

 

I know a lot of Bills fans chalk up NE's success to cheating, but they've been ahead of the curve for awhile now. Back in the early days, Belichick was a defense first coach but has morphed into a more offensive minded guy and makes it a point to talk with college coaches to understand other styles of play.

 

At one time the Bills were at the forefront of offensive innovation. They may not have invented the no-huddle, but they certainly perfected it. And, they had a GM who found the players to fit that scheme. The Patriots have done that with their offensive strategy and it's definitely hard to beat.

 

And, as I said in the observations thread, if they find something that a team can't stop they are going to do it over and over and over until you show you can. They only innovate for necessity... what they don't do is the Doug Marrone thing of trying to appear innovative for the sake of getting a reputation even when it hinders your team. I think Chip Kelly is at risk of becoming Marronish too.

[filthymcnasty08]

I think the trick in defending this offense is by not defending receivers but by defending their reception spots. It looks to me like Brady is throwing to a spot rather than hitting a receiver. If you can cover those spots you can foil that offense.

I was thinking the same thing...I was wondering during the game if coaches ever looked at a graph of where Brady goes with the ball and the number of plays. He sets and throws to a spot almost mechanically. I thought for sure we were going to get a pick or two jumping those spots/routes in a sneaky Rex D fashion.

[RyanC883]

 

After reading an article on the Air Raid offense and it's assimilation into NFL offenses, i believe Rex 's defense just fell prey to the longest duration of AR concepts ever implemented in the pros.

Belichick and Brady have been blending AR into their O since the days of Texas Tech (Air Raid system) receiver Wes Welker. When they let him go, they signed fellow Texas Tech receiver Danny Amendola. A couple years ago they draft Jimmy Garoppolo who ran an Air Raid offense at Eastern Illinois. I'm not going to research their entire roster, but i think this stockpiling of skill position players familiar with AR offenses is no coincidence.

While all the attention's been on ex-Oregon coach Chip Kelly's Eagles, Belichick and Brady have been refining a high tempo passing offense of their own - based on AR. If our game was any indication - this doesn't appear to be a sometime thing. This looks like a commitment's been made to run this out of spread formations the majority of their snaps. It'll be interesting to see if that's the case.

Read this article, if such things interest you. It's from 2013, but i think you'll recognize much of what it describes.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1850629-is-the-nfl-ready-for-the-air-raid-offense.

Personally, it's helped me better understand what Rex may have been trying to do defensively in his coverage schemes this Sunday. What i thought was a lot of man under zone, was more than likely mostly zone - implemented with everyone but his D line. We obviously executed like crap, but at least now i'm not as bewildered by his defensive approach to what he thought was coming.

 

thanks for sharing. We executed like total crap. Our front 4 should have been able to get pressure on the Pats. Instead, they were obliterated by an O-line that the Steelers were able to beat a week earlier. Our secondary also looked confused and out of place. Time to send D. Williams to the bench.

[BackInDaDay]

thanks for sharing. We executed like total crap. Our front 4 should have been able to get pressure on the Pats. Instead, they were obliterated by an O-line that the Steelers were able to beat a week earlier. Our secondary also looked confused and out of place. Time to send D. Williams to the bench.

 

Duke wasn't the only one getting lost, or falling a step behind a man passing through his zone.. i recall one exhibition game where Rex was going to challenge his defense with complex assignments to test their ability to communicate with one another. that "3-2" coverage Duke blew on the Gronk TD was a good example of two defenders recognizing their responsibilities, while the third did not. i think Rex could live with that, but when Duke failed to react to the direction he was getting from Gilmore and Bradham - it tears a hole in the net.

[BuffaloBill]

One of the key advantages the Pats* have is consistency and longevity of staff and Brady. Yes, they have swapped out coordinators over the years but Bellicheat* and Brady* now have a long history together. There is no way to replicate this dynamic.

[BackInDaDay]

I'm shocked, do you hear me - shocked that Rex Roman couldn't come here in a single offseason and beat the crap out of the P*A*T*S* who have been running and refining the same scheme for over a decade.

 

Maybe there is something to be said for that continuity thing after all.

 

Rex knew what to expect, but defending this system requires patience - and that isn't how Rex wants to defend. i give the guy credit with getting his DC and players on board NOW with this, because they will be seeing it in bits and pieces elsewhere - not to the degree they saw it Sunday, at least until we play again - and when they do, there'll be less mistakes.

[BrooklynBills]

I was thinking the same thing...I was wondering during the game if coaches ever looked at a graph of where Brady goes with the ball and the number of plays. He sets and throws to a spot almost mechanically. I thought for sure we were going to get a pick or two jumping those spots/routes in a sneaky Rex D fashion.

 

Air Raid concepts are more than just play design. It also is predicated on giving the offense A TON of freedom to change plays/routes at a moments notice based on the the defense. Disguising your coverage intentions is a big factor in being successful against it; that is different than disguising pressure. In college, LSU ran/runs a Dime package with 4 DL, 2 LBs and 6 DBs where the DBs all roam around pre-snap to try disguise their coverage intentions. Communication in the secondary is essential also because there is a lot of switching off guys and playing a version of zone defense in which the zone defenders play man coverage within their zone on the field and then pass them off when they exit.

 

The problem with the way the Pats run their O is that they can do everything out of there 2 TE set and get Gronk matched up on mismatch. Also, with a QB as smart as Brady running it and with their WRs being all very smart players, they know exactly how to attack coverages. Everything is based upon how the defense lines up.

[PromoTheRobot]

 

Air Raid concepts are more than just play design. It also is predicated on giving the offense A TON of freedom to change plays/routes at a moments notice based on the the defense. Disguising your coverage intentions is a big factor in being successful against it; that is different than disguising pressure. In college, LSU ran/runs a Dime package with 4 DL, 2 LBs and 6 DBs where the DBs all roam around pre-snap to try disguise their coverage intentions. Communication in the secondary is essential also because there is a lot of switching off guys and playing a version of zone defense in which the zone defenders play man coverage within their zone on the field and then pass them off when they exit.

 

The problem with the way the Pats run their O is that they can do everything out of there 2 TE set and get Gronk matched up on mismatch. Also, with a QB as smart as Brady running it and with their WRs being all very smart players, they know exactly how to attack coverages. Everything is based upon how the defense lines up.

What if you had a back pocket sort of play you only ran once and only in a desperate situation because it's so risky? Instead of covering receivers, you send all your defenders against the grain in waves. So the receivers look wide open but the coverage is crossing the passing lanes in two waves. Brady might see the first guy but not the second one stepping in front of his pass. Of course you have to get some pressure on him to hurry the throw a bit. But you do this after you give him a few plays to get his confidence up. Then you do this to hopefully get a pick 6. Mind you if Brady goes long over the middle you're screwed.