Serious question here. Skip the "by scoring more points!" replies. I'm skeptical about our chances, but if you were charged with developing a strategy to beat the Patriots, what would it be? What are their weaknesses and how can we exploit them? What do we have to do? What do we have to stop? Etc. My 2 cents: 1. On offense, 3rd down conversions. We need to convert a higher percentage, if for no other reason that's keep the defense off the field. Ball control. 2. On defense, MUST pressure Brady UP THE MIDDLE. Jump in.
Same formula for any team without an explosive passing attack: control the clock, play good defense and specials. We'll need a complete game to beat NE, like the 3 times they beat NE under RR.
Sacking Brady a couple times is key. When Brady doesn't have time to finish a crossword puzzle before he has to pass he declines substantially. A sack or two really seems to kill his confidence and he throws like garbage. A strong running game will go a long way towards controlling the clock and creating opportunities for the passing game to make big plays. I don't know how our D will do against the Patriots' quick offensive system so keeping them off the field as much as possible will help give us that opportunity to squeak out the last possession of the game and win by a FG or a stray point.
I would like to see some Demario Davis on defense. If Coples and Wilk play like they did today I think we have a good shot. Got to get some pressure on Brady.
Mark Sanchez may have to put the team on his back in this one. I don't think Russel Wilson is better than Mark. I think we can see some big throws out of him in this game. He's gotta attack McCourty. He has to take advantage of their beat up secondary. Not dinks and dunks, but big gainers, similar to what we saw in Buffalo. Stephen Hill will need to have a big day. Defensively, Brady has been very flustered when he gets pressured. Their O-line is weaker this year than it has been. We drafted Coples and Wilk for a reason- we need to get after Brady. If they do their job, we can generate some in completions and maybe some turnovers. We cannot get burned on the run. The front 7 has to be stout this game. Lastly, we need to make John Cena our honorary captain again.
Establish the run and then take shots down the field out of play-action. Pass the ball out of running formations, run the ball out of passing formations. Mix in some Tebow. Send Cromartie on a go route or two and see if he can burn McCourtey, and of course, get pressure on Brady and stop the run. If we can keep their defense guessing I think we can take advantage of a pretty lackluster secondary.
quinton coples and mo wilks. we all saw today that if you pressure tom brady he isn't anything special at all. also landry needs to stick like glue to gronk and we need to run effectively
Turnovers, we pretty much have to get some turnovers and limit our mistakes. You can't give Brady a short field. I also think, we need to attack over the top with Hill. Need a few big plays to back off the safeties and get the underneath and running games going against them.
Of course that applies to any QB, but what I've noticed about Brady for the last couple years is that pressure up the middle, even if you don't get to him, throws him off more than pressure coming from the ends. If you can keep him from stepping up, it limits his downfield accuracy. And coming up the middle complicates the quick inside slants.
I agree that you gotta take some shots. Realistically, I think we have to run the ball well to control the clock and keep Brady on the sidelines, but in order to do that we will have to keep them honest downfield. Offensive balance and ruthless execution.
