Patriots vs. Broncos: 3 Offensive Keys
By Cyrus Geller
Based on my film review, here are three offensive keys for the Patriots on Sunday versus the Broncos:
1. Mix of Man/Zone, Favorable Matchups
The Broncos like to play a lot of man coverage, but they aren’t exclusively a man team. Wade Phillips will mix it up against Brady, although historically Brady has owned Phillips-led defenses. For his career, Brady is 5-2 against Phillips, and has averaged 311.9 passing yards a game, while tossing 20 touchdowns. And even though Phillips has an extremely talented defense this year, the Patriots have plenty of favorable matchups against that secondary.
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In the first matchup between these two teams this season, Brady completed 23 of 42 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns. Considering he was without Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola for the entire game (and Gronk for the end of the fourth quarter and overtime), I think Brady did damn well against this defense. The reason being he knew which matchups to attack. When Rob Gronkowski was matched up against a linebacker or smaller corner/safety, Brady immediately went there. If Brandon Bolden had a step on a linebacker going to the sideline like he did on his 63-yard touchdown reception, number 12 will go to that matchup. And while Brandon LaFell certainly struggled in that game, he got open a few times, Brady just didn’t feel comfortable enough with him to pull the trigger. If those open throws are available this time around, New England’s offense could be that much better.
Now, think about all of those favorable matchups the Pats had, but this time insert Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola into the mix. Chris Harris, Denver’s best cover corner will be limited in this game (if he even plays), and that bodes well for the Pats’ slot wideouts. Harris covers the slot guy more often than not, and if Edelman is matched up with Harris 1-on-1, Jules is going to win that matchup every single time.
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The Broncos are in a tricky spot. If they elect to play man coverage across the board and double Gronkowski with a linebacker and safety, Edelman and Amendola will have 1-on-1’s with Harris and Bradley Roby. If Denver decides to play a little zone to keep Gronkowski in check and protect their slot guys, Edelman, Amendola and guys like James White will happily settle down between the zones and let Tom Brady dink and dunk down the field.
It’s going to be hard for Denver to contain all of Brady’s weapons when he is getting rid of the ball so quickly, and moving his offense at such a high rate.
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