How will the Pats stop The Seahawks Offense

[octagondd]

There is a thread discussing how the Seahawks will stop Bill, Tom and the Gronk, but not much discussion about how the Pats will stop the Seahawks offense.

The Pats had the number 8 defense in Pts and number 11 in DVOA at the end of the season. They were 9th in rushing yds/att. and yds/game, but 15th and 17th respectively in passing yds/att. and yds/game. Some of this is due to blowing out 8 of their opponents and just putting the ol' prevent D on the field. I would assume their pass defense is better than that considering Revis and Browner as well as Mcourty. I am not sure how good they are at getting pressure. Ninkovich leads the team in pressures, but usually another player also has a good number of pressures on a defense and I don't see that. Maybe someone who has watched and followed them can enlighten me on that point.

The Pats defense does not have much experience defending the zone read. I know they are studying it intensely, so we will see how they execute. Will they keep a spy on RW? Will they try to keep RW in the pocket like the Packers did. Can their LBs cover Luke Willson? What kind of speed do they have at LB? I know Collins is pretty awesome. Is he the cover guy or is it Hightower?

As far as I can tell, Charles and Lacey are the two backs they faced that are big time RBs on teams that ran the ball fairly well this season. The Pats lost to both those teams, but not sure if there were other factors in those games other than they were both on the road. Kniles Davis and Charles had a combined 199 yards rushing, 28 yds receiving and 3 TDs. Lacey had 98 yds rushing and 17 yds receiving. The Jets also ran the ball well with a couple guys and both of those games were close. Chris Ivory had 100+ in one game and 50 in the other. Also, Forsett ran for 129 in the WC game, but the Ravens Pass defense is just not up to snuff. This is where I think the biggest weakness is for the Pats. If Marshawn gets going early, it will be a very long night for the Pats defense.

If they stack the box against the run, then the Hawks have 1v1 and Browner will have a tough time against Kearse or Lockette down the sideline. Either PI or TD is the likely result of a good pass. RW has been known to under throw, and Browner knows this, so RW will need to throw a dime or over throw. Also, if they stack the box and Luke Willson releases, the Hawks will get either some nice 1st down conversions or a big play down the seam if the LBs can't keep pace with his 4.5 speed. Baldwin is amazing at finding a soft spot in a zone, or if RW goes into scramble mode, find another spot.

Early on, I expect the Pats to stop the Hawks offense a few times. As the game progresses I think the Hawks offense will start to take over. I am a Hawks homer, so please give some input to balance this out because my green and blue glasses makes it look so glorious.

tl;dr - The Patriots defense is not horrible, but not top tier either.

 

[Money]

Yep...Forsett ran through them like butter. Don't see them having much of a chance with Lynch unless they sell out.

 

[PatsFan2003]

I think they will focus on stopping Lynch and keeping Wilson in the pocket as a traditional QB. That's where he's weakest. That's how teams have had the best success stopping them.

I think the Patriots secondary is very good and will probably do well enough against the Seattle receivers. Even if they do have some success, in the long run focusing on Lynch and Wilson in the pocket is the key to the Seattle offense.

Will they be successful doing that? I do not know.

 

[dkmightyhammer]

This game sets up very similar to last years SB in my opinion. I think NE and Denver's offenses are comparable and they both have HOF QB's. The big difference to me is that NE's defense is far better than what Denver had last Superbowl.


I don't know what will happen in this game. Honestly I thought last year the edge went to the Broncos and I expected a close game. This year I have no clue. I'm just praying for Hawks win.

 

[Gooch1034]

I think they will focus on stopping Lynch and keeping Wilson in the pocket as a traditional QB. That's where he's weakest. That's how teams have had the best success stopping them.

I think the Patriots secondary is very good and will probably do well enough against the Seattle receivers. Even if they do have some success, in the long run focusing on Lynch and Wilson in the pocket is the key to the Seattle offense.

I agree and it's the most logical approach. Contain Wilson and stop Lynch. Will be much harder than it sounds but I am curious to see what BB comes up with that nobody has seen before.

 

[PatsFan2003]

I agree and it's the most logical approach. Contain Wilson and stop Lynch. Will be much harder than it sounds but I am curious to see what BB comes up with that nobody has seen before.

Oh I think that's the teeth of the Seattle offense all right. I'm not sure if the Patriots front 7/8 are up to the task. They could be, but it's not a certainty that's for sure.

If you have to weaken part of your defense it should be the secondary against the receivers. I'll take them hurting us over Lynch hurting us.

 

[geezer]

They won't!

 

[WizardHawk]

Lots of teams have tried more or less the same things against Seattle:
Contain Wilson in the pocket
Force Lynch outside
Spy on Wilson for the keeper on the zone read plays
Man up the receivers.

It sounds like an easy and straight forward thing to do, but it's not that easy.

Teams that try to contain Russell often overplay things and keep trying to sack him. It's usually better to simply keep him contained than to go after him unless you can collapse the pocket into him.

Keeping Lynch from beating you between the tackles is something that can be done, but its hard to do that AND keep a spy for Wilson AND keep wilson contained.

 

[WizardHawk]

All of this talk about the success GB had in their strategy gives me some chuckle though. The Hawks were shooting themselves in the feet the entire game. It was that same D that let Seattle go 3 TD's in like 4 minutes at the end when they stopped shooting themselves.

I do expect Seattle to start off slow. Most teams have success slowing down their run early and they are known for lots of 3 and outs in first halves. It is 3rd quarters where they start turning it on.

 

[dkmightyhammer]

Lots of teams have tried more or less the same things against Seattle:
Contain Wilson in the pocket
Force Lynch outside
Spy on Wilson for the keeper on the zone read plays
Man up the receivers.

It sounds like an easy and straight forward thing to do, but it's not that easy.

Teams that try to contain Russell often overplay things and keep trying to sack him. It's usually better to simply keep him contained than to go after him unless you can collapse the pocket into him.

Keeping Lynch from beating you between the tackles is something that can be done, but its hard to do that AND keep a spy for Wilson AND keep wilson contained.

True. There isn't another team that knows Seattle and Russell Wilson better than the Niners and Wilson has given them fits over the past 3 years when they try and contain him. And the Niners defense has been top 3 or so for the past 3 years.

 

[PatsFan2003]

Lots of teams have tried more or less the same things against Seattle:
Contain Wilson in the pocket
Force Lynch outside
Spy on Wilson for the keeper on the zone read plays
Man up the receivers.

It sounds like an easy and straight forward thing to do, but it's not that easy.

Teams that try to contain Russell often overplay things and keep trying to sack him. It's usually better to simply keep him contained than to go after him unless you can collapse the pocket into him.

Keeping Lynch from beating you between the tackles is something that can be done, but its hard to do that AND keep a spy for Wilson AND keep wilson contained.

Well supposedly the Patriots are a smart and disciplined bunch.

 

[PatsFan2003]

All of this talk about the success GB had in their strategy gives me some chuckle though. The Hawks were shooting themselves in the feet the entire game. It was that same D that let Seattle go 3 TD's in like 4 minutes at the end when they stopped shooting themselves.

I do expect Seattle to start off slow. Most teams have success slowing down their run early and they are known for lots of 3 and outs in first halves. It is 3rd quarters where they start turning it on.

Wilson was certainly playing like crap. Did GBs D have anything to do with it?

 

[WizardHawk]

Well supposedly the Patriots are a smart and disciplined bunch.

Seahawks have faced the top defenses in the league several times over the last couple of years and they are not always as successful as you might expect they should be against such a plain vanilla offense (or so we are told) like ours.

I have a feeling the TE's will have a lot of opportunities to be a factor in this game for Seattle. If they key on Lynch and man up on the receivers there should be some favorable plays with those guys. Just don't have a lot of faith they will deliver. Going to cringe every time Willson is targeted.

 

[octagondd]

Wilson was certainly playing like crap. Did GBs D have anything to do with it?

Yes, some. But tipped balls in rainy conditions are not something I would call a great defensive game plan, so two of the pics were luck and/or bad decisions by RW for making a fast throw on a crossing pattern with help arriving. The other two may or may not have had the wind hold them up, but those players had very tight coverage on them so I will tip my hat to GB there.

 

[WizardHawk]

Wilson was certainly playing like crap. Did GBs D have anything to do with it?

Worst game Wilson has had in his career. He was attempting passes he normally never does and didn't seem in rhythm. But it was the pre snap penalties, bad snaps of the ball, personal fouls, and some really bad play on the line, particularly for the backup for our injured RT.

Wilson has been hot and cold several times this year. A couple of games all of our fans will remember where he was just not there in the first half. Never seen it take him until the 56th minute to get it back together though.

If he has another bad day out there in the first half I could see the game getting away from them. Don't see the defense able to overcome as much as they did against GB when it's Brady out there with that cast around him.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Collins is probably the best OLB nobody ever talks about, and I think his ability to reach and contain Wilson will be the most underrated matchup of the entire game. His coverage ability for an OLB is rather rare, and if there's a player that could really give Wilson a fit when it comes to escaping the pocket, it's going to be Collins, imo.

 

[SonnyCID]

Collins is probably the best OLB nobody ever talks about, and I think his ability to reach and contain Wilson will be the most underrated matchup of the entire game. His coverage ability for an OLB is rather rare, and if there's a player that could really give Wilson a fit when it comes to escaping the pocket, it's going to be Collins, imo.

Agreed. They use him like the Packers use Matthews and they have similar athletic ability. And Matthews was really the most impactful defensive player on the Packers last week. Collins is more raw, but how he performs in this game may be the difference for their defense.

 

[octagondd]

Collins is probably the best OLB nobody ever talks about, and I think his ability to reach and contain Wilson will be the most underrated matchup of the entire game. His coverage ability for an OLB is rather rare, and if there's a player that could really give Wilson a fit when it comes to escaping the pocket, it's going to be Collins, imo.

I agree Collins is very athletic, and will affect the passing game/containment of RW, but his issue is being soft on run defense and that is the strength of our offense. Most of the successful runs are to the Patriots middle and left. That tells me that Wilfork, Ninkovich and Collins are not getting the job done which will be a huge problem when the Beast gets the ball going that way.

 

[WizardHawk]

Basically if Lynch gets 125y+ There's little chance the Pats will win. If you let him get yards in the first half it's going to be a long day at the office for that defense. There is no way stopping Lynch isn't the center of their game plan, so what will Bevell do to counter any attempts to overload the box?

 

[RoboticDreams]

I am gonna go with, "Inflate their balls for a $1000, Alex."