The Patriots will look to make a return trip to the Super Bowl but in order to do it, they will need to beat the Denver Broncos in Denver. Much easier said than done.
Here is this week’s offensive and defensive game plan.
Offense
Set protections to the left: The Patriots have to help Will Campbell and Jared Wilson. Look for them to slide to that side, set the back to that side and use the tight ends to either stay in and block or chip release. Making the necessary adjustments will in pass protection will be key for the Patriots today.
Run inside out of 21, 22 and 11 personnel: The Broncos have struggled to stop the run inside the tackles. The Patriots need to emphasize A gap and B gap runs. Power, Blast, Boss and inside zone are all runs that will be there for the Patriots to exploit.
Diagrams 1 & 2: Jab Power and Weakside Blast
3-Step, Quick 5-Step passing game: If the Patriots want to beat the Broncos vaunted pass rush, they need to get the ball out quick. The three step and quick five step passing game will be pivotal today. The Broncos secondary is vulnerable vertically, especially cornerback Riley Moss.
Diagrams 3 & 4: Examples of a three and five step concept
6 and 7 man protections/play-action: The Patriots will need to utilize more six and seven man protections to neutralize the Broncos vaunted pass rush. One of the best ways to do it is to run more play-action. If the Patriots can establish their ground game, then they can throw off play-action, do more with max protection and slow down the Broncos pass rush by using action.
Diagrams 5-9: Variations of play-action that the Patriots could utilize today.
Variety of screens and draws: The Patriots have to figure out a way to slow down the Broncos and one of the best ways to do it is by running screens and draws, especially on unexpected downs. 1st Down is an ideal down for draws and short and medium downs are ideal for screens.
Diagrams 10, 11 and 12:
Defense
80% Man Coverage: The Patriots have played mostly man this season and that trend will continue this week as the plan is to attack Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham and get after him. The Patriots secondary has the athletes to match up on the back end.
Vary mug and off ball pressures: The Patriots need to give Stidham mug looks, bail, blitz and bring off ball pressure. The more than can change their second level alignments, the more they can create confusion and force him to hold the football.
Diagrams 13, 14 and 15: Variations of mug bluffs, mug pressure and off ball pressure
Disguise coverages: Disguising pressure today will be key today if the Patriots want to bait Stidham into a couple of turnovers. Stidham hasn’t played in over 700 days. This is where that inexperience could be a problem. Reading coverages is tough when you don’t play and the Patriots need to cloud those reads by showing one look pre-snap and a different look post-snap. Robber coverages could be a fixture for the Patriots today.
Diagram 16: Cover 1 Robber
30 and 40 front pressures: The Patriots need to mix up fronts and pressures. Don’t just sit in one or two fronts. Mix up the fronts, confuse the protection plan of the Broncos and more importantly, confuse Stidham.
Diagrams 17 & 18: Pressure from 40 and 30 fronts
Blend in zone for sim pressure: 20% of the coverage plan should be zone based and should involve sim pressure to again confuse Stidham and possibly generate turnovers.
Diagram 19: Odd front sim pressure