By John Sarianides
The Patriots will have their hands full with Atlanta Falcons outside linebacker Vic Beasley and defensive ends Tyson Jackson, Dwight Freeney and Brooks Reed. All four players are active and disruptive off the edge. Not only can they get pressure on Tom Brady but they can also penetrate and make plays in the back field against the running game. It is imperative that they are accounted for.
One of the ways to account for them is to run at them. The Patriots have to wear them down by making them have to get off of blocks. If the Patriots can establish their off-tackle running game, that will allow them to set a physical tone and slow down the Falcons aggressive pass rush.
Let’s breakdown some different ways the Patriots can run the football off-tackle and slow down this quartet of Falcons defenders.
Inside Zone With a Fill Block: The Patriots run a lot of inside zone to the tight end side. They also like to use a backside fill block coming from the tight end side to give linebackers a misdirection look. LeGarrette Blount is a big, one cut runner who gets vertical quickly. If the Patriots get a hat on a hat on Atlanta’s undersized defensive line and get Blount going vertically, they could really set a physical tone in this game.
Inside Fill Zone Out of Shotgun: The Patriots run the inside zone play out of shotgun about as well as any team in the NFL. Their offensive line does a good job of widining their splits and getting a hat on a hat. They also get good push with their double teams as well. Dion Lewis is the Patriots best inside zone runner out of shotgun so look for offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to call this play early, especially in the red zone.
Stretch Crack (Horn Play): The Patriots run a fair amount of outside zone or stretch. One of the ways to get physical with over active defensive ends and outside linebackers is to run at them and wear them down.
Stretch crack or the Horn play is an effective way to do it because the tight end can pin the defensive end and the slot player cracks down on the outside linebacker. It enables the pulling uncovered tackle to lead up on the force player, in this case the strong safety. The Patriots like to run Blount off-tackle so there is a good chance you’ll see this play on Sunday.
Crack Toss: Both the Patriots and the Falcons run crack toss. It is a great play at any level of football because it enables the offense to seal the edge and get outside quickly.
Crack Toss is tough on defensive ends and outside linebackers who play on the line because they need to attack the crack block, fight through it and redirect. That’s not easy.
Crack block plays are effective because they force cornerbacks to have to support the run as replacement force. Corners in the NFL generally don’t like to tackle and they certainly don’t like taking on pulling lineman.
Counter F: The Patriots don’t run a lot of true misdirection plays but don’t be surprised if they did in this game.
Counter Tray and the different variations of the play are effective against smallish defenses like the Falcons that over pursue. On this play, the Patriots put James Devlin in motion and use him as the filler off of the trap block. The trap or kick out block is designed to take advantage of an aggressive defensive end like Brooks Reed that gets up the field.
Bend Play: I think the Patriots will open this game the same way they opened Super Bowl 49. They are going to come out and try to run the football.
The bend play out of the I-Formation has been a good play for the Patriots through the years. Blount runs square to the line and is a one cut runner so this play suits his running style. The bend play is designed to isolate either a defensive end or outside linebacker with a fullback. It is a match up the Patriots could win with James Devlin. Don’t be surprised if you see the Patriots run this play early.