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Defensive snapshot

Email|Link|Comments (7) Posted by Mike Reiss, Globe Staff October 8, 2008 08:30 AM

From time to time, we will take a look at the snaps played by defensive players, as it can sometimes lead to a greater understanding of how the Patriots are employing their defenders. Here is how it broke down from the 49ers game:

CB Deltha O'Neal -- 50 of 50

OLB Adalius Thomas -- 50 of 50

S Rodney Harrison -- 50 of 50

S James Sanders -- 49 of 50

CB Ellis Hobbs -- 48 of 50

OLB Mike Vrabel -- 43 of 50

S Brandon Meriweather -- 41 of 50

DE/DT Jarvis Green -- 34 of 50

DE/DT Richard Seymour -- 27 of 50

ILB Gary Guyton -- 26 of 50

DE Ty Warren -- 23 of 50

NT Vince Wilfork -- 23 of 50

ILB Jerod Mayo -- 21 of 50

DT/NT Mike Wright -- 16 of 50

CB Jonathan Wilhite -- 15 of 50

OLB Pierre Woods -- 12 of 50

ILB Tedy Bruschi -- 11 of 50

CB Terrence Wheatley -- 10 of 50

S Randy Moss -- 1 of 50

(snaps include a Brandon Meriweather pass interference penalty, and an offensive pass interference penalty on Arnaz Battle)

ANALYSIS: This was an ambitious plan, as the Patriots substituted in this game more than any other in recent memory. Their plan seemed to be to keep inexperienced 49ers QB J.T. O'Sullivan off balance by showing him a variety of different looks. ... With such in-and-out action, it's a credit to the players and coaches that the Patriots never got caught with 12 men on the field. The operation/communication on the sideline between the players and coaches was obviously good. ... It's also a credit to the players' willingness to accept a team-based approach, as some (e.g. Tedy Bruschi) had a more limited role than usual due to the expanded use of sub packages. ... The Patriots essentially played five different packages -- the base 3-4, a 3-3-5 nickel, a 4-2-5 nickel, a 1-4-6 dime, and a 2-3-6 dime, and had assigned specific players to specific packages. ... The defense also mixed its personnel at times in those packages, again likely to confuse O'Sullivan. ... It appeared that Adalius Thomas had the communication device in his helmet, which would make sense as he played in every snap. ... Much of the second half was played in the dime, which explains why players like Jarvis Green and Gary Guyton had higher snap totals than Richard Seymour and Tedy Bruschi. ... Randy Moss' one snap came at the end of the first half when the Patriots were preparing for a possible Hail Mary, which he also did last season.

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7 comments so far...

funny seeing those numbers after getting bashed in training camp for suggesting bruschi be phased out.

Posted by Draft Jasper Brinkley October 8, 08 10:34 AM

I understand the use of a 'speed' package in this game ....

However it still only produced one sack.

We have three pro-bowl defensive lineman and two of them only played in 46 % of the snaps ? and the other played in only 54 % of the snaps ?

How about Bruschi playing in only 22 % of the snaps ? It seems his snaps are getting lower and lower

Posted by Blair from Canada October 8, 08 10:45 AM

Did not mean as coming off to harsh there. I like when the use different schemes / packages. In the end, a win is a win.

Let's see some of these different packages on Sunday night against the Chargers, who are looking for some redemption.

Can you imagine the Pats being 4-1 with a win without Brady and the crying Chargers being 2-4 ?!?!

Posted by Blair from Canada October 8, 08 10:52 AM

I've been wrong before, but it looks to me like Bruschi is DONE.

If he doesn't get much action against SD, then maybe the coaches agree.

Posted by Anon-e-mous October 8, 08 06:48 PM

It seems to me that Belicheck mixed it up so much as to disguise the true intent of getting Teddy off the field without blatantly embarrassing him. He's been a great player for us but his role right now should be as a backup. He's just too slow and his stroke has made him gun shy about vicious hitting. However, the patriots feel loyal to him for various reasons. He has played for cheap money from the very beginning and he opitimizes what it means to be a patriot. It'll probably be his last year and the coaching staff has to get the younger guys playing time. Kraft will probably offer him a job for life.

Posted by Tom R October 9, 08 07:03 AM

I think the stroke has nothing to do with it.
He seems mentally as sharp as ever, and he held his own out on the field when he first came back from the recovery.
However, this year on almost every play involving Tedy it seems like he is a step late.
You can survive with Bruschi out there even though he is no longer a "playmaker" like in his past, but if he can't get to the point of attack on time then you can't keep him out on the field.

Posted by Anon-e-mous October 9, 08 01:45 PM

I doubt that they changed their entire strategy just to keep from embarrassing Bruschi. They were in the nickel and dime for most of the game. Bruschi hasn't been a regular member of those packages since '04. They were also playing a lot of 4 man fronts (as in, four linemen, not the one-gap four man fronts with linebackers...). That leaves fewer linebackers to cover more ground. Having Guyton and Adalius in that package is useful because of their exceptional speed.

Sure, Bruschi doesn't have the legs he once did (actually, he was never very fast -- look back at when he played OLB pre-2002). But he's not done just yet.

Posted by MarkZ October 9, 08 04:08 PM

DO NOT HIT THE SUBMIT BUTTON MORE THAN ONCE!

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Mike Reiss, Christopher L. Gasper and the rest of the Globe team provide regular updates –and a behind-the-scenes look– on the daily happenings of the Patriots.

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