They are passing the screen test

Quick tosses have become big plays

By Michael Smith, Globe Staff, 1/31/2002

EW ORLEANS - It has been for the Patriots this season what Ramen noodles are for a bachelor: simple, quick, reliable, and, above all, successful.

It is the screen pass.

And, like Ramen, the Patriots present it in several packages, with infinite ways of jazzing it up.

Quick screens, delayed screens, middle screens, backside screens.

Receiver screens, running back screens, and, yes, even tight end screens.

On first down, second down, and/or third down. Early in the game, late in the game, trailing, or leading.

A good percentage of Troy Brown's 101 catches have come on screens, so many of which he's turned into 15- and 20-yard gains by adding his personal recipe - a splash of stutter and a teaspoon of juke. Antowain Smith has stretched one 38 yards and extended another 41 for a touchdown. Kevin Faulk and J.R. Redmond have caught several for key first downs. Patrick Pass scored his first NFL touchdown on a screen. Marc Edwards and David Patten have shown they can whip up a little something, too, once they get the main ingredients - the ball, space, and blockers.

It seems like the Patriots have more screens than a movie theater. Why so many screens?

''Some of those screens, what they are to me are outside runs,'' offensive coordinator Charlie Weis said yesterday during his first Super Bowl XXXVI interview session. ''How much risk is it to pick it up then throw it to somebody with nobody on him? And you answer this question for me: You've got Troy Brown out there. Would you rather throw it to him out in space with nobody on him or hand it to somebody with eight guys in front of him?

''People ask why we do that. It's to get 5 yards.''

That would be considered a bit of a failure, considering what Smith has done with screens, that Pass scored a 23-yard touchdown, and the Patriots gained 35 yards on three screens to three receivers to begin the AFC divisional playoff game against the Raiders.

Like Weis said, it's a low-risk play that has the potential for high reward. You're getting the ball in the hands of athletes who then have room to run, and few are better than Brown. You're getting your quarterback in rhythm, the way a basketball player does when he makes a few layups. And, most important, you're slowing down an aggressive pass rush, which the Rams certainly have.

''You've got to take advantage of the weaknesses of teams,'' center Damien Woody said. ''One of the Rams' strengths is their speed, but it also can get them in trouble. Because they're so aggressive, we can use those type of plays to get cheap yards off them and some of those plays can break for long gains.''

''That's how you slow up the pass rush, with the screens,'' Redmond said. ''Now, instead of running up the field, they've got to look up and see what the running back's doing, what the o-line's doing.''

Deception, along with timing, is the key to executing the screen. If the call is for a running back screen, the running back and the quarterback have to perform a convincing play-action fake, and the running back has to do a good job of acting as though he's setting up to block, then sneaking out into the flat. Meanwhile, the linemen have to give the impression they are pass-blocking poorly and lure the rushers into the backfield. Once the screen is thrown, the big guys have to hustle downfield.

With wide receiver screens, the guards and sometimes the center have to get out in a hurry, and the quarterback has to get the pass off even quicker to give the reciever a chance to get downfield.

Whew. Michael Jackson would be proud of such brilliant choreography. And when everybody's in rhythm, instead of a music video, you've got something to include in a highlight video.

''A lot of it has to do with the right time to call it,'' guard Mike Compton said. ''Charlie Weis and the coaches do a great job of preparing and knowing when's the right time to call it.''

In minicamp, Weis, Bill Belichick, offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia, and offensive line assistant Jeff Davidson spent hours breaking down film and preparing the players for what looks they'd see before deciding what looks their opponents would see.

''Then it falls down upon our shoulders to execute it,'' Compton said. ''Everybody has to make the screen look like it's not a screen.''

The Rams, who've seen Marshall Faulk eat up yardage on that play, play a Tampa Bay-style of defense that is built on all-out pursuit. Defensive end Grant Wistrom, who has intercepted two passes this season, believes hustle is the best way to cover the screen.

''The best way to beat a screen pass is team pursuit,'' Wistrom said. ''A lot of teams play defense lazily, with not a lot of people flying to the ball.''

We promise the Patriots will have a spankin' new screen pass in their game plan Sunday. They've added one each week. They've practiced it every day since training camp; back then, they allocated 15 minutes a day to perfecting it. That's why you rarely see them penalized for having an ineligible receiver downfield.

No member of the offense or the offensive coaching staff seems to be able to give an estimate of how many screens are in New England's arsenal.

''I can't even count,'' Redmond said.

Compton certainly remembers the three screens the Patriots ran to begin the Oakland game.

''When you've got to run two or three screen passes back to back and they go for 20 yards or more, it can be tiring,'' he said.

And it can wear a defense out.