Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots January 29, 2018 - Studying Schwartz

Episode Date: January 29, 2018

Mark Schofield doubles down on scheme for the Monday of Super Bowl week, breaking down some themes from Jim Schwartz's defense.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Good evening and welcome on into a bonus episode of Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield here with you for Monday night, January 29th. That's right, doubling down on episodes. I figured why make you guys wait, dropped an episode this morning, deciphering Doug, talking about Doug Peterson and his offensive schemes. I figured, let's go. Let's roll. Studying Schwartz now. We're going to talk about

defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz and his defensive schemes. We've talked about some of it. That wide nine alignment. We'll get into more of that now. Talk about the strengths and weaknesses of that defensive alignment. We're going to talk some numbers, some good and some bad, some of the things that the Patriots might consider exploited in this defense.

We'll talk some pressure schemes and some other stuff about this Eagles defense. Reminder, check me out on Twitter. You can find me there at Mark Schofield. Check out LockedOnPatriots.com, putting stuff up there all week long. Look, when your team's in the Super Bowl, you gotta get ready for it, right? So I'm going to do everything I can, leave it all out on the field this week, probably end up with a lost voice and probably some insomnia by the end. But if it gets you guys ready for the Super Bowl, that's what I'm here to do. Speaking of getting ready for the Super Bowl, sure,

looks like Tom Brady's ready for the Super Bowl today. Patriots had their send-off rally over at Gillette Stadium, and Mr. Brady dropping the proverbial mic with a little Patriots out at the end of that. Also dropped a mic on WEI, but you can go elsewhere if you want to dive into that some more. But the Patriots en route to Minneapolis for the Senior Bowl. Not the Senior Bowl, the Super Bowl, right? Getting my events mixed up here. But the Patriots are in route right now as I'm recording to the side of the Super Bowl where they're going to face off against Jim Schwartz and a very, very talented defense that the Philadelphia Eagles will put out there this week. And let's get into the Eagles and their defense.

First, starting with some numbers. And this is a very good group that Schwartz put together. They're the number two ranked defense in terms of DVOA for 2017. And when you look at them at a glance, it's hard to find a weakness. They're the seventh best pass defense in DVOA, third best against the run. They were fourth best in the league in terms of yardage allowed per game, allowing just 306.5 yards per game. They were the fourth best scoring defense this year, giving up just an average of 18.4 points per game. It's hard to find a weakness against these guys.

And if you want to break it down even further, now, football outsiders, when they break this down, there's a bit of a subjective component to it. But they were the seventh best defense, seventh best defense against the team's number one wide receiver. They were the best defense in the league against the team's number two wide receiver. So Brandon Cooks, Chris Hogan,

they might face a tough time on Sunday night. But that doesn't mean that there aren't some ways you can attack this defense. And we'll look into those numbers a little bit later in the show. But now, we're going to talk about the Y9 alignment some more. And I broke it down a little bit in the Sunday night show talking about some of the terminology that we'll expect to hear discussed a lot this week, such as wide nine alignment, slot fade, switch concepts, run pass options, all those things. But let's get into the wide nine alignment more.

And this is where some of my background, some of my work over at Inside the Pylon comes into play. Because Jim Schwartz is a name that I'm extremely familiar with. Go back to 2014. When Inside the Pylon was born, it was born as a Patriots website. And each week before each Patriots game, I would write a bunch of pieces about their upcoming opponent, about their upcoming defense.

The one about the defense was called Know Your Enemy, where I'd break down every single player on the defensive side of the ball for the Patriots' upcoming opponent. Then I would write another piece called This Week in Passing, and then a third piece, This Week in Running, breaking down how the Patriots might be able to run the ball and or throw the ball against their upcoming opponent. So when I get ready to do this show, when I get ready to write the piece that's up over at LockedOnPatriots.com right now, I went back to those pieces to revisit my history of Jim Schwartz.

And let's start with the wide nine alignment, which again, edge defenders lined up well outside the offensive tackles and talk about how that can stop the run. And as you might expect, the first thing it can really do is stop the outside running game. Because the alignment of those defenders allows them the ability to quickly set the edge against any outside run play because remember the wide nine alignment it's designed for those edge defenders to use

speed to get into the backfield and it works the same way against the pass I mean excuse me against the run they can get off the line, use their speed to get into the backfield, and they should be a couple of yards into the backfield before any runs to the edge really get there. So that gives them an advantage. They can sort of slow down those edge running plays, force the back to either try and bounce it deep outside of them, retreating and giving up yardage in the process, or forcing back to either try and bounce it deep outside of them, retreating and giving up yardage in the process, or forcing them to cut inside. Now, the wide nine alignment, it does create the natural bubble.

And what I mean by that is, you know, look at the piece on LockedOnPatriots.com right now. You will see with the width of those defenders and then the guys on the inside, it creates sort of a natural hole off tackle. And so when you look to run the football, if you're running, say, outside zone, stretch zone, you might look to sort of make that bang read where you kind of keep it off tackle. Because the wide nine should work to force things back to the inside. It then relies on the linebackers to flow and scrape

and make their run fits to close down those holes. Which is why when the Patriots look to run the ball, if they try to attack it, even outside, and then the running back sort of cut inside, make that ban read and try to keep it off tackle, or if they try to just go off tackle, it's incumbent upon them, the guys inside, Joe Tooney, David Andrews, Shaq Mason, to get to that second level if they can and prevent those linebackers from flowing and scraping and making their run fits.

That's how you've got to be successful running the football against that wide nine alignment. You've got to get to the inside of those guys because it's tough to run outside against that look. But there is a way that you can probably do that. Obviously, you can use end-of-rounds, jets, jet sweeps, things like that because those guys should have the ability, the quickness to get to the edge around those. Don't be surprised to see Danny Amendola with a look like that. Don't be surprised to see Brandon Cooks with a look or two like that. But the other way you can sort of get outside, and it's a little

counterintuitive, but using the cutback lanes. And what I mean by that is this. With those wide nine alignments, it creates some natural holes on the backside. So, running back Dion Lewis, for example, starts running to the right. That wide nine alignment, use it against that backside defender. Just ride him well out to the outside, and then it creates space on the cutback lane for the running back. So, Lewis could start to the right, see that cutback lane open up. Back on the left side, Nate Solder's just walling off that defender whether it's Vinny Curry over there or Chris Lon, whomever it is.

And then Lewis has that cutback lane. So that's something to watch for as this game unfolds on Sunday night when the Patriots look to run the ball. Can they use that cutback line? Can they do that?

Something to watch. Now, again, with the pass game, something to watch in the pass game when the Patriots throw the football. Obviously, you're worried about the outside pressure. To revisit, the wide nine alignment, it forces some one-on-one situations across the defensive front. Because by putting those tackles,

those defensive ends, excuse me, out so wide, you can't rely on help from the guards. Yeah, you can use running backs, you can use tight ends to chip, but a lot of times those tackles are going to be on islands. But the good thing about Brady is this. The wide nine sort of helps to naturally contain a quarterback in the pocket. Brady's not looking to break many pockets.

He's not looking to escape to the right or to the left of many pockets. What he wants to do is climb those, right? We've seen that before with Brady. He'll slide around a little bit but he's much more likely to climb a pocket and throw than he is to escape a pocket to the right or to the left and throw

and so this wide nine alignment provided the Patriots can get it blocked up that's going to sort of work towards Brady's strength in my opinion that's going to sort of work towards Brady's strength, in my opinion. It's going to allow him to do the things he likes to do, to climb the pocket, to attack towards the line of scrimmage rather than laterally. So that's one thing.

But the concern that I sort of have is, you know, in looking back in some of my previous work the wide nine alignment putting those tackles on an island it also can create some matchups inside especially when the Eagles use that sort of speed rush package and third in lawn obvious passing downs where they can kick Brandon Graham inside, where they can kick a Vinnie Curry inside. They can do some things where they slide those guys down into the interior, and then you're getting them matched up against Joe Thune, Shaq Mason, David Andrews.

Sometimes they can even slide Fletcher clocks. He usually aligns as a three technique defensive tackle over the guards. In the piece over at LockedOnPatriots.com right now, there's an example where he is head up on the center. You know, and that's a tough, you know, personnel package and defensive alignment to get blocked up. But if they do it on the inside, if they're able to contain those sort of situations,

even when they kick a Brandon Graham inside, Brady should have opportunities to step up into the pocket because that wide nine alignment will take those defenders out and around him. Something to watch when the Patriots throw the ball. Next, we're going to talk about some pressure schemes that Jim Schwartz likes to use, some coverage stuff. We're going to talk about the importance of Malcolm Jenkins and then dive back into the numbers to talk about some things

that should make Patriots fans a little bit happier. That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield and Locked on Patriots. Now let's talk about Jim Schwartz's pressure schemes. And Schwartz at the outset not a big blitzer. He relies on the front four guys, that wide nine alignment, some twists and stunts up front to try to get pressure. Last year he blitzed around 27% of Philadelphia's defensive snaps. Numbers were about the same this year,

but they were able to get more pressure on opposing passers this year because they were more successful when they did blitz, as well as the fact that they have much more talent up front this year. Obviously, the addition of Chris Lawn plays a big role in that. So they won't blitz a lot, but there are two blitz looks that I wrote about over at LockdownPatriots.com this week, the cross dog as well as the overload blitz a lot. But there are two blitz looks that I wrote about over at LockedOnPatriots.com this week. The cross dog as well as the overload blitz that the Patriots need to be ready for come Sunday night. And the first one I want to talk about is that overload blitz.

And the reason why I want to talk about it is this comes from the divisional round game against the Atlanta Falcons. And they pulled out this look against an empty formation. And I'll say at the outset that as a Patriots fan it kind of terrifies me. Falcons go empty. Three receivers to the right, two to the left. Matt Ryan alone in the shotgun.

Eagles go 4-2-5. Four down linemen, two linebackers, five defensive backs. And as you can see, on the right side of the offense, so the left side of the defense, they put Brandon Graham, fast edge rusher, on the right shoulder of the defensive tackle. Then Curry goes outside of him.

So he's well outside the right tackle and just inside the tight end who's in a tight split from the right tackle. Then there's a third defender outside, and that's Nigel Bradham, who's lined up basically head up maybe slightly outside the tight end. So now you've got three defenders to the right edge of the offense. But they're not done because Michael Kendricks, the other linebacker, he lines up there as well outside the tight end. That's four guys all with outside alignment of the right tackle. Then let's look back here because in that B gap between the right tackle and the right guard,

nobody. Nobody over the right guard. Nobody in the A gap between the center and the right guard. Nobody over the center. Nobody in the A gap between the left guard and the center. Then they go wide on the other side. You have Cox, who's on the outside left shoulder of the left guard in that B gap, and then Chris Lawn in the wide nine alignment well outside the left tackle. So there's basically nobody lined up on the defensive side of the ball between the left guard and the right tackle. Nobody. That's wide open. All the overload is to the right side of the offense with four guys across from two guys.

So you have four defenders, two linebackers, two edge rusher types across from a tight end and a right tackle. Again, backfield's empty. And then to the backside, you've got two guys also using outside sort of technique with a wide nine and then a guy in the B gap. Now, even though they have six guys down on the line, they only send five. Kendricks is the guy who blitzes,

but Bradham drops into coverage. But the the guy who blitzes But Bradham drops into coverage But the alignment And the blitz work to create One on one matchups all over the place And what it means is because of the way This comes together The center he has to come All the way out

And try to block Brandon Graham, who's outside the right tackle. Now, that's what he expects to happen But the right tackle And the right guard They handle the two guys Graham And Curry But then Kendricks comes inside

And he gets a full head of steam right towards the center And just blasts him Into the backfield And almost into the lap of Matt Ryan. So that's what's happening to the right side of Ryan, what he can see. What he can't see is on the backside is that you've got, again, two other talented guys.

You've got Cox against the left guard, Chris Lon against the left tackle. Now they've got one-on-one matchups too. Cox is able to beat his guy to the inside. Now, Ryan has to bail. And he has to try to outrun Lawn because while Lawn gets cut at the initial part of the play, once Ryan looks to bail the pocket, Lawn has worked off of that and is now chasing him down. Ryan's running for of that and is now chasing him down.

Ryan's running for his life, runs towards the sideline. The left sideline attempts a late throw. He's got somebody open after all this. But since he's running to the left and being chased and running for his life, he sort of lofts it, and Jalen Mills tips it away. Could have intercepted. just an overload pressure scheme that really sort of got some quick pressure on Matt Ryan almost forced an interception

then of course there's the cross dog that's what Schwartz prefers he prefers to bring sort of inside pressure and the phrase inside pressure again that should get your ears up because that's sort of the playbook to beat Brady, right? And in the piece, breaking down Jim Schwartz,

there's an example of that that forces a quick throw from Case Keenum, forces him to get the ball out of his hands on a third and sixth situation quicker than he wants to. Then you rely on the guys in the secondary to make tackles. They do that. On comes the punt unit. So that cross-dog blitz, that's where you've got both linebackers. On this example, it's Bradham.

It's Kendricks, again, bringing quick pressure. Forces the quick throw. Vikings have to punt. Those are two of the pressure schemes we're going to see from the Philadelphia Eagles and Super Bowl 52 ahead a look at some coverages

a look at Malcolm Jenkins for a minute and a look back at numbers because there's a glimmer of hope in there if you're a Patriots fan that's ahead on Locked on Patriots let's close this out

with a couple of quick thoughts first coverage wise last week we brought out those Patriots. Let's close this out with a couple of quick thoughts. First, coverage-wise. Last week, we brought out those cover one, cover three beaters, right? Particularly cover three beaters. That's what the Jacksonville Jaguars like to run coverage-wise. Schwartz is another cover three guy. He'll mix in some cover one as well. And talking with Michael Kist over at Locked On Eagles, he'll bring in some cover zero, man coverage across the board. Look for that in the red zone. Might combine that with some blitz looks

in the red zone. When they get into third and long situations, they like to do maybe quarter, quarter, half at times. Sometimes called cover six. That's where you get a cover two look to one side of the field, cover four to the back side of the field. they're primarily a cover one cover three team and something of note is this they're not that sort of seattle type cover three where it looks

like a press coverage of outside from the corners where it's that press cover three they're more of a you'll see more of a standard sort of cover three look where those guys are in off-coverage alignments, maybe catch man alignments, five to eight yards off the line of scrimmage at times. You might want to take advantage of that if you're Tom Brady, if you're Brandon Cooks, if you're Chris Hogan. You get your hitch routes in there, you get your smoke routes in there.

Get the ball out quickly. One, negates that pass rush, negates that wide non-alignment, all the stuff we've been talking about. And it allows you to get the ball into Cook's hands or get the ball into Hogan's hands with perhaps a chance to, you know, one move and go type situation. So that's something to watch. Also, it brings back into play our good old friend the Haas concept, right?

You get that hitch route outside against an off-coverage defender, Robert Gronkowski, provided he can go. Get him up the seam. Maybe you have a situation where that's a great way to attack cover three with off-coverage. That's something to watch when the Patriots

have the football in Super Bowl 52. Malcolm Jenkins. No stranger to the New England Patriots. have the football in Super Bowl 52. Malcolm Jenkins, no stranger to the New England Patriots. Back in 2015, had a 99-yard interception return for a touchdown. When the Patriots were upset

35-28 by the Philadelphia Eagles. Schwartz likes to use him all over the field. When they go 4-2-5 in passing situations, he comes down as a linebacker. Other times, they'll drop him deep. He's in the middle of the field safety. They'll move him all over the place. So one of the things you've got to spot

if you're Tom Brady, where's number 27? Where is he on the field right now? Because he's a versatile safety. Schwartz likes to move him all over the field. They'll put him on the edge in some of these blitz looks. The cross dog example, you see him down in press over the tight end.

So that'll move him around. But one thing of note in studying this defense, in studying Jenkins, because of his versatility, he likes to think he's a great run defender. And he's a very good run defender, don't get me wrong. But he's sometimes aggressive. Likes to explode downfield quickly, even from that middle field safety spot.

So don't be surprised if at some point during Super Bowl 52, Patriots have a play called up, working off of play action, hoping that he's in the middle of the field and trying to take that deep shot. Try to get him to sink in on a couple of steps, try to sneak maybe Brandon Cooks, maybe Phillip Dorsett over the top.

Try to get a cheap one over the top. So those are some other things I wanted to note. Before we close this out, return into the numbers for a second. Rich Hill, editor of Pat's Pulpit, he's out in Minnesota for Super Bowl 52. He has a great piece over at Pat's Pulpit that came out

talking about how the Patriots have done against Jim Schwartz defenses. And he's got a tweet in here. Patriots offense versus Jim Schwartz defenses as head coach or defensive coordinator. Go back to 2003. The Patriots hanged 38 on a Tennessee defense, with Schwartz as its defensive coordinator.

2003 playoffs, those two teams meet again. Patriots put 17 on the Tennessee Titans. 2006, Patriots-Titans again. Patriots put up 40 points. 2010, Patriots against the Detroit Lions. They put 45 points on the board. 2014, last time Patriots have faced a Jim Schwartz coach defense. They hunt 37 on the Buffalo Bills.

So they've had some success against Jim Schwartz before. And if there's one last sort of glimmer of hope, if you're a Patriots fan, remember at the beginning I talked about their success against number one and number two wide receivers in terms of DVOA at Football Outsiders again in case you missed that part maybe you're eating some lunch, eating some dinner whenever you're listening to this

we all got to multitask in this world, I get it against number one receivers, Eagles, 7th best in the league against number two wide receivers, Eagles, best in the league. Against number two wide receivers, Eagles, best in the league. Again, there's a subjective component to that, but still, the numbers are impressive. Against running backs as receivers this year, Eagles, only 10th best. Against tight ends, Eagles, only 17th best. And against other wide receivers, wide receiver three types, like say a Danny Amendola, Eagles, 22nd in the league in DVOA against those guys.

And that's kind of similar to last week in the AFC Championship game because the Jacksonville Jaguars, best in the league against number one wide receivers. Eighth best in the league against number two wide receivers. Jalen Ramsey, A.J. Bouye, great corners, right? And what did we say sort of leading up into that game? That the running backs, Deion Lewis, James White, Rob Gronkowski, Danny Amendola,

those were the guys that were probably going to lead the Patriots to a victory. And again, numbers sort of remarkably similar. Against other wide receivers, Jaguars ranked 11th. Again, Eagles ranked 22nd. Against tight ends, Jaguars ranked 20th. Eagles, 17th. And against running backs, Jaguars ranked 20th, Eagles 17th. And against the running backs, Jaguars ranked 15th in DVOA against running backs and receivers. Again, the Eagles ranked 10th.

So they're good on the outside, but you can make your hay against those guys using your wide receiver three types, say Danny Amendola, your tight end Rob Gronkowski, provided he can go, and Deion Lewis and James White. It's been interesting to see how this playoff run has unfolded. It seems like there's some similarity in the ability for the Patriots to sort of recycle game plans from week to week. It seems like that might be something on the table again this week as we get ready for Super Bowl LII.

Hope you enjoyed this little bonus episode. Figured, again, why make you guys wait, right? Let's just keep pumping out the content, keep getting ourselves geared up for Super Bowl 52. I'll be back for Tuesday's show. I'm going to take a look at some more ways to attack this defense, maybe have a guest. I don't know.

This was going to be my Tuesday show, but I got too excited, so I figured let's let it fly. But I'll come up with something. I always do. Until then, keep it locked right here to me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots.