The
Stillers’ “Fact-Finding Mission”: Just What Did It Uncover?
Someone (Phil Simms I believe) described this Stillers trip
to New England as a “fact-finding mission.” Which is a nice way of saying
“don’t expect to win the game, but you can still get something out of the
experience.”
That’s pretty much dead on target. The fact is, a Stiller
win would have been nice for pride and reputation, but little more. It wouldn’t
have changed their playoff position, and besides, all you’d be hearing now is
“yeah, but let’s see them beat the Pats in the playoffs.”
If – and admittedly this is a pretty big if – the Stillers
get another shot at New England come January, they should look back at this
game like the Monday Nighter in Indianapolis a couple years ago. I’d argue that
this loss is what allowed them to win the playoff rematch – that without it,
the Stillers don’t go on to the Super Bowl that year.
The Stillers were dominated that night, beaten even worse
than they were last Sunday. But still they managed to win the rematch.
Here’s partly why: the losing team always learns more from a
game than the winners. Thus the Stillers changed the absolute dumb ass approach they’d taken in
dealing with both the Colts and their Noise Dome (duh – silent count, anyone?).
The result was better preparation, and a game plan that took Indy by surprise,
particularly at the beginning.
Sunday’s game reminded me a lot of the Hatton-Mayweather
fight I saw the night before. The Stillers hung gamely with New England for a
half, then boom! – got caught across
the jaw with a trick taken from their own playbook. They staggered for a while
before finally going down for the count.
One thing though: I don’t think the Stillers got physically
overmatched as much as they were outsmarted. Or should I say, they out-dumbed
the competition, with a series of boneheaded play calls destined for failure.
That’s not just on Arians, everybody’s favorite current
whipping boy. It’s on LeBeau too – and the problem isn’t just about individual plays,
it’s about an entire approach and
philosophy.
The Patriots approach offense unlike any other team in
football – for one thing, they care nothing about “balanced offense” -- meaning
you have to play defense against them differently. That’s so obvious it’s
almost laughable, but still I see teams running the same basic schemes against
them.
The bomb to Moss left me scratching my head. The Patriots
don’t want to be bothered with plunges, they want to break your will with deep quick-strike
touchdowns. So why even bother respecting their play fakes?
Yet there was Anthony Smith, biting on both the early bomb
and the trick-toss. Shades of Deion Branch – do the Stillers ever learn?
Here’s something the Stillers can do against New England
that would increase their chances of winning by a good 50 percent: always, and
I mean always, assign one DB to deep coverage. No matter what’s going on behind
the line of scrimmage – whether the QB’s handing off, or balls are flying back
and forth – you stay deep and guard against the bomb. In fact you become a
receiver, and you make no exceptions.
Yeah, I know it’s a sacrifice, but it’s pretty much how the
Detroit Pistons handled things back in the day. Remember the Jordan Rules? The
Stillers need their own set for Randy Moss.
So what if Maroney breaks off 5 yards? That will only piss
off the Patriots, who hate taking more than 2 minutes to score. Belichick is
famous for that “taking away what you do best” thing. I suggest the Stillers
return the favor.
Moss
Rule #1: Ignore all play fakes and maintain downfield coverage at all costs.
Now let’s take a glance at New England’s personnel groupings
from Sunday:
4 WR/1 RB -- 23 of 57 snaps
3 WR/1 TE/1 RB -- 22 of 57
1 WR/2 TE/1 FB/1 RB -- 6 of 57
2 WR/2 TE/1 RB -- 5 of 57
3 TE/1 FB/1 RB -- 1 of 57
Hardly what you’d call power football now, is it? Something
to consider in case of a rematch.
If this fact-finding mission showed anything, it’s that New
England doesn’t want to go mano-a-mano
with the Stillers – they’d prefer to fool them and go deep over the top. That’s
probably the most valuable lesson the Stillers can take from this.
So much for the defense. On the other side, maybe Arians will
finally learn this: you don’t have the offensive line you used to. Mahan is no
Hartings, and Simmons is still Simmons. Deep passes off fake reverses aren’t
going to cut it when your right tackle is getting eaten alive. You simply don’t
have the time for the slow-developing stuff.
Let me go back to my own pre-game commentary now:
To
those of you worrying over what Smith said – relax – the Patsies have been in a
self-righteous lather the last few months anyway. They’re steaming under their
blue collars, just waiting to spew out all kinds of good stuff after Sunday’s
game.
Let’s
just hope the Stillers don’t give them that chance. But if they do, remember –
you can store your anger and use it for a rematch.
I hated to be such a pessimist, but I didn’t have a good
feeling going into the game Sunday. I wasn’t sure the Stillers would be
mentally prepared to step up, having been spoiled by the likes of Choker Carson
Palmer and other assorted marshmallow competition. At least now they’ll know
what to expect – and won’t be so naïve in case of a rematch.
Nor did I think the Stillers would match the Pats’ intensity
coming out (they can partly thank their own mouths for that). Here’s a
post-game summary that says it all:
NT Vince Wilfork
(on the
difference between the win and last Monday's win in Baltimore)
"It might sound funny but I think we played with more emotion tonight. I
think we really did. I could see guys running to the football, guys having fun
on the field and I think [Richard] Seymour or [Mike] Vrabel, one of them turned
to me and he was like ‘you know the problem is [when] we [aren't] having fun’.
We always play good when we’re having fun. I think last week we lacked that.
Today we didn’t lack it."
The Patriots are a weird bunch. As I predicted, they’d be
running their mouths if they won –
after bragging all week about how they don’t tolerate such behavior in their
own locker room. (Funny thing – the Patriots are famous for talking trash about
not talking trash.)
By the way, was it
just me, or did the sight of Brady jawing at Smith in the end zone look just a
little… surreal? Mr. All World barking at Mr. Nobody. Of course, I did notice
Tommy take off pretty quickly after Harrison stepped in. Better to go at it
with a little safety than a linebacker I guess.
Since when did Randy Moss get to be all holier-than-thou
about punk behavior? Yet there he was in the post-game, ripping both the
Stillers and the Ravens. Likewise, I
don’t think I’ve ever heard a head coach trash a player publicly like Belichick
did: " We’ve played against a lot
better safeties than him, I’ll tell you."
Remember, these were the same guys mocking Smith for being a
nobody before the game. Now they can’t stop talking about that nobody. Now that
they’ve won, that nobody matters.
See what I mean?
Kind of answers the question of why a team so good had to
resort to cheating. The Patriots are like the prom queen with the anorexia
problem: a little psychotic, and insecure no matter how many times you tell her
how pretty she is.
Just another fact to keep in mind should the Stillers get
another shot at the Patsies. At least then they’d have some bulletin-board
inspiration of their own. Hope you’re getting all these quotes down, Mike.
In the meantime, it’s up to the Stillers to forget this one
quickly. A win over Jacksonville can restore some pride, as would beating the
Ravens on their own turf.
Keep your heads up and your mouths shut. Forget getting any
more media respect, but who needs that anyway? Play with bad intentions and
sneak up on people. In other words, have fun, just like you did a couple of
years ago.
About the only funny thing to happen up in Foxborough last
Sunday:
Plane
games
Link|Comments
(19) By Mike Reiss, Globe Staff December 9, 07 02:19 PM
A
plane is flying around Gillette Stadium with a not-so subtle message directed
at the Patriots.
The
plane has a banner attached to it that reads "Bonds -- 756* Belichick -- 3
Super Bowl wins*. It continues to circle the stadium.