Superbowl XLII - PREVIEW

February 3rd, 2008 5:35 am
by Pro Set

New York Giants vs New England Patriots - Superbowl XLII

Despite the substandard play of Tom Brady in the AFC Championship Game, the Patriots remain clear favourites. The key to the game, when New England has the ball, is whether New York changes its tactics from the Week 17 contest.

In Week 17, the Giants attacked the patriots, and put pressure on Brady. He looked a little unsettled, and generally the tactics of the Giants met with widespread approval. But the seminal moment of Week 17 was the Brady to Moss TD pass when Moss was left single-covered. The playoff opponents that have faced New England clearly determined not to get beaten deep. This policy looked futile as Brady picked Jacksonville apart in the AFC Divisional Playoff. But JAX stuck form to the game plan, and never let the Patriots strike quickly.

San Diego followed this lead, despite the fact that JAX could not force the turnovers. Luck, however, was with SD as Brady was 5% off his game, and with 7 or 8 men in coverage, SD had the men there to swallow three INTs.

So, does New York attack or play coverage? The excellent weather in Arizona tends to suggest that Brady will be comfortable picking apart deep zones. But I think that the Giants must rush four and trust them to deliver. The Patriots offensive line has to have an off day eventually. Since New York has no one who can cover Moss in single coverage, it would be a massive gamble to bring excess rushers on a consistent basis.

For the Giants offense, Eli Manning needs to have his hot streak continued. The accuracy on his throws, the lack of one bounce receptions, and the reliability of Plaxico Burress have to arrive in Arizona. It is obviously well known that Eli Manning has not fared well in his career against the blitz. New England will be tempted to bring relentless pressure. This will test Asante Samuel, who is surely the man to cover Plax when the blitz arrives. He cannot fare worse than Al Harris, who had a nationally televised disaster that will surely be the epitaph to an overrated career.

The Patriots will win, and this author congratulates New England in advance on a perfect season.

Posted in Plaxico Burress, Bill Belichick, NFL Coaches, Asante Samuel, Tom Coughlin, Superbowl XLII, Superbowl, Randy Moss, Tom Brady, Analysis, Game, NFL Franchises/Teams, NFL Players, New England Patriots, NY Giants, NFL | No Comments »

Week 12 Analysis: Philadelphia @ New England

November 26th, 2007 1:24 am
by Big Dog

God bless Andy Reid and the Philadelphia Eagles. I’ve written previously about how watching the New England Patriots just dominate football is boring. This week the Eagles demonstrated that New England aren’t untouchable.

The Eagles came to play with a clear plan, and for the most part were able to execute it well even though QB Donovan McNabb was out with an ankle injury and backup QB A.J. Feeley(27-42, 345 yards, 3 TDs, 3 INTs) was managing the game. Feeley did a magnificent job and even though the Eagles didn’t come away with the win, due mainly to a pair of interceptions from Feeley, it’s important to remember that for most of the game Feeley had better stats than New England QB Tom Brady 34-54, 380 yards, TD).

For the Eagles’ offense it was clear from early in the game that New England weren’t going to give any room deep or on the outside. This opened up the inside pass every time. In fact, this was a feature topic of conversation for John Madden and Al Michaels mostly because it was absolutely true for the whole of the game. Even when Philadelphia took the lead and New England’s defense was clearly struggling to contain them, the inside pass was always there for Feeley. In addition, Eagles RB Brian Westbrook had his typically solid game, making good, strong runs and critical receptions.

On defense, the Eagles were able to contain Patriots WR Randy Moss(5 receptions for 43 yards) and basically eliminate his impact on the game. This did open the game up for WR Wes Welker who managed an impressive 13 receptions for 149 yards. In truth, if it hadn’t been for Welker’s speed and effective route running, New England wouldn’t have been in this game at all.

The most frustrating aspect of the game for the Eagles were Feeley’s interceptions. The first came on his second play of the game and was returned by CB Asante Samuel for a TD. The Eagles dealt with that setback promptly, with a fantastic drive for their own TD. The second interception came in the late stages of the fourth quarter, as Philadelphia was 3 points down and trying to score for the win. Feeley (against all the experience and success of the game to this point) attempted the long throw to the outside corner of the endzone and once again Samuel took the pick. In the resulting drive, New England ate a lot of the clock and forced Philadelphia to burn their final timeout.

The Eagles got the ball back with 20 seconds on the clock, needing to make about 40 yards to be within FG distance. Once again, Feeley went for the outside throw, clearly trying to preserve time and ignoring the old football adage “take what they give you”. This time Patriots’ S James Sanders came away with the ball and that was the game.

This was one of the genuinely exciting Patriots games of the season and among other things provided an excellent demonstration of why Andy Reid is considered to be one of the best coaches in the league today. The Eagles came so very close to a truly remarkable upset win today, and in so doing, they have provided a blueprint for taking on New England that is bound to haunt the Patriots through the rest of the season.

Posted in John Madden, Andy Reid, NFL Coaches, Brian Westbrook, Al Michaels, Asante Samuel, James Sanders, Wes Welker, A.J. Feeley, Randy Moss, Tom Brady, NFL on television, Analysis, Game, NFL on NBC, NFL Franchises/Teams, New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles, NFL Players, NFL | No Comments »

NFL Week 4 Featured Preview: New England Patriots at Cincinnati Bengals

October 1st, 2007 5:07 am
by Pro Set

New England (3-0) @ Cincinnati (1-2) Monday Night Football 8:30pm ET on ESPN

Let’s hope that the Cincinnati defense is ready for some football as the Bengals host their second MNF fixture of the season. New England comes to town undefeated and with more weaponry than most third world armies.

There is really only one issue of note regarding this fixture: how the Bengals will attempt to stop the Patriots. The Bengals, remember, gave up 56 points to the Cleveland Browns in Week 2 at Cleveland.

Cincinnati

When the Bengals have the ball, they need to keep it for as long as possible, whilst scoring points. Whilst this sounds counter-intuitive, the simple fact is that the CIN defense is not good enough to stop the Patriots. So the CIN offense must stop the NE offense from even entering the arena as well as scoring. The Bengals running game must be good enough to prevent the NE defense from launching a full scale assault on CIN QB Carson Palmer. Expect the Patriots to put real pressure on early downs in an effort to set up favourable pass rush situations.

In the aerial game, this is a massive chance for Carson Palmer to demonstrate that he is truly an elite NFL QB. I think that he is close, but not quite there yet. Saints QB Drew Brees had a shocker under pressure last week on the MNF stage. Palmer will need to be decisive in his pre-snap reads. I think that he needs to establish his own game with some lasers early on slants and square in routes. Only then can he exploit the hawkish-ness of CB Asante Samuel and others by hitting the NE secondary on double moves. It’s time for WR Chad Johnson to let his football skills do the talking on national television. He has no excuses.

New England

The issue for NE is how patient the team ought to be. I would like to see the Patriots take over the game early and bury the Bengals. This will require good performances on the ground and in the air. RB Laurence Maroney should have a good night against a team that tackles poorly, with too great an emphasis on stripping the ball. Whilst the returns can be spectacular, such as the four fumbles recovered in Week 1 hosting BAL, it means that the Bengals have no margin for error. The Patriots should be able to construct a dominant running game with good second level blocking. Maroney has been serviceable without showing the level of play required to beat playoff defenses. When you play for the Patriots, it will often be in conditions not suitable for passing. Opponents need to respect the NE rushing attack. If NE can’t run on the Bengals, it might indicate the first real weakness in the 2007 Patriots.

Even if the Bengals can stop the NE running game, the porous CIN secondary will struggle against WR Randy Moss. Let’s not waste space by discussing how to cover Moss. It cannot be done for 60 minutes if Moss is up for the game. Prevention is better than cure. The front four of the Bengals simply has to find a way to get quick and multifaceted pressure on QB Tom Brady. So, even if CIN DE Justin Smith has the kind of performance that a former top-ten overall pick might be expected to have, Brady will step up into the pocket and find the target. It will need to be a combination of central pressure and edge rush to upset Brady.

Conclusion

It’s been a weekend of upsets so far. Cincinnati will need to light up the Patriots and score 30 points to win. I am really looking forward to see how Carson Palmer deals with the pre-snap movement of NE. I am also really looking forward simply to watching the Patriots in all facets of the game. And I expect them to win.

Prediction: New England

Posted in Chad Johnson, Cincinnati Bengals, NFL Game Previews, Justin Smith, Asante Samuel, Carson Palmer, Monday Night Football, Game, NFL Franchises/Teams, New England Patriots, Tom Brady, NFL | No Comments »