Promotion
X's and O's

X's and O's

By Thurman Thomas

The Patriots survive back-to-back close calls, the one this past Sunday against an inspired Baltimore Ravens team. What did the Eagles do last week and the Ravens do this week to make these games close?

Well aside from the obvious, playing hard and inspired football, both teams played two-deep zones (safetys playing deep in the defensive set on both sides of the field) to try and take away the big play to Randy Moss. They also pressured Tom Brady with some real exotic blitzes.

The blitz that seemed to be most effective for the Ravens was when they over-loaded one side of the line. After two weeks struggling with these defenses, look for Belichek and the Patriots to make adjustments. I believe the Steelers will try some of the same things on defense that the Ravens and Eagles did.

I think Belichek will run the ball more against the so-called sugar defense (lineman up-right and milling around right before snap of the ball) and stacked lines. Plus, they will use more screens, which should force teams into a more conventional defense. By employing these offensive adjustments, I believe the Pat’s will be an even stronger team for the playoffs. Running the ball in the northeast during the playoffs in January is never a bad idea.

It’s interesting to see two strategies that my former coach Marv Levy made fashionable, becoming more prevalent in today’s NFL. They are: rotating defensive lineman and using a second running back for key plays, not just third downs. In my day, the Bill’s used Kenny Davis to compliment me, and Kenny did a great job, which probably extended my career. Now we see many teams using the two back attack including the unbeaten Patriots, the Jaguars, and Cowboys to name a few. All teams try to rotate their defensive linemen more. Of course subbing defensive linemen here and there has always been done, but now teams are using this strategy more often to help keep their first teamers fresh for the end of the contest, where most games are won and lost. Will we see a day when offensive lineman are subbed in and out? Maybe, however the defensive lineman are extending more energy than their counterparts on offense, especially on passing downs.