Brady’s trick bag full
So many choices in Pats arsenal
FOXBORO — Romeo Crennel is a darn good defensive coordinator. Based on experience alone, he knows Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels probably will have a few tricks up their sleeves Saturday night when the Patriots and Texans meet in their AFC divisional round matchup.
It could be something like sticking linebacker Shea McClellin in for a few plays on offense, which is a ploy the Patriots used against the Broncos in Week 15. Or it might be a trick like the “ineligible receiver” maneuver they used against the Ravens during the postseason two years ago.
But what should really worry Crennel, and perhaps other defensive coordinators the Pats might face down the road, is the bevy of options Belichick and McDaniels have in their arsenal, some of which they didn’t even use in the regular season.
After all, does anyone really know what Tom Brady’s receiver sets will look like if both Danny Amendola and Michael Floyd are used at the same time? Have the Patriots shown any legitimate five-receiver sets this year?
Or how about going big and small with Floyd and Chris Hogan or Malcolm Mitchell, along with Julian Edelman and Amendola? Not to mention also using running backs Dion Lewis and James White, who can line up out wide, along with tight end Martellus Bennett, who can do the same.
“Right now, they can morph into something else where (the other team) is still trying to catch up and figure out what they’re doing,” NFL analyst Heath Evans told the Herald when assessing the new possibilities for the offense.
That’s even if the Patriots decide to employ all of their receivers. Amendola, who missed the final four weeks of the season with a highankle sprain, pretty much announced he was ready to go on Tuesday. But will they opt to show all of their offensive firepower against the Texans? Will they really need to put all their bells and whistles out on display, or will they hold back until it’s absolutely necessary?
That’s the question, and the beauty of having all of these options.
“From the (defensive) coordinators I’ve talked to, they really do worry about the Patriots,” NFL Network analyst and former safety Solomon Wilcots said. “They’re not going to say it in front of a microphone, but they know they’re going to get something new, whether it’s formations, plays. You’ve seen it against Indianapolis, you’ve seen it against Baltimore. They push the envelope, and rightfully so.
“But with Amendola back, and Floyd, they can’t cover defensively all the possibilities of what the Patriots could do. You just can’t prepare for it all.”
That’s because what Brady has right now in his arsenal rivals anything he’s had before. Maybe 2007 offered him more top-end talent with Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Donte Stallworth, and clutch players like Jabar Gaffney and Kevin Faulk rounded out a solid group of pass-catchers, but this unit has so much more depth across the board.
With a healthy Amendola — a favorite target of Brady, particularly in key situations — and Floyd looking like the kind of big, physical receiver the Patriots haven’t had in a while, there’s just so much more McDaniels can do with the group, which also includes a great pair of pass-catching running backs in Lewis and White.
“The way I see it, there’s not a defense left in the AFC or NFC that can keep up with what they can do with their personnel,” Evans said. “There’s just a whole other side to this personnel now that Danny’s back. Who knows what defenses are going to have to do? If you stay in your base, Tommy’s going to eat them to death in the short, rhythmic passing game. Then, the minute you put the nickel (defense) on the field, LeGarrette (Blount) will have 150 yards rushing.”
So that’s the task facing Crennel on Saturday night: trying to stop Brady and, likely, a bunch of mystery alignments and groupings he hasn’t seen on film.
The Texans do have the second-best pass defense in the league, but going against this offense will be their biggest and most challenging test yet.
Wilcots believes the Patriots will throw some of the new formations out there just to see what kind of looks they get back from the defense. And if the look happens to be favorable, they’ll run the plays.
“I’d love to see Gronk in there, too,” Wilcots said, referring to injured tight end Rob Gronkowski, “but you know how diverse they are with the group of players they have. So it’ll be interesting to see.”
It wouldn’t be the postseason if the Patriots didn’t have a few new wrinkles or tricks to pull out of the bag. But this is more like pulling a new offense out of the hat.
“Yup, they’re going to throw something out there people haven’t seen before,” Wilcots said. “That’s just what the Patriots do.”