Familiar combat duty
Brady understands the LeBeau defense
FOXBORO — Tom Brady trained all week to beat up a man twice his age.
Brady arrived at Gillette Stadium before the sun rose Monday morning to get a bead on Titans defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, and it didn’t take long for the 40-year-old to like what he saw. The 80-yearold LeBeau definitely has some twists in his wellestablished scheme, but the concepts are similar to the system that Brady has mostly decimated in their eight previous meetings.
While studying the Titans, the Patriots noted LeBeau deployed more man coverage than past seasons, especially on third down when it’s been a 5050 split. But the zone-blitz system mostly remained unchanged since LeBeau first became a coordinator in the 1980s.
“It’s a good group,” Brady said. “They blitz a lot of guys. He still loves to blitz. You’ve got to expect pressure, and it could be safeties, corners, linebackers. They have a lot of movement. He is just a great coach. He knows how to attack offenses and attack protections, and everyone has got to be alert.”
Brady is 6-2 in his career against LeBeau, including seven matchups against the Steelers and a victory against the Titans in 2015. He completed 68.0 percent of his passes for 2,496 yards (312 per game), 19 touchdowns, three interceptions and a 110.9 passer rating. The Patriots averaged 32.8 points per outing.
To put that in perspective, Brady is 14-0 in the playoffs when he has at least a 95 passer rating.
Brady has accomplished more on the field than any quarterback in history, but his consistent handling of LeBeau has been remarkable. It’s a testament to the requisite preparation to uncover tendencies and predict the complementary blitz and coverage patterns.
Brady has made it look far easier than it ever should, as LeBeau was a
revolutionary, the first to use zone coverages behind heavy blitzes.
“If there’s a quarterback who’s seen everything, it’s Tom Brady,” said Titans cornerback Logan Ryan, a former Patriot. “If there’s a coordinator who’s seen everything and run everything, it’s Dick LeBeau. They’re both Hall of Famers, or going to be a Hall of Famer, for a reason. They’ve both been great for a long period of time. That’s why it’s a good matchup. LeBeau’s seen it all. Brady’s seen it all.”
Like Bill Belichick, LeBeau, who got into the Hall of Fame in 2010, will always have some type of wrinkle, and Brady is experienced enough to never assume the look based off a pre-snap read. Brady can process the Titans’ tendencies based on down and distance, then can anticipate the defense from the line. At that point, the most important element will be finalizing the protection plan.
LeBeau’s defense, which tied for fifth this season with 43 sacks, is great at coordinating its pressure with its coverages. For instance, sometimes the Titans blitz a cornerback and drop a defensive end into that zone, but then the corner will stunt inside the defensive tackle to attempt to break down the offensive line’s communication. The Titans will account for each zone in coverage, but they’ll add a dose of creativity with the blitz to put stress on the offense.
Ill-prepared offenses can be trapped into overly conservative protection schemes. LeBeau loves to show an overload blitz to force the quarterback to keep the running back in to block, which leaves seven defenders in coverage against four route runners.
That’s why it’s important for Brady to anticipate the defensive coverage, with the real read occurring in the moment after the snap when he reads a specific key. There’s always a tell. Maybe it’s a safety’s first step, or an inside linebacker’s zone drop or the slot cornerback’s leverage.
So with all of the knowledge Brady accumulates through film study and a specific post-snap key, he has been able to appropriately digest LeBeau’s call. Assuming that hunch is correct and the linemen execute their blocks, Brady should again find a way to breeze through LeBeau’s storied scheme.
“You’ve got to try to anticipate, but you’ve got to read it out, get your eyes on the right space and then try to just react,” Brady said. “I think sometimes if you overthink things (before the snap), you can take yourself out of things that might be open. Then if you skip the guys that are open to get the guys who are covered, you might be in a lot of trouble. So I think you’ve got to go about what you’ve been doing, read it out, make the throws, try to anticipate but see it before you do it.”
If it sounds complicated, it’s because LeBeau didn’t construct a legendary resume out of thin air. Neither did Brady, who has organized chaos better than any quarterback in history.
‘He is just a great coach. He knows how to attack offenses.’
— TOM BRADY On the Titans’ Dick LeBeau