Nate Solder out for the season

[Elias]

I think Skrine can handle Gronk. He's a tough little dude and has great cover skills. Much better than Antonio Allen and Allen has done well against Gronk in the past...

 

[flgreen]

Think if they single cover Gronk, they are going to regret it.

I was serious about doubling him with Coples and Pryor. Coples as big, and Pryor should be able to run with him, and hit. Put all the other DB's in man. Anybody left over send after Brady

 

[WestCoastOffensive]

Welcome West Coast.

+1

Thanks guys - glad to see you! Miss the big board.


HEY NOW - over at our place we are discussing the Rodman Defense for GRONK: Put Cro all over Gronk. I was going to start a thread, ut this looks like a good place.

 

[OCCH]

Thanks guys - glad to see you! Miss the big board.


HEY NOW - over at our place we are discussing the Rodman Defense for GRONK: Put Cro all over Gronk. I was going to start a thread, ut this looks like a good place.

If by "Rodman defense" you mean beat the crap out of him once he catches the ball, I'm all for it.

But IMO Cro leaves too much cushion to prevent Gronk from initially catching it. Maybe no one can stop that from happening, but if we can't take those quick throws away it won't matter how fast our DL gets to Brady -- it will ALWAYS be a second too late . . .

 

[Bronx]

Gotta put Revis on him. Revis eats up big guys he can match speed with. It's that simple. Then put Skrine or Williams on Edelman. For me, it's a no brainer

 

[WestCoastOffensive]

Welcome West Coast.

If by "Rodman defense" you mean beat the crap out of him once he catches the ball, I'm all for it.

But IMO Cro leaves too much cushion to prevent Gronk from initially catching it. Maybe no one can stop that from happening, but if we can't take those quick throws away it won't matter how fast our DL gets to Brady -- it will ALWAYS be a second too late . . .

Ant. Allen did some such against Gronk under Rex. It was a physical tactic; I think Cro is long enough and sharp enough at least match that.

 

[flgreen]

Ant. Allen did some such against Gronk under Rex. It was a physical tactic; I think Cro is long enough and sharp enough at least match that.

I suggested earlier that that the only way to deal with Gronk is to double him. Then go man to man across the board. The success of that may depend on the health of Skrine.

Cro would actually be the cover guy. He's tall enough, and certainly athletic enough to make plays. The problem is of course is ,Cro is not physical at all.

That's why I would keep Pryor up in the role of the "big nickle". His job wouldn't be to cover, but to lay the hammer on Gronk soon as he makes contact with the ball, and get him to the ground.

All Cro would have to do, when a ball is caught, is drape himself on Gronk to slow him down, he doesn't have to confront him physically. he knows the big hammer is coming from Pryor.

IMO think it might work. You would have a guy who can cover and run with him, and a guy who would keep him looking over his shoulder from physical punishment

 

[OCCH]

I suggested earlier that that the only way to deal with Gronk is to double him. Then go man to man across the board. The success of that may depend on the health of Skrine.

Cro would actually be the cover guy. He's tall enough, and certainly athletic enough to make plays. The problem is of course is ,Cro is not physical at all.

That's why I would keep Pryor up in the role of the "big nickle". His job wouldn't be to cover, but to lay the hammer on Gronk soon as he makes contact with the ball, and get him to the ground.

All Cro would have to do, when a ball is caught, is drape himself on Gronk to slow him down, he doesn't have to confront him physically. he knows the big hammer is coming from Pryor.

IMO think it might work. You would have a guy who can cover and run with him, and a guy who would keep him looking over his shoulder from physical punishment

IMO that's the key -- if we're just trying to limit YAC AFTER the catch (to Gronk, and Edelman, and Amendola, and . . .), then I understand what you're saying.

But that usually leads to "death by 1000 cuts". The Pats have no trouble taking a few yards at a time, all the way to the end zone. If we want to knock Brady around, we have to TAKE AWAY those quick hitters, not just minimize their damage. I'd find a way to flood the box, leaving deeper passes open but trusting we can cover it long enough for our big boys to get to him. If that backfires, so be it.

I'm not saying we abandon "bend but don't break" -- I just don't know if that can be our primary approach on Sunday . . .

 

[flgreen]

IMO that's the key -- if we're just trying to limit YAC AFTER the catch (to Gronk, and Edelman, and Amendola, and . . .), then I understand what you're saying.

But that usually leads to "death by 1000 cuts". The Pats have no trouble taking a few yards at a time, all the way to the end zone. If we want to knock Brady around, we have to TAKE AWAY those quick hitters, not just minimize their damage. I'd find a way to flood the box, leaving deeper passes open but trusting we can cover it long enough for our big boys to get to him. If that backfires, so be it.

I'm not saying we abandon "bend but don't break" -- I just don't know if that can be our primary approach on Sunday . . .

That's exactly what the "big nickle" is about. Extra man in the box who delivers a knock out hit. Your not going to take away Brady's underneath game 100%. Just can't be done.

Want to make sure they pay when they catch the ball. WR's and TE's start looking around as the ball arrives, if a big hitting safety is going to arriving shortly. That's also why your using Cro on TE. Cro still has excellent coverage skills

 

[OCCH]

That's exactly what the "big nickle" is about. Extra man in the box who delivers a knock out hit. Your not going to take away Brady's underneath game 100%. Just can't be done.

Want to make sure they pay when they catch the ball. WR's and TE's start looking around as the ball arrives, if a big hitting safety is going to arriving shortly. That's also why your using Cro on TE. Cro still has excellent coverage skills

I openly admit I have a limited amount of "technical" football knowledge -- never played on an official team, just been a fan since '82.

I guess I don't understand why we can't put Brady in a position where his receivers at least LOOK guarded for the first 3 seconds of a play. In my mind (which is often wrong), make him see so much green in the first 10 yards that his only option appears to be to throw OVER the box, which is an effective counter unless the other team plays those guys man to man (which we can). We've rattled him like that in the past -- I just don't understand why it doesn't always work.

Obviously if we can't get to him in the first few seconds, we deserve whatever fate ensues. But I can't think of a DL more capable of getting the job done than the one we have now, and I hope we don't "waste" it with smoke and mirrors (unless the smoke and mirrors works) . . .