Unless it particularly plans to organize for Denver’s victory formation, the New England Patriots defense won’t encounter a lot tape of the opposing quarterback this week. Jarrett Stidham, who will lead the Broncos into this week’s AFC Championship Game, performed simply 4 snaps all season and none of them may be labeled as notably revealing.
And but, the Patriots have to discover a strategy to get ready for an offense that misplaced starter Bo Nix to an ankle damage within the divisional spherical. They do have some intel on Nix’s alternative — Stidham spent the primary three years of his profession in New England and has labored with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels for 4 of his seven seasons within the league — however how the group might be structured round him stays anyone’s guess.
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The general theme of the week from a Patriots perspective can subsequently greatest be described as, “Wait and see.” That mentioned, the group is aware of it must be ready for anything.
“We’ll have to be prepared for the plan and the things that they’ve shown,” head coach Mike Vrabel mentioned earlier this week. “I’m sure there’ll be some things that they haven’t shown.”
As Vrabel mentioned, although, the Patriots have to construct their very own sport plan off of one thing. One place to begin is making ready for the core ideas the Broncos ran with Nix within the lineup, together with shifting the QB off the spot.
“I think that’s that’s the plan. We’re going to go in expecting that and then until shown otherwise, that’s just what they put on film,” mentioned exterior linebacker Ok’Lavon Chaisson. “Obviously, he hasn’t played a full game throughout the regular season. Just trying to guess what his game plan is going to be is a bit all over the place. But expect this, obviously what they’ve been working on all year and if they show otherwise we’ll be prepared for sure.”
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The uncertainty surrounding the quarterback place is just not the one problem for New England’s defense this week, nevertheless.
Led by a some of the skilled head coaches within the NFL, the Patriots will face a assorted offensive assault that Vrabel known as “tough to defend against.” And though Sean Payton’s group ranked solely 14th within the NFL in scoring throughout the common season, it proved its offensive efficiency in divisional spherical when it scored 33 factors in a win over the Buffalo Bills.
“I think he does a great job with his personnel, his scheme, the guys that he had in New Orleans and how they use those guys, and then, certainly, how he’s using the weapons offensively in Denver,” Vrabel mentioned of Payton. “I think you have to prepare for a lot. It’s not like they do too much to where they’re — they’ve got rules for everything, they’ve got protections for everything. Good mixture in the run game. There’s some RPO with some big people personnel.
“I think he’s had his core concepts that he’s had for a lot of years, and then he’s just continued to add on to that as some of the game has changed and some of the ideas and the schemes have evolved. So, I think that that’s pretty unique. I think he’s got plays for certain guys that he wants to try to find ways to get them the ball. His record clearly speaks for itself. So, tough challenge. He’s a proven winner in this league.”
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For linebacker Robert Spillane, it in the end all comes right down to enjoying essentially sound soccer.
“They do a great job with personnel packages,” the group captain defined. “They can align in a lot of funky formations that maybe challenge your rules or challenge your schemes defensively. A lot of motions, a lot of ways to try to get people open at the end of the day. So, we just have to be really good with our matches, with our locations in zone coverage and playing sound in the backend especially this week.”