Bruschi's Breakdown: Panthers vs. Pats

[Monday Night Shyamalan]

Lots of love for the Panthers from a former Pat.

 

http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story/_/page/bruschibreakdown-1115/bruschi-breakdown-new-england-patriots-vs-carolina-panthers

 

 

Mike: The linebackers look tough, and of course, we're familiar with the man in the middle, Kuechly, from his time at Boston College.

Tedy: I really think he is one of the elite linebackers in the league, possibly the best. I know there are good ones this year, you see them on film, like NaVorro Bowman (49ers) and Derrick Johnson (Chiefs), and Kuechly is right there. I've been very impressed this year by his diagnosis skills, the way he's able to read the offenses and figure out the answers to the test before the ball is snapped. He'll see a short motion and his football education tells him what the possibilities are from that short motion, and he figures it out as soon as the ball is snapped. He's not really a linebacker you can deceive because of his sharp diagnosis skills, his football intelligence, the way he processes information. It's that linebacker football equation:

 

 

Mike: Rivera compared his smarts to another great linebacker he once coached, Brian Urlacher. In 21 career games at middle linebacker, Kuechly is averaging 12.5 tackles per game. He teams with Thomas Davis for an excellent one-two punch at linebacker.

Tedy: I'm fired up for Davis for what he's able to do this year. The play he made last Sunday against the 49ers -- putting a big hit on running back Kendall Hunter and forcing a fumble -- when you think about what he's been through with the three knee surgeries in three years, this guy probably should've been Comeback Player of the Year last year. He's continued to work,  setback after setback after setback, and now he's playing on one of the best defenses in the league and is one of the main reasons the defense is so good. Not only can Davis make plays in the box, as he did on Hunter, but he is a very good cover linebacker. I've seen Davis do good things in coverage and I've seen Kuechly run down the field and cover tight ends, matching up one-on-one against Tony Gonzalez. So which linebacker will draw the assignment to cover Rob Gronkowski? That will be interesting to watch. Or do they try to use a safety or various combo-coverage concepts?

 

Tedy: They have the best backfield in the NFL. I say backfield because it's a full house withDeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart, Mike Tolbert and also Cam Newton. Every one of these players has the ability to do a multitude of things. Tolbert, for example, has done everything from catch screen passes to shovel passes to direct runs. He is a wild card in the sense that he's used in a lot of different ways. He might be listed as a fullback, but you could just as easily list him as an "OW" -- offensive weapon. He also had a big hit last week when he knocked out 49ers safetyEric Reid in one of the biggest collisions I've seen all year. He's physical, as is the entire Panthers team, on offense and defense. DeAngelo Williams is a guy who can get outside and get the edge, a very smooth and powerful runner. And Stewart is big, more of a bruiser at 5-foot-10 and 235 pounds. They run the triple option with a full-house backfield (Newton in the pistol, with an inverted wishbone formation surrounding him), and they also run an old-school triple option at you. The Patriots are going to have a lot to focus on when it comes to that run game.

 

Tedy: Panthers 28, Patriots 27.

[rayzor]

but we gonna get blown out, right?

[IamSoClutch]

shocking coming from him

[The Huddler]

Patriots arent scoring more than one TD. Cam will have 3.

[Jakob]

The Pats are so high on Aaron Dobson it's exactly like the Rams and Zac Stacy. The Pats think Dobson is Jerry Rice.

[PerCC]

You can tell Teddy loves great defense, as he was apart of one himself. I like his prediction, as I think it will be a close nail bitter just like the 49ers game. But I can't see them putting up 27 points on us, I think it will be a little lower than that.

[Chaos]

Are they too going to blowout us out?

[Mother Grabber]

pats are going to get 4-5 FG, no TDs.

[Ken]

shocking coming from him

Not really. He's one of the few analysts on ESPN that give good analysis.

Of course he'll have bias towards the Pats but he does a good job of not letting it affect his analysis.

[mc52beast]

Pretty surprising coming from a Pats homer... I don't see them scoring 27 points, our defense is playing too good right now... I say they get 17

[Ex Pat New Englander]

Tedy: They have the best backfield in the NFL. I say backfield because it's a full house with DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart, Mike Tolbert and also Cam Newton. Every one of these players has the ability to do a multitude of things. Tolbert, for example, has done everything from catch screen passes to shovel passes to direct runs. He is a wild card in the sense that he's used in a lot of different ways. He might be listed as a fullback, but you could just as easily list him as an "OW" -- offensive weapon. He also had a big hit last week when he knocked out 49ers safety Eric Reid in one of the biggest collisions I've seen all year. He's physical, as is the entire Panthers team, on offense and defense. DeAngelo Williams is a guy who can get outside and get the edge, a very smooth and powerful runner. And Stewart is big, more of a bruiser at 5-foot-10 and 235 pounds. They run the triple option with a full-house backfield (Newton in the pistol, with an inverted wishbone formation surrounding him), and they also run an old-school triple option at you. The Patriots are going to have a lot to focus on when it comes to that run game.

 

Mike: That's why I think the Patriots, who have been in sub packages 68 percent of the time this season, will play most of this game in their 5-2 defense/3-4 base defense. That's their biggest lineup, with defensive linemen Chris Jones, Isaac Sopoaga and Joe Vellano, then with Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich at outside linebacker, and Brandon Spikes and Dont'a Hightower at inside linebacker. This is going to be a physical game, and stopping the run is priority No. 1.

 

A big key for the front seven is going to be reading keys and trusting what they see in front of them. It's "responsibility football" because when you watch the Panthers, you see a lot of well-designed runs. DeAngelo Williams' 27-yard run last Sunday against the 49ers was a counter off the option action. So they get you with the option, run the triple option, they run the lead right at you, and on the touchdown they counter-actioned off that play series. Watching Carolina games this year, it's not uncommon to see linebackers get enamored with what's going on in the backfield. They might watch Newton, or get caught watching the play-action fake, and the next thing you know the tackle and guard pull out and get angles on you on a quarterback sweep -- like you saw in their 34-10 win over the Falcons (fourth quarter, 9:07 remaining). If you get enamored with all the smoke and mirrors in the backfield and fail to read keys, that's what happens.

 

Mike: The Panthers have been able to run it despite being hit hard by injuries along the offensive line.

Tedy: I respect this offensive line so much because of the complexity and the variation of plays they have to block for. They have a power running game, a college read-option element, dropback pass elements, and they have a complex screen game to go along with a quarterback in Newton who will stand in the pocket and deliver the ball. He also has enough athletic ability and size to stay alive and scramble. Those are all the aspects of the offensive game plan they have to block for, and they do it all well.

'.................................................

 

Teddy went on to compare Cam to Ben Rothlisberger. I'd call this is a backhand insult, Cam is more of a athelete than Ben, but both of lack some touch on their passes, and in my opinion, both have shitty footwork for professional N.F.L. quarterbacks. . 

[PantherFanOne]

I have often listened to former Patriot Tedy Bruschi and always considered  him a New England homer, so I was surprised and meanwhile had to respect him for being honest in his opinion by picking the Panthers to win 28-27..

[Ex Pat New Englander]

Tedy: They have the best backfield in the NFL. I say backfield because it's a full house with DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart, Mike Tolbert and also Cam Newton. Every one of these players has the ability to do a multitude of things. Tolbert, for example, has done everything from catch screen passes to shovel passes to direct runs. He is a wild card in the sense that he's used in a lot of different ways. He might be listed as a fullback, but you could just as easily list him as an "OW" -- offensive weapon. He also had a big hit last week when he knocked out 49ers safety Eric Reid in one of the biggest collisions I've seen all year. He's physical, as is the entire Panthers team, on offense and defense. DeAngelo Williams is a guy who can get outside and get the edge, a very smooth and powerful runner. And Stewart is big, more of a bruiser at 5-foot-10 and 235 pounds. They run the triple option with a full-house backfield (Newton in the pistol, with an inverted wishbone formation surrounding him), and they also run an old-school triple option at you. The Patriots are going to have a lot to focus on when it comes to that run game.

 

Mike: That's why I think the Patriots, who have been in sub packages 68 percent of the time this season, will play most of this game in their 5-2 defense/3-4 base defense. That's their biggest lineup, with defensive linemen Chris Jones, Isaac Sopoaga and Joe Vellano, then with Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich at outside linebacker, and Brandon Spikes and Dont'a Hightower at inside linebacker. This is going to be a physical game, and stopping the run is priority No. 1.

 

A big key for the front seven is going to be reading keys and trusting what they see in front of them. It's "responsibility football" because when you watch the Panthers, you see a lot of well-designed runs. DeAngelo Williams' 27-yard run last Sunday against the 49ers was a counter off the option action. So they get you with the option, run the triple option, they run the lead right at you, and on the touchdown they counter-actioned off that play series. Watching Carolina games this year, it's not uncommon to see linebackers get enamored with what's going on in the backfield. They might watch Newton, or get caught watching the play-action fake, and the next thing you know the tackle and guard pull out and get angles on you on a quarterback sweep -- like you saw in their 34-10 win over the Falcons (fourth quarter, 9:07 remaining). If you get enamored with all the smoke and mirrors in the backfield and fail to read keys, that's what happens.

 

Mike: The Panthers have been able to run it despite being hit hard by injuries along the offensive line.

Tedy: I respect this offensive line so much because of the complexity and the variation of plays they have to block for. They have a power running game, a college read-option element, dropback pass elements, and they have a complex screen game to go along with a quarterback in Newton who will stand in the pocket and deliver the ball. He also has enough athletic ability and size to stay alive and scramble. Those are all the aspects of the offensive game plan they have to block for, and they do it all well.

'.................................................

 

Teddy went on to compare Cam to Ben Rothlisberger. I'd call this is a backhand insult, Cam is more of a athelete than Ben, but both of lack some touch on their passes, and in my opinion, both have shitty footwork for professional N.F.L. quarterbacks. . 

 

Have the injuries at guard limited the play calling for the Panther's offense? Teddy makes it sound like the blocking schemes are pretty complex.

 

[carolina-chuck]

Panthers 24 Patriots 6