Content provided in partnership with

Change machine: the Patriots keep winning , thanks to their ability to reinvent themselves like no other team can

Sporting News, The, Nov 1, 2004 by Dan Pompei

If the Patriots' 21-game winning streak teaches us anything, it's that this team is as flexible as a campaign promise. During the streak, they have won games scoring 38 points--and scoring 9. They have prevailed while allowing 34 points--and while pitching three shutouts. They have thrown for 354 yards--and for 91. They have rushed for 172 yards--and been held to 56. Seven players have led them in receptions in different games.

"Run the ball, control the clock--they can do it" Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz says. "Five wides and zip it around--they can do it. Play man on defense--they can do it. Cover 2 every snap--they can do it. Blitz--they can do it. They have so many different ways of beating you."

Most Popular Articles in Sports: The first family: Archie, Peyton and Eli are incredibly famous, immensely ...; The growing gap: driving distances are skyrocketing on the PGA Tour. So why ...; Which pistol caliber for self defense? Four different people come to four ...; Drag racing - National Hot Rod Association; The world's most popular .22: the Marlin Model 60 just keeps on ticking; More »

The fences that provide the boundaries of their offense and defense are on wheels, not cement posts. Whereas the other 31 teams depend on certain aspects of their club prevailing for them to win, the Patriots are dependent only on the imagination of Bill Belichick and his coaching staff--and the absorption ability of their players. That's why a third Super Bowl victory in four years is only a few morphs away.

The Patriots present a different face for nearly every opponent. "When you watch the tape of them, it doesn't do you a lot of good to say, 'Well, they played the lets this way or they played Seattle this way; " Colts coach Tony Dungy says. "They may or may not play you that way depending on what you have and what they have to stop. They have a great capacity to play any type of game."

Aside from quarterback Tom Brady and defensive lineman Richard Seymour, no player is indispensable to the Patriots. This was illustrated early in the streak, when the Patriots were missing so many players they couldn't practice on a Wednesday.

Here is an incredible, little-known fact: Through the course of the 21 games, the Patriots have had a different starting lineup in every contest. Last season alone, 42 players started games, which is the most ever for a team that won its division. This year, six more players have picked up starts, including Randall Gay, an undrafted rookie. Gay now has started as many games for the defending Super Bowl champions as he did during his senior season at LSU--one. What's more, Gay played two positions in his start Sunday against the Jets--safety and cornerback. And he played pretty well, even matching up with shifty receiver Wayne Chrebet in the slot.

The autumn colors peaked in New England last weekend as the Patriots were beating the previously undefeated Jets, 13-7. The Patriots, though, should not peak until February as long as they continue to reinvent themselves in various areas of their game.

Defensive fronts

The Patriots change defensive fronts as frequently as most men change television stations. They ease from a 4-3 to a 3-4 and back again--and have even shown one-man and two-man fronts this season. It's all part of keeping offenses off-balance.

During stretches of their streak, they have been more dependent on one front or the other. Early in the streak, when nose tackle Ted Washington was injured and inactive, the Patriots used more four-man fronts. Then late last season when the team began to peak, the Patriots were humming with the 3-4. During a five-game string from mid-November to mid-December, they were as tough to run through as barbed wire, never giving up 100 yards and holding opponents to a 3.1 yards-per-carry average.

In the offseason, the Patriots lost Washington, who signed with the Raiders as a free agent. But with first-round draft pick Vince Wilfork and flee-agent pickup Keith Traylor replacing Washington, the Patriots have played more 3-4 than 4-3 this season.

Washington's ability to change games was, like the player, somewhat overblown. But the numbers say he is missed. The Patriots are allowing 4.2 yards per carry this year, compared with 3.6 a year ago. "When we played them, their run defense wasn't as solid and cohesive as it was the year before" Dungy says. "I think they were still adjusting to life without him."

That adjustment has progressed as Wilfork has become more comfortable. Nose tackle is a new world for Wilfork, who played in a one-gap system in college at Miami. On Sunday, the Patriots held Curtis Martin, who came into the game as the league's leading rusher, to 70 yards and 3.5 yards per carry.

Pressure

Mostly because of their ability to scheme sacks with unpredictable blitz packages, the Patriots were a pretty effective pass-rushing team last year. This year, the Patriots have become an outstanding pass-rushing team that is on pace for 51 sacks, 10 more than it had a year ago.

A good portion of the pressure this year has come from blitzing safety Rodney Harrison, who has three sacks. "We broke down who they were bringing the most, and they were bringing the strong safety as much as anybody," Miami coach Dave Wannstedt says. "You always have to know where Harrison is all the time."

Change machine: the Patriots keep winning , thanks to their ability to reinvent themselves like no other team can

Sporting News, The, Nov 1, 2004 by Dan Pompei

Find Research Guides for:

Find Featured Titles for: News

Most Popular Articles in Sports

Most Popular Publications in Sports