Inside the NFL with The War Room

Sporting News, The, Dec 20, 1999 by Gary Horton

A breakdown of the Patriots' offensive breakdown

If the Patriots' passing woes have you bewildered, don't despair. You're in good company.

The Patriots seem to have all the components of an elite passing attack. Drew Bledsoe is one of the league's most gifted passers. When healthy, Terry Glenn is an elite receiver. Although he is starting to slow down, Ben Coates is a top receiving tight end. Wide receivers Shawn Jefferson, Troy Brown and Tony Simmons are threats who complement Glenn nicely. The offensive line is widely considered one of the league's top pass-blocking units. Even running backs Terry Allen and Kevin Faulk are decent receivers.

So, why are the Patriots just in the middle of the pack in scoring, averaging 20 points a game?

New England's biggest problem has been the timing of its passing game. True, Bledsoe's rhythm has been off, and his mechanics are not as smooth as they were in the 1995-97 seasons. But there are many factors that constitute a pocket passer's throwing motion and timing, and all of those factors are surfacing in New England.

In winning their first four games of the season, the Patriots were productive offensively, but there were some signs of trouble that were being swept under the rug because of the strong start. One of those signs was that the running game was struggling, no surprise considering the absence of Robert Edwards, who had suffered a severe knee injury in February. That concern remains, especially with the weather in the Northeast a factor as teams must rely on running the ball more down the stretch. But a study of Patriots game film shows a passing scheme that should be effective, with or without a running attack, but it is not.

Beyond the running game, we have broken down the film and identified four separate contributing factors to the Patriots' failing passing game:

* Terry Glenn can't handle double-teams.

Teams are dedicated to playing cloud coverage on Glenn's side of the field. Cloud coverage is when a defense plays man-to-man on a receiver, using a cornerback close to the line of scrimmage to play bump-and-nm, and then designates a safety to cheat to Glenn's side in order to take away the deep third of the field. Glenn is an explosive receiver with excellent skills, but he has trouble with this coverage for a couple of reasons.

1. Glenn is not physical and will get thrown off his route if the opposing corner can bump him within the 5-yard range.

2. Glenn is very dangerous down field, but against cloud coverage, even when he shakes the corner with a double move, he is met by the safety 10 to 15 yards down the field, and so far has been unable to break free from the safety.

After five games, Glenn had an NFL-high 37 catches for 636 yards. In the next eight games, with teams focusing their coverage on him, Glenn was held to 28 catches for 484 yards. The Patriots went 3-5 in those eight games.

* New England's complementary receivers are having tremendous trouble with press coverage.

Offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese has opened up the Patriots' offense, using a lot of four-and five-receiver sets. This is forcing opponents to play a lot of man-to-man coverage, something that should work to New England's advantage not only because of the matchups but because defenses are left with only four-man rushes to get to Bledsoe. The problem is the Patriots don't have as much toughness as they have speed.

Teams have discovered the best way to neutralize New England's speed is to play press, single-man coverage. Film of the December 5 Dallas game gives the best example of how little Jefferson, Brown and Simmons have been doing to get open in man-to-man coverage. They had trouble getting off the line of scrimmage, and it cost the offense a coverage sack and numerous forced passes from Bledsoe.

* The line is performing below expectations.

With teams rushing just four and five players against New England's spread offense, the Patriots should be doing a much better job protecting Bledsoe, especially considering the line's reputation for pass blocking. Though many of the sacks and pressures it has yielded have been because the receivers can't get open, the production from this unit should be better.

Teams are running a lot of simple twist and stunt schemes up front that are throwing off the communication of the entire line. An excuse could be that the Patriots have been using Zefross Moss, Heath Irwin and Max Lane in a three-man rotation at guard and tackle, but these are experienced linemen who should know their assignments.

The line also is not opening up throwing lanes. Offensive line schemes coordinate with the passing game in order to open up a window for the quarterback to make his reads and find a lane in which to throw. Bledsoe has had some quality time to throw on occasion, but he is not getting a clear view of his receivers' routes. This is why Bledsoe has had so many balls batted down at the line, and he has been rolling outside the pocket more than ever before.

* Bledsoe is shell-shocked in the pocket.