In the NBA, the Boston Celtics just recently fell short of an opportunity to make history by coming back from a 3-0 series deficit. Since it’s the NFL offseason and not much is going on right now, we’re going to use this as an excuse to look back at another New England-based team that fell just short of making history - the 2007 Patriots.
Although to say the Patriots merely fell short in Super Bowl XLII would be an insult to the New York Giants, who outplayed them on their way to a 17-14 victory. Nowhere was that more prevalent than in the matchup between Big Blue’s defense and New England’s offense.
In 2007, the Patriots scored a then-record 589 points. They seemed unstoppable, largely because of the assassin-like precision of Tom Brady and the big-play ability of Randy Moss.
But after leading the NFL with 57 pass plays of 20 yards or more during the regular season, New England didn’t generate a single 20-yard play in Super Bowl XLII.
And after leading the NFL with a 68.9 completion percentage and 8.3 yards per pass in 2007, Brady completed just 60% of his passes for 5.5 yards per attempt in the Super Bowl.
So how did the Giants defense do it? It was a combination of factors, but it centered around preventing the big play from Moss and getting pressure on Brady.
To stop Moss, New York rolled coverage to his side frequently and accounted for him with two defenders the majority of the time. But it was the pressure they got on Brady that made the biggest difference.
The Giants did this with a front-4 that dominated New England’s offensive line and an assortment of creative blitzes designed by defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
Breaking Down the Patriots’ Protection
This 2nd-and-10 on New England’s third possession was when the Giants really started to dial up the pressure:
Let’s take a look at this from the end zone angle. Pre-snap, you can see that the Giants were threatening a blitz with Antonio Pierce in the B-gap to the right and Kawika Mitchell in the A-gap to the left:
New York would end up bringing cornerback Aaron Ross from the slot to the right, with Pierce and Mitchell appearing to drop out at the snap:
I’ll pause right here to say that the best offenses against the blitz don’t just get stuck throwing hot all the time. They don’t allow the defense to dictate their throws. Instead, they try to set the protection at the line to pick up the blitz and eliminate free rushers, allowing the normal timing, rhythm, and routes of the play to happen.
To do this, it takes a smart and savvy quarterback at the line of scrimmage. Tom Brady is the epitome of this type of quarterback, with one of his many calling cards being his ability to recognize the defense and set the protection in a way that negates even the best pressure schemes.
Here, he was not looking to throw hot. He wanted to take a shot with Randy Moss streaking down the right sideline.
This is all important to note because according to Kawika Mitchell, the Giants ran this very blitz throughout the 2007 season and he dropped out into coverage 100% of the time.
It appeared that Brady and the Patriots were aware of that as well. Because the protection didn’t pay much attention to Mitchell despite the fact that he was threatening the A-gap. If they were truly concerned about him rushing, they probably would have slid in his direction.
Instead, New England geared up to handle the more-likely pressure from Pierce to the right and Ross from the slot. They slid right from the center over, with running back Kevin Faulk also turning his attention to the slot blitz almost immediately after the snap. This allowed them to use 4 blockers to account for 4 potential pass rushers to that side. To the back side, the left guard and tackle took the two down linemen over them:
It’s tough to say for sure if center Dan Koppen or Faulk had a dual read that would initially account for Mitchell before they moved right. Neither seemed to look in his direction at the snap. Perhaps they snuck a glance at Mitchell, saw him drop out into coverage initially, and then turned their attention to Ross when they saw him blitzing from the slot.
Or maybe they weren’t responsible for Mitchell at all. Perhaps it was Brady who was responsible for him if he came. Allowing a blitzer to run free through the A-gap is really not something offenses like to do. But it might have made sense to set the protection this way if they didn’t think he’d actually blitz based on his season-long tendency.
Regardless of who was responsible, Brady, Koppen, and Faulk all turned their attention away from Mitchell at the snap as he appeared to be dropping into coverage:
But the Giants did not do what they had done all season. A half-second into the play, with everyone practically ignoring Mitchell, he turned back towards the line of scrimmage and sprinted for Brady:
The seas parted and the result was the first of New York’s five sacks on the night:
Great design, great timing, great execution. And this wouldn’t be the first time the Patriots guessed wrong with their protection that night.
This play on New England’s next drive was a 1st-and-10 with less than 2 minutes remaining in the first half, an obvious passing situation. Spagnuolo dialed up another blitz.
This time, New York was threatening with 8 men near the line of scrimmage (4-down linemen and 4 second-level defenders).
Antonio Pierce was threatening the A-gap to the left of the center with Aaron Ross off the edge to the same side. To the offense’s right, cornerback Kevin Dockery was threatening to blitz over the guard, and safety Gibril Wilson was creeping in off the edge:
Brady was likely wary from Mitchell’s A-gap pressure on the previous drive, so he set the protection to slide left from the right guard over, which would account for Pierce:
Unfortunately for New England, Pierce, Ross and the defensive end to that side (Osi Umenyiora) dropped out into coverage: