The Super Bowl is set, the New England Patriots will meet on the 4th. February in Minnesota to the Philadelphia Eagles! While Philly’s offense in the NFC Championship game marched against the strong Vikings defence, the Pats had to make defensive adjustments against Jacksonville in the AFC Championship game – but what did they look like? In his weekly column, SPOX editor Adrian Franke looks back on Sunday’s two duels and answers the first Super Bowl questions in his mailbag!
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It was supposed to be a defensive battle in which nuances would decide – instead, Vikings fans saw in the championship game shocked the worst appearance of their defense throughout the season. 24 eligible points in the first half? Maximum value. A 53 yard touchdown? The longest approved touchdown for the Vikes this season.
And most importantly, Minnesota had entered the game with a defensive third down conversion rate of 25.2 percent, a historically good figure. Philly then achieved ten (!) conversions at 14 third downs and Nick Foles then produced ten of eleven passes for 159 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions.
How did Philly manage this game with the backup quarterback, which had been playing against Atlanta for a long time and was unsteady in the previous week?
Four central reasons catch the eye on tape and explain the unexpected offensive explosion:
In the second quarter of the AFC Championship game, they had to rub their eyes in amazement. Exactly the things Pittsburgh’s defenses had so many problems with in the previous week worked out for the Jaguars in New England – and this against the otherwise so disciplined patriots’ defenses.
In other words, play action, simple Underneath-Route combinations combined with screens and inside-power runs. Jacksonville combined the moves efficiently and had counter-plays ready for their own formations, but New England repeatedly revealed allocation problems. Especially the linebackers seemed to be lost several times.
On top of that, the Patriots were very passive. 4-men rush, deep played zones behind them – Jacksonville allowed easy completions on first-down passes and brought the Jaguars into the hoped-for short third downs. Screen designs also worked remarkably well with Rub-Routes, resulting in several long catch-and-runs by Corey Grant.
In the second half, you could see what you’ve seen so often from the patriots this season: the right defensive adjustments. The patriots have allowed an average of 10.1 points in the first half of the season and only 8.3 points in the second half. Why this is so, you could admire once more in the Championship Game.
The Pats changed their basic approach and became much more aggressive. The patriots were now more willing to flash at various downs and distances.
They played aggressive man coverage and closed the box. New England had Rusher in the backfield again and again, forced Bortles to throw fast and managed to prevent Bortles from stepping into his pocket in play action. Jacksonville was challenged to unpack plan B – and the Jags didn’t have that.
In the case of the lightning packages, two means attracted increased attention: safety flashing was frequently used, and the patriots James Harrison also set up an inside linebacker a few times and then let him flash over the middle.
With the Eagles in the Super Bowl awaits the best offensive line of these playoffs – New England will not be able to rely on its 4-Men-Rush. That would give Philadelphia’s outstanding play designs too much of a chance. Patriots defense will have to attack in two weeks.
Page 1: The impressive Eagles-Offense – and the Patriots-conversions
Page 2: The Vikings, Eagles vs. Brady, Foles, Bortles – your questions