It's gone, Tom. Let it go. - Al Bello
Earlier this week, BRB had a great post discussing how Wade Phillips should attempt to defend Tom Brady with a four-man rush. An article and date from ESPN.com today supports that theory.
Yesterday, TDC's Deep Steel Blueprint theorized that Wade Phillips should blitz Tom Brady sparingly on Sunday. Today, John Parolin of ESPN.com echoed that hypothesis with some statistics, most tellingly from the Patriots' losses in the 2009 and 2010 playoffs. Of great interest to Texans fans is the fact that those playoff losses--to the Ravens and Jets, respectively--were to 3-4 teams that the Patriots had defeated in the regular season. Parolin writes:
There is precedent for a heavy-blitzing 3-4 defense playing aggressively in the regular season against Brady and losing, then meeting again in the postseason and winning.
The 2009 Baltimore Ravens and 2010 New York Jets both lost regular-season meetings to the Patriots but gained redemption in the playoffs after adjusting their strategy.
The article is worth a read, and the notion of less-is-more is something to keep while we wait to see what Wade Phillips unveils in New England on Sunday afternoon.
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