"Stacking the box" = The secret to beating us?

[Hawks46]

I read somewhere that Seattle is the best in the league at running at an 8 man box. So, no, that doesn't always work.

I think NE will stack the box because our WRs won't win a lot of one on one matchups vs. their CBs. It's simply the best matchup for NE terms of personnel.

The problem with an 8 man box is that if your spy on Wilson gets caught up in the wash, and Wilson catches that, he's going to take off and burn you for 20 + yards. The other problem is that if they do throw and Wilson buys time, you have a run stuffing DL in the game and only 3 guys in the secondary.

 

[ManBunts]

They don't think RW can beat them with his arm . Belicheck already said RW is not a QB he is a running back with the ball . That's my 2 cents

I'm actually surprised he said that I thought he's much smarter then that. Maybe it was taken out of context?

Flat out said it in his media day interview

Weird, there's a separate article somewhere I've read where he praises his instincts and awareness.

I think all the analysts that peg us to lose if we have to throw only are basing that on the last game. People have so conveniently forgotten that he turned out a 200yd/2TD showing in half his games this year, oh and topped rushing 100 yards in 3 of them. Fine. Let them pack the box, let them cheat the safety in. Call Tramon Williams, ask him how that worked out. And a stacked box doesn't stop Lynch either way. Just more meat for the grinder.

 

[WilsonMVP]

They don't think RW can beat them with his arm . Belicheck already said RW is not a QB he is a running back with the ball . That's my 2 cents

haha Bill ACTUALLY said this? do you have a link or source?

Because that running back QB kicked their D in the face for 293 yards 3TD 0INT and a 133 QB rating in his 6th game as a pro.

 

[Bob_the_Destroyer]

They don't think RW can beat them with his arm . Belicheck already said RW is not a QB he is a running back with the ball . That's my 2 cents

I'm actually surprised he said that I thought he's much smarter then that. Maybe it was taken out of context?

Flat out said it in his media day interview

Taken out of context. Belicheat was speaking to RW's abilities with his legs. At other points he also spoke about his big play ability down the field throwing the football.

That's correct. Belichick never said Wilson was not a quarterback. I searched around, but couldn't find the exact quote, but he said something like, "Wilson is like a running back when he tucks the ball and runs."

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[LTH]

Gee I dont see how anyone could take anything Belichick says about a game plan in a press conference seriously

 

[scutterhawk]

They don't think RW can beat them with his arm . Belicheck already said RW is not a QB he is a running back with the ball . That's my 2 cents

If Billicheat said that, truly is an idiot, as only an idiot would try to discredit what Wilson can really do.
IF Bilicheck were being HONEST, and CORRECT, he'd have said that Wilson is a damned decent Quarterback that can kill you with his running back abilities.
The more pure pocket passers like Manning, and Brady are easier to defend against than multidimensional Quarterbacks like Wilson, Breese, and even Rodgers, because if you take away their Receivers they are left handing the ball off to someone else to try and run it, or dump offs to move the ball, throw aways, throwing interceptions, OR taking sacks.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

It's EVERY team's gameplan. What, do you think this is the first time a team's stacked the box to stop Marshawn and contain Russell?

See, the problem with that game plan is that in order to stack the box you have to commit extra LB's and safeties to penetrate the A&B gaps.......which exposes the edges of your defense to being torn apart by the RO and downfield passing game.

This style of defense is how the RO was born. Also throw in the fact that the Hawks run the outside stretch play as well as any team in the league. That stretch play also leads to Russell pulling the ball back and throwing it downfield.

So pick your poison. Do you want to commit 8 men in the box to stop Marshawn up the middle, or do you play straight up in order to stop Russell from getting outside with a bunch of sweep tosses and stretch run plays?

 

[BullHawk33]

They don't think RW can beat them with his arm . Belicheck already said RW is not a QB he is a running back with the ball . That's my 2 cents

I'm actually surprised he said that I thought he's much smarter then that. Maybe it was taken out of context?

Flat out said it in his media day interview

Taken out of context. Belicheat was speaking to RW's abilities with his legs. At other points he also spoke about his big play ability down the field throwing the football.

Yeah, I agree. When he said it, I could see how it could be misconstrued, but I think he was talking about in relation to the front 4 and linebackers, that they need to treat him like a RB and wasn't any sort of assault on his passing game. .

 

[Bob_the_Destroyer]

The New England defense will likely:

1. Stack the box against the Seahawk run, including the read option. When Belichick stacks against the run, he really commits to it.

2. Use Jamie Collins to spy/shadow Russell Wilson. Collins is an athletic 25 year old linebacker with 4.5 speed. He had 116 tackles this past season. Collins might be the fastest and most athletic player we have seen assigned to stop Wilson from running,

3. Try to take away Doug Baldwin with Revis blanketing him the entire game. Revis is a cerebral player and will know all of Baldwin's and all of Wilson's tendencies - as much as any CB Baldwin and Wilson have ever faced (except Sherman in practice.). Losing Paul Richarson leaves us very thin. Kearse, Luke Willson, Ricardo Lockette are our other receivers. The Patriots would love to force us into using Lockette and Willson as our main receivers. Kearse is going to need a big game. Marshawn will need to catch some passes. Baldwin is cerebral too and will have to figure out ways to trick Revis.

Having said all that, *if* the Seahawks utilize Wilson's mobility, running and deception as key weapons in their offensive game plan, both he and Lynch should have huge games and the Seahawks should win. If Collins shadows Wilson, it should open something else up. I am not sure, however, that they will let Wilson loose early in the game, choosing instead to play very conservatively on offense hoping for a low scoring defensive battle.

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[Mistashoesta]

They don't think RW can beat them with his arm . Belicheck already said RW is not a QB he is a running back with the ball . That's my 2 cents

He never said Wilson wasn't good with QB fundamentals. He was stating that Wilson, when needed, can seem like a running back with the ball due to his elusiveness and heightened sense of awareness as opposed to someone like Peyton Manning, who looks like a big game animal that has just been shot and is attempting to run for his life.

High praise from the Patriot head coach.

 

[Bob_the_Destroyer]

He never said Wilson wasn't good with QB fundamentals. He was stating that Wilson, when needed, can seem like a running back with the ball due to his elusiveness and heightened sense of awareness as opposed to someone like Peyton Manning, who looks like a big game animal that has just been shot and is attempting to run for his life.

High praise from the Patriot head coach.

Right, Belichick is currently completely into heaping as much praise on the Hawks as he possibly can. He is not going to say anything remotely negative about them, He compared Wilson to Roger Staubach, a great passer who could run and scramble, and like Wilson, was a true winner who always carried himself like a leader on and off the field.

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[sutz]

This is why we use so much empty backfield, including on first down. Spread the field out, and the 8 man box gets a little thin in the back end. Boom, over the top ala the game winner against GB. May not work in the first quarter, but it will be there at some point in the game. That's also why we stay with the run into the 4th quarter. Hell, if you look at the GB game, we run pretty well in the 2 minute drill.

Peeps are right, though. What Bellycheck says in a presser is misdirection at least, outright lying at most.

Of course, Pete and Bevell probably don't really care what he says. They'll set up the game plan regardless of anything said to the media.

 

[Scottemojo]

Find me one team that isn't going to stack the box vs Lynch.

The way zone blocking works, a stacked box can end up meaningless. It's pretty easy to go outside zone and still end up with a blocker on every defender on one side.

And all 8 defenders need to be stout vs the run for the scheme to work. Pats are not.


But the media dolts slurp this stuff up. But only the ones who either don't watch the games, or don't pay attention to schemes while they do watch.

 

[kearly]

2. Use Jamie Collins to spy/shadow Russell Wilson. Collins is an athletic 25 year old linebacker with 4.5 speed. He had 116 tackles this past season. Collins might be the fastest and most athletic player we have seen assigned to stop Wilson from running,

I think Collins is a solid player, but he is probably not starting in Seattle with his 4.64 speed. Maybe he'd start over KJ Wright, but Wright has insane size and length that compensate for his 4.75 speed. And though Wright is a good player, he's not a guy you'd want to see covering a 4.5 speed TE. Which Collins is going to have to do a few times with Luke Willson.

Collins isn't all that great against the run either. I think he is much more likely to be a goat than a hero in this matchup.

The real hero on your defense might be Wilfork. Unger has struggled against mountain sized DTs and Seattle will want to test New England's mettle up the middle.

 

[Hawkscanner]

This seems like a game in which Luke Willson and Ricardo Lockette could star big time. It's dead obvious that the plan is going to be to stack the box to stop Lynch, keep Russell Wilson contained in the pocket, preventing him from getting outside, and put Revis and Browner out on an island and try to shut down Baldwin and Kearse.

But if they do that (or should I say when), WHO is going to cover Luke Willson? As a TE who has WR speed, he can be a bit of a match-up problem and can burn a defense (we've seen that several times). He can beat LB's. And in that scenario, I like Lockette as a guy who could make some big plays down the field, as he's not going to draw tons of attention. I just feel like those guys could be primed for big games (that somehow, some way those guys are going to make key plays on Sunday).

 

[kearly]

That's correct. Belichick never said Wilson was not a quarterback. I searched around, but couldn't find the exact quote, but he said something like, "Wilson is like a running back when he tucks the ball and runs."

He can absorb hits like a RB too, and juke like a RB. He's taken some hits that would put a lot of 6'4" QBs on a stretcher, but he just bounces up and never misses a play.

I know that Belichick respects Wilson as a QB, I've heard him and Brady say so this week. If you don't prepare for Wilson to beat you with his arm, he will. And DCs have shown that Seattle's pass offense can be exploited.

Preparing for Wilson as a runner is extremely tough though, there just aren't any comparable players in the league right now, much less on the Pats scout team. Teams that see Wilson infrequently have been especially troubled by his improvisation and elusiveness.

 

[kearly]

But if they do that (or should I say when), WHO is going to cover Luke Willson? As a TE who has WR speed, he can be a bit of a match-up problem and can burn a defense (we've seen that several times).

Got a hunch Luke Willson will break a hundy in this game. Willson against those slow LBs is the biggest mismatch in the entire game. I don't even think Luke Willson is all that great other than his physical talent, but he's my darkhorse candidate for MVP.

 

[bostonhardo]

They don't think RW can beat them with his arm . Belicheck already said RW is not a QB he is a running back with the ball . That's my 2 cents

I'm actually surprised he said that I thought he's much smarter then that. Maybe it was taken out of context?

It was a compliment. In other words.... he runs so well you have to consider him another back.

 

[Scottemojo]

They don't think RW can beat them with his arm . Belicheck already said RW is not a QB he is a running back with the ball . That's my 2 cents

I'm actually surprised he said that I thought he's much smarter then that. Maybe it was taken out of context?

It was a compliment. In other words.... he runs so well you have to consider him another back.

Exactly.

 

[Blitzhawk]

I read somewhere that Seattle is the best in the league at running at an 8 man box. So, no, that doesn't always work.

I think NE will stack the box because our WRs won't win a lot of one on one matchups vs. their CBs. It's simply the best matchup for NE terms of personnel.

The problem with an 8 man box is that if your spy on Wilson gets caught up in the wash, and Wilson catches that, he's going to take off and burn you for 20 + yards. The other problem is that if they do throw and Wilson buys time, you have a run stuffing DL in the game and only 3 guys in the secondary.

Not to mention the biggest "oops". If you stack the box and somebody gets washed out or misses a tackle all of the sudden you have Beasts running wild in your secondary with corners flying thru the air off of stiff arms, safeties making business decisions, and "beastly endzone junk adjustments" to contend with. :3: