The 2014 Patriots, similarly to past years, lacked dynamic pass rushers on the defensive line. Despite having crafty and productive players such as Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich on the edges, the pass rush was often lethargic when also playing massive run stoppers Alan Branch, Vince Wilfork and Sealver Siliga. Rotational player Chris Jones and injured rookie Dominique Easley flashed at times but are only limited snaps players (Easley for that season at least). Due to this, Belichick had to be creative with blitzes, often sugaring (lining up in the A gaps) dynamic inside linebackers Dont’a Hightower and Jamie Collins. This aggressive alignment forces the offense to be prepared, react quickly and having their blocking assignments down down pat, as so many players are in position to rush the quarterback. However, against talented teams and quarterbacks, a defense needs to be able to create pressure while still dropping the majority of your defenders back into coverage. One of the ways Belichick does this is through what I will call his Rain concept, a term that come’s from a Nick Saban playbook, who coached under Belichick. Before I start, SmartFootball, James Light, and Blitzology have written about this before, so be sure to check out their superior explanations. When the defense checks to this Rain call, the two sugared linebackers are assigned to blitz, but also read the center. To which ever side the center slides to, that linebacker will pop back out into coverage in attempt to prevent the quarterback from throwing hot. This leaves the other linebacker either unblocked, or one on one with a running back in pass protection. This tactic put versatile linebackers Hightower, Collins, Ninkovich and Akeem Ayers in positions to succeed in both pass rushing and coverage situations, as the quartet massed 22.0 sacks, 4 interceptions and 6 defended passes. PFF also credited the Patriots with 66 pressures from the inside linebacker position (The Texans were next best with 41).

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This is the quintessential example of what Belichick is looking for with this concept. The Patriots have 5 players over the offensive lineman with Rob Ninkovich aligned over Antonio Gates, who is a few yards detached from the line. At the snap, Ninkovich follows the running back to to flat, which leaves 5 offensive lineman for the 5 defenders lined over them. Chargers center Chris Watt slides towards Jonathon Casillas, which causes him to drop off back into coverage while Collins goes in unblocked for the sack. This is the perfect example not only because of the product (a sack), but also you can see how Casillas popping out helped prevent Phillip Rivers from dumping the ball off to Antonio Gates on the shallow cross.

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The Patriots aligned backers in the A gaps 10 times against the Chargers. San Diego’s offensive had a lot trouble understanding who they should block, which lead to a lot of pressure on Phillip Rivers. In the play above, the Patriots are using the same nickel package from the 1st play, with Chris Jones replacing Dom Easley. Once again, they only send 4, with the sugared linebackers running a stunt. This a common stunt Belichick runs from this formation, where the linebacker opposite of the slide bull rushers the center, who is looking at and preparing to block the other backer. This allowed Casillas to get right in Rivers’ grill and still isolates Collins on a running back. All this while only rushing 4, while the offense blocks 7. The pressure made Rivers force his throw, and Akeem Ayers is able to read his eyes and make a great interception.

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Rob Ninkovich was able to get an interception in a similar situation against Denver.The Patriots ran their Rain concept, isolating Collins on a running back, however Ninkovich also drops, meaning the Patriots were only rushing 4. With pressure imminent, Peyton throws the crossing route without seeing Ninkovich, who comes away with an impressive turnover. While the play design is good, the most impressive part is the ability for all these different linebackers to perform in multiple roles. After Belichick drafted players like Malcolm Brown and Trey Flowers, some have hypothesized that the Patriots will be playing more of a traditional 4-3 defense next year. However, they also took hybrid players Geneo Grissom and Matthew Wells (a Jonathan Casillas clone), which along with Belichick’s history of being multiple, makes me think we will see a lot of both. Grissom and Wells saw most of their success either in pass rushing or pass coverage (though Grissom never had a difficult responsibility in coverage from what I saw), so their fits in a formation like this one are obvious.

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Here are two plays from the Chargers game where the San Diego offensive line, specifically DJ Fluker, can’t seem to keep track of their blocking assignment. While it’s easy to just attribute this to bad play, it would be ignorant to think that Collins and Ayers threatening the A gaps does not have any affect on the confusion, especially due to Fluker’s mistakes being pinching and allowing a free rusher off the edge. Note also how the in the 2nd GIF, Dom Easley is able to get an advantageous angle on the center and bull rush him back. This able to happen because Chris Watt first has to account for the sugared linebackers, who then drop but allow the Patriots are able to flush rivers out of the pocket with only 3 rushers.

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Another reason I really like this check or formation is because it forces the running back to be reliable in pass protection, which isn’t exactly a strength for a lot backs. I liken it to having a corner crack a safety, which you see from a lot of the power spread teams like Ohio State and Auburn, which forces the tackle shy corners to replace as run defender. With the pass rushing prowess of guys like Hightower and Collins, BoB (Big on Big, Back on Backer) protection schemes give the Patriots a big advantage when attacking the quarterbacking. In the play above, Jamie Collins blows up the back and causes the incomplete pass.

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To try and give the running back a better angle to block one of the linebackers, many offenses aligned their back in a H-Back-esque position between the guard and center. However, even with a better angle, Collins and Hightower are going to be better pass rushers than most backs are pass blockers, creating pressure from the most direct route to the quarterback. Against Chicago, Belichick added a nice little wrinkle by sending an overload from the left slide, blitzing the slot corner and stunting Jonathon Casillas to replace Hightower’s A gap. Chung, Hightower and Ninkovich then rolled to the middle of field in coverage, preventing an opening where Cutler anticipated.

To end it, I’ll just add some more GIFs of different stunts and variations.

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