Attacking the New England defense has been a difficult task since the middle part of the 2017 season. Much is cited statistically for their improvement over the second half of the season, despite significant injuries to key personnel. Their philosophy is littered with mainstream NFL media labels, such as “bend don’t break,” “set the edge” and “do your job” (can hear Jim Nantz saying them right now). Like most NFL defenses, this unit has spots of tremendous talent (at the line and secondary) coupled with various weaknesses. The real difference in NE is the tremendous coaching that goes on to cover up for these weaknesses, and against in some cases foes that were specifically designed to exploit them (read Pittsburgh Steelers receivers).

One of the weaknesses Head Coach Bill Belichick has to account for on a weekly basis is defending the run against 11 personnel (3 WRs, 1 RB, 1 TE). Last night, Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis, investigated the numbers behind this weakness very succinctly (link below). Against the Patriots, opposing teams are rushing 6.0 yards per carry out of 11 personnel, and even higher 6.7 yards per carry out of 11 personnel with shotgun formation. The Eagles run a lot from 11 personnel, and feature it as much as anyone in the league. They run 60% of their total rushes from that grouping, with only teams like McVay’s Rams and the Raiders with higher rates.

We often like to find ourself at the intersection of smart football statistics and film study, and times like this make us lose sleep to take on projects like this at full steam. The below deep dive will go beyond the above media cliches and examine why the NE defense yields so much against 11 personnel and what that means for Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson. His offensive concepts link old school West Coast schemes with kind of new school Spread, and some resulting play calls specifically look to create time and space for his running backs and tight ends in the short flat and interior parts of the field. For New England, this space will be covered by their linebackers, and the best place to start is to understand their formations and players.

Against 11 personnel, NFL teams most often answer with nickel and dime defensive groupings. One of the more liberally used fronts within nickel for the Patriots is the the 5–1 front (above). At its heart this front is a 3–3–5 nickel defense: three down lineman consisting of some combination of a 0-tech NT and two 3-tech DTs, three linebackers two of which are edge defenders on the line, one “stacked” at the second level, and five defensive backs. The first level of lineman puts very talented lineman Lawrence Guy, Malcom Brown, and Ricky Jean-Francois in position over the interior line where the double teams of inside zone become single blocks. Any type of interior power running or trapping must go on with three stout defenders in a very small box. In pass rush, an odd front limits an offensive line’s options, often dictating one on one blocking and allowing the defense an easier platform to initiate stunts and twists. The 5–1 front has found success in this league, particularly with teams like the Carolina Panthers. For them, Pro Bowl Luke Kuechly plays the “1” with very quick recognition and incredible speed allowing him to dominate at times this season. Quite frankly, the Patriots do not have Pro Bowl personnel at this position.

It must be disclosed that this linebacking group possesses a lot of talent. Linebacker Kyle Van Noy, most often playing as an edge defender, is very flexible in pass coverage, as well as a solid pass rusher. His signing from the Lions has proven critical with the injury of starter Dont’a Hightower. Backer Elandon Roberts, often playing the “1”, has real run stuffing ability, reminding many of a traditional 5–2 bear Sam linebacker. Players like Roberts attack downhill ferociously, most often the first contact on ball carriers. Recently signed James Harrison still possesses strong speed to power pass rushes at the twilight of his career, and can make any edge blocker nervous. But, in this defense they all are at times under much pressure to simply do their jobs with very very little room for error. Part of it can be attributed to the proclivity of man pass coverage behind them in the secondary (with their backs to the play, any help in the run game is near impossible) to lack of run stopping ability (talented corner Stephen Gilmore is pretty much the exact opposite of a gnarly Tampa 2 Corner).

Against the very diverse rushing attack of the Eagles, this 5–1 front and personnel makes some concepts very difficult to execute. The Eagles wham concept for trapping, center lead plays for Pro Bowler Kelce, as well as simple inside zone for RB Ajayi face headwinds. However, outside zone with simple measures like pin/pull concepts and other blocking schemes to get to the alley could find success. The first example is below: