Every story this week involving the Patriots or Eagles includes the word "blueprint", as in the Eagles created a blueprint on how to stop the Patriots.
What does the blueprint consist of?
1. Pressure Tom Brady with exotic blitzes
2. Be physical with Randy Moss at the line of scrimmage
3. Throw the ball in the middle
Some pretty innovative stuff right there. Since week 1 of 2003 the blueprint has included pressuring Tom Brady with exotic blitzes as the best way to rattle him. Of course that's an NFL-wide blueprint. The problem is, he's prepared for those blitzes most weeks. The Eagles were one of the poorest blitzing teams in the league before that game and more importantly got a good pass rush from their interior linemen. That's not exactly a blueprint, it's just football.
Every commentator this year has listed "jam Moss at the sideline" as a key to slowing down on the offense, but no one was doing it. They did it some extent this past week, but it wasn't exactly the Patriots 2003 smackdown of Marvin Harrison in the AFC Championship. This isn't exactly a new concept that the Eagles drew up. It's just that no one else has been that effective at jamming him.
Throw the ball in the middle. Remember the Colts game? Lots of dink and dunk throws over the middle that got a lot more yardage than they would have a couple of years ago. That's what having aging linebackers will do to you (and sitting Adalius Thomas most of the game of course).
The Eagles didn't provide the "blueprint" for beating the Patriots. There was never a question about how you beat them. It was a question of which team can have all 53 players put in their best effort of the season. Other than the two ridiculous interceptions that reminded us all that this was indeed AJ Feeley and not Peyton Manning behind center, he had played the kind of game that 8 out of 10 QB's don't have all season. You can't pretty much count on him to rebound this week with a 62.5 QB rating to fall back to earth.
So the "blueprint" is this week's bandwagon storyline. Is it me or has the internet made columnists way too lazy in coming up with material. It's not that I have a problem with questioning whether the blueprint exists and works, it's that they don't seem to question it as if the NFL just had a "eureka" moment this week and now the Patriots will go on to lose 2-3 games. And you can be sure the Ultimate Warrior will be able to beat them because he's the MVP and has a physical defense. You can also bank on it that the Steelers will win because they too have a physical defense (it's pretty nice when your nose tackle can run at the same speed as their wide receivers) and Big Ben has once again been crowned an Elite Quarterback. Welcome to that exclusive club, which has grown from last year's 2 (brady/manning) to 5 (Brady, Manning, Favre, Romo, Roethlisberger, and until recently Derek Anderson, Donovan McNabb, and Jon Kitna...who have all been called elite at some point this season).
By the way, here is a good stat from Cold Hard Football Facts about the opponents front seven facing the Patriots this season. Not good news.
- Buffalo (twice): No. 32
- Miami: No. 31
- Cleveland: No. 29
- New York Jets: No. 28
- Cincinnati: No. 26 (tie)
- San Diego: No. 24
- Indianapolis: No. 22 (tie)
- Washington: No. 19 (tie)
- Dallas: No. 5.
Eagles were #10, while the Ravens are #1, Steelers are #8, and Giants are #6.
Scared yet? No, me neither. Just remember all of the #1's attached to the Patriots offense.
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