How the Patriots stopped Tony Gonzalez

[hawkeye]

http://espn.go.com/boston/columns/blog?post=4509534&name=reiss

FOXBOROUGH -- A big storyline entering today's game was how the Patriots would defend Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez.

Gonzalez was limited to one catch for 16 yards, and here is a look at how the Patriots did it:

Gonzalez said he faced bracket coverage, explaining that wherever he ran there always seemed to be two defenders around him.

He said it was Patriots safety Brandon McGowan who was the primary defender to engage him when he released from the line of scrimmage. Gonzalez also said that he faced consistent jams at the line, especially on third down.

"[McGowan] was pretty much going with me with man [coverage] and pretty much anywhere I would go he got help," Gonzalez explained. "I had someone in my face playing man and as soon as I'd go in someone else's zone, they would just be waiting right there.

"The way I feel is that you kind of better do that. For the most part, and I'd say this about anybody, you should be able to beat man-to-man coverage. The day I can't beat man-to-man coverage, I'll probably retire."

Patriots coach Bill Belichick acknowledged how many resources the defense devoted to Gonzalez in the middle of the field, which meant there were single-coverage matchups on the outer edges, putting added pressure on the team's outside corners.

"We doubled him a lot. I thought our guys stepped up and did a good job on him," Belichick said. "Then we held up in some other spots as well. Terrence [Wheatley] and Shawn [springs] and Leigh [bodden], they did a good job out there and we didn't give them very much help. They stepped up to the challenge against a good group of receivers, and did a competitive job."

The Patriots ran a few different packages in the game -- a 4-3, 3-4 and a dime (six defensive backs). They did not play nickel.

The dime had a four-man line of Tully Banta-Cain, Jarvis Green, Myron Pryor and Derrick Burgess, with Gary Guyton the lone linebacker.

The defensive backs were corners Wheatley, Springs and Bodden, along with safeties McGowan, Brandon Meriweather and James Sanders.

It was the dime that ultimately helped the Patriots cash in against Gonzalez.

"We contained him and contained the run," McGowan said. "We got the job done."

[muskokas finest ©]

If they had Gonzalez bracketed and were stacking the line against Turner, Roddy White should

have been open all day

[SmittS]

If they had Gonzalez bracketed and were stacking the line against Turner, Roddy White should

have been open all day

And he was. He just dropped balls.

[vafalconfan]

If they had Gonzalez bracketed and were stacking the line against Turner, Roddy White should

have been open all day

Agreed. Ryan seemed confused a good part of the day.

[illest_will]

Agreed. Ryan seemed confused a good part of the day.

what game were you watching? i can only remember 2 bad throws from the kid and like 4 throwaways, two of them on a rollout that barely worked the 1st time. if anybody in this game played DECENT it was Matt Ryan and Weems and DeCoud.

[Sun Tzu 7]

If they had Gonzalez bracketed and were stacking the line against Turner, Roddy White should

have been open all day

Well... when we did take the one shot downfield I can remember we got a flag for it...

And when Roddy is dropping balls I can understand why we didn't keep firing in his direction.

In the 2nd half when the Pats had the lead I thought they were taking away the deep ball and making us dink and dunk it since we didn't have much time to work with.

[TheTruthHammer2.0]

Agreed. Ryan seemed confused a good part of the day.

You're completely wrong. Matt Ryan was the only one who played worth a sh*t yesterday.

[(R) = sore loser]

http://espn.go.com/boston/columns/blog?post=4509534&name=reiss

FOXBOROUGH -- A big storyline entering today's game was how the Patriots would defend Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez.

Gonzalez was limited to one catch for 16 yards, and here is a look at how the Patriots did it:

Gonzalez said he faced bracket coverage, explaining that wherever he ran there always seemed to be two defenders around him.

He said it was Patriots safety Brandon McGowan who was the primary defender to engage him when he released from the line of scrimmage. Gonzalez also said that he faced consistent jams at the line, especially on third down.

"[McGowan] was pretty much going with me with man [coverage] and pretty much anywhere I would go he got help," Gonzalez explained. "I had someone in my face playing man and as soon as I'd go in someone else's zone, they would just be waiting right there.

"The way I feel is that you kind of better do that. For the most part, and I'd say this about anybody, you should be able to beat man-to-man coverage. The day I can't beat man-to-man coverage, I'll probably retire."

Patriots coach Bill Belichick acknowledged how many resources the defense devoted to Gonzalez in the middle of the field, which meant there were single-coverage matchups on the outer edges, putting added pressure on the team's outside corners.

"We doubled him a lot. I thought our guys stepped up and did a good job on him," Belichick said. "Then we held up in some other spots as well. Terrence [Wheatley] and Shawn [springs] and Leigh [bodden], they did a good job out there and we didn't give them very much help. They stepped up to the challenge against a good group of receivers, and did a competitive job."

The Patriots ran a few different packages in the game -- a 4-3, 3-4 and a dime (six defensive backs). They did not play nickel.

The dime had a four-man line of Tully Banta-Cain, Jarvis Green, Myron Pryor and Derrick Burgess, with Gary Guyton the lone linebacker.

The defensive backs were corners Wheatley, Springs and Bodden, along with safeties McGowan, Brandon Meriweather and James Sanders.

It was the dime that ultimately helped the Patriots cash in against Gonzalez.

"We contained him and contained the run," McGowan said. "We got the job done."

Was that a shot across the bow? to Roddy White? Michael Jenkins?