Quote Originally Posted by wist43 View Post
There ya go again Max... acting like nothing can be done out of a 3-3.

Who will cover who??? OH MY!!

I can see that you are in complete agreement with dunderdummy that the 2-4 is the only - the one and only - nickel front that can be run - ever. All other varieties of the nickel are ludicrous - right??

How would you double Gronk in the 2-4?? By using Brad Jones or AJ Hawk, along with a Safety?? Since both Jones and Hawk suck at every aspect of the game of football - how would you think that would turn out?? Rather I imagine you would think doubling Gronk an impossibility??

As for how I would do it - it's not rocket science, I'd bracket him with whichever LB and Safety he was lined up on. Underneath and over the top. Whether that LB is Matthews, Peppers or Neal wouldn't matter much except I'd scheme to dictate the matchup, instead of allowing the Pats to dictate the matchup.

That would pretty effectively take the seam route away from him, and if he's running a drag across the middle, I'd be in zone underneath so there would be plenty of traffic to intercept him coming across.

You act like doubling a player and taking him away from the offense is an impossibility... certainly dunderdummy thinks that - he never takes away an opponents #1 threat, he just sits back and hopes for the best.

If Perry misses the game - we'll be in big trouble. Chances are that b/c Perry isn't practicing this week, dunderdummy is preparing a gameplan that doesn't include Perry, i.e. he is going to play tons of 2-4. That being the case... I don't like our chances at all.
Only Matthews out of that group can cover Gronk. Peppers has no experience marking an All-Pro TE and Neal is not good in coverage. Peppers has excelled in dropping into zones and getting his 6' 7 " frame in the passing lane. Smart, solid football. But Gronk isn't going to be running a route to stand behind Julius. You will need to man up on him to double him.

The problem isn't your 3-3. Its that your 3-3 pulls Matthews out of the pass rush every snap unless you want a player inferior to Hawk/Jones in coverage. That is the conundrum and answers almost all of your questions about why Hawk and Jones still get snaps.