A look at the positional groupings utilized by the Patriots in their 20-10 win over the Panthers:
3 WR/1 TE/1 RB -- 32 of 75
2 WR/2 TE/1 RB -- 20 of 75
1 WR/2 TE/1 FB/1 RB -- 12 of 75
3 WR/2 RB -- 5 of 75
2 WR/1 TE/1 FB/1 RB -- 4 of 75
1 WR/3 TE/1 RB -- 1 of 75
4 WR/1 TE -- 1 of 75
(Snaps don’t include final two kneel-downs. Facemask, defensive pass interference, illegal formation and false start penalties included.)
ANALYSIS: One aspect that stood out was more two-back sets in the second half. Part of that is that the Patriots were running out the clock, but there were also some big results out of the two-back sets on the first three drives of the second half. One interesting wrinkle was seeing Kevin Faulk as the running back behind a lead-blocking fullback on one play, which defenses might initially look at and still think "pass." But the Patriots ran it successfully with Faulk. Nice change-up by play-caller Bill O'Brien. The Patriots had a similar situation with their 1 WR/3 TE/1 RB package early in the third quarter. The Panthers had to be thinking run out of that grouping, but it was an 18-yard pass to TE Benjamin Watson. It wouldn't be surprising to learn the Patriots had that installed specificially with the idea of getting the TEs more involved in the passing game. It was their only time using that grouping in the game.
3 WR/1 TE/1 RB -- 32 of 75
2 WR/2 TE/1 RB -- 20 of 75
1 WR/2 TE/1 FB/1 RB -- 12 of 75
3 WR/2 RB -- 5 of 75
2 WR/1 TE/1 FB/1 RB -- 4 of 75
1 WR/3 TE/1 RB -- 1 of 75
4 WR/1 TE -- 1 of 75
(Snaps don’t include final two kneel-downs. Facemask, defensive pass interference, illegal formation and false start penalties included.)
ANALYSIS: One aspect that stood out was more two-back sets in the second half. Part of that is that the Patriots were running out the clock, but there were also some big results out of the two-back sets on the first three drives of the second half. One interesting wrinkle was seeing Kevin Faulk as the running back behind a lead-blocking fullback on one play, which defenses might initially look at and still think "pass." But the Patriots ran it successfully with Faulk. Nice change-up by play-caller Bill O'Brien. The Patriots had a similar situation with their 1 WR/3 TE/1 RB package early in the third quarter. The Panthers had to be thinking run out of that grouping, but it was an 18-yard pass to TE Benjamin Watson. It wouldn't be surprising to learn the Patriots had that installed specificially with the idea of getting the TEs more involved in the passing game. It was their only time using that grouping in the game.
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Mike Reiss
Mike Reiss first started covering the Patriots in 1997 with the team's official newspaper, Patriots Football Weekly, before moving on to the MetroWest Daily News in his hometown of Framingham. From 2005 to 2009, he covered the Patriots for The Boston Globe, while also writing on the NFL. He started his popular Patriots blog in 2004. Send any questions or comments for Mike to his mailbag. Follow him on Twitter here.
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