New England Patriots: 3 keys to defensive success in 2020
Third, the New England Patriots should employ the amoeba defense, all the time.
“Ameba” is defined by Dictionary.com as,
"any of numerous freshwater, marine, or parasitic one-celled protozoa of the order Amoebida, characterized by a granular nucleus surrounded by a jellylike mass of cytoplasm that forms temporary extensions, or pseudopodia, by which the organism moves, engulfs food particles, and forms food vacuoles."
Not sure that helps any. But, I think it means, a very small creature that moves around and can change its shape to meet its needs. Does it relate to the Patriots’ defense? Well, it actually does.
The Patriots used this defense to confuse Kirk Cousins in a victory over the Vikings in 2018. Not sure I knew what they called it, but there it is. So why is it so important?
Well, that Vikings game was not the first time New England has used this defense. They used it other times in the past under Bill Belichick. It’s been so successful I have always been nonplussed that they didn’t use it every down. Why didn’t they?
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What this defense does is present basically nothing to an offensive coordinator or quarterback. It just shows up. Usually, there is one or maybe even no down defensive lineman. And, they are all moving around like they are trying to decide what to do. But THEY know. And YOU, don’t.
That’s the point. By not being in a set formation, you don’t have a clue about who’s rushing, who’s dropping out, about who’s doing anything. Thus, they make it hard for you to comprehend what the heck they might do. And it works.
They employed it years ago under Belichick and it worked. But, then, they’d go to a fixed defense that allows the quarterback to check out the situation and make the call to beat you. It makes no sense NOT to use the Amoeba, all the time.
Defenses win in a few ways. First, they out-talent you. That’s always a great advantage, but, you don’t always have it.
Second, they out physical you. That’s a tough one to overcome too, but let’s hope that the Patriots strength and conditioning staff gets them fit enough and strong enough to stay with any opponent (run that hill, guys!) And,
Third, they can outsmart you. That’s where the amoeba comes into the equation. When you run an amoeba defense, you control the smart aspect. You dictate what happens. and you determine the outcome on defense. And that is, you win.
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It works. When they have no idea what you are going to do, and you do, you have the advantage. But that’s not easy to do. You have to be smart. You have to be schooled. And you have to be ready.
The New England Patriots have done it before. Create a “D” that can do it again. It’s virtually indefensible, if … you can get your team to implement correctly.
So those are my three prescriptions for the Patriots’ defense in 2020. With the departure of No. 12, they will have to equal, and actually exceed what they did in their terrific 2019 season. Can they do it? As they say, that’s why they play the games.