During the AFC Championship Game, the Denver Broncos' defense hit New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady 23 times while only blitzing 16 percent of the total snaps. Not only did it show that Wade Phillips -- a blitzer by trade -- knows different ways to mess with an opposing quarterback in terms of pressure, but it also allowed Denver to play a variety of coverages, unsettle Brady by bluffing pressure, and still manage to get home with the defensive line.
Different game, different QB. With a matchup against the freakish talent of Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers this Sunday in Super Bowl 50, what can Phillips and the Broncos do to reduce big plays, limit the production of tight end Greg Olsen and ultimately create some confusion for the leading MVP candidate?
It won't be easy, but there are a number of options.
Using the tapes from the AFC Championship Game, Carolina's Week 16 loss to the Atlanta Falcons and the NFC divisional matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, let's take a look at five ways the Broncos can find that ideal blend of rush and coverage. Here's how the Broncos can slow down Newton on the game's biggest stage.
1. Play combination-man
In combination-man (also called Cover 7), the defense has multiple calls in its toolbox based on the offensive personnel, formation and alignment. For example, if the defense wants to bracket (or double) the slot receiver, the safety and nickel back make a "slice" call. Protect over the top? Make a "fist" call (2 Man to one side of the field). Take away the deep curl/comeback? Then make a "thumbs" call, dropping the cornerback into the deep half and running a safety or a linebacker underneath in a trail-man technique. The idea is to play the matchups and limit specific receivers or concepts.
Back in the AFC Championship Game, the Broncos used a combination-man call to produce an interception against Brady with the Patriots aligned in an empty formation.
The Broncos double wide receiver Danny Amendola in the slot (slice) and roll safety Darian Stewart to the deep half (fist) with the underneath defenders playing trail-man. This allows Denver to essentially eliminate the slot receiver and protect over the top of tight end Rob Gronkowski, wide receiver Julian Edelman and running back James White (removed from the core of the formation). But more importantly, they roll to the coverage and disguise the calls within the coverage versus Brady.
Brady wants to target White down the sideline against linebacker Danny Trevathan, but he doesn't account for Stewart rolling over the top. With Amendola bracketed in the slot and trail-man coverage underneath, Brady feels pressure off an inside twist stunt and essentially throws into double coverage down the field. This results in an easy pick for Stewart -- read the quarterback and break on the ball. All day.
Given that the Panthers lean on 11 personnel in the game plan (three wide receivers, one tight end and one running back), these combination-man calls can be very valuable for Phillips and the Broncos' defense out of sub-packages (nickel/dime). Disguise the coverage, show pressure and use the built-in calls to eliminate Newton's top targets in passing situations.
2. Show bluff fronts
In the Panthers' only loss of the season to the Falcons in Week 16, Newton's longest pass was 19 yards. In fact, his average throw traveled just 6.1 yards in the air, according to ESPN Stats & Information, his lowest rate this season. The Falcons are a Cover 3 team, but they also bluffed pressure a lot to force the ball underneath.
The Broncos did this repeatedly against Brady and the Patriots, by showing six- or seven-man pressure fronts and then dropping to zone coverage. Yes, the Broncos will have to rush with more contain responsibility versus Newton (can't create open lanes for him to escape the pocket) compared to the style they used against Brady, but the point here is to force Newton to hold the ball, come off his primary read or flat-out jump a throwing window with the underneath defenders.
In the example below, the Broncos are showing "six-up" with safety T.J. Ward mugging the A gap and Von Miller aligning in a rush position on the edge of the defense. But at the snap, Miller re-routes Gronkowski, Ward drops and gets a jam on the tight end and the Broncos play zone coverage while rushing only three.
Once the Broncos jam Gronkowski (twice), Miller becomes an underneath zone and he picks off Brady's throw, showing ridiculous talent for an outside linebacker.
It's a simple game of checkers, really -- the key is Newton has only a split second to make a decision. Show one thing and play another. By bluffing pressure and dropping into a zone shell, the Broncos also get eyes on the QB, which is critical against Newton given his ability to break the pocket.
3. Bring safe blitzes
Can the Broncos blitz Newton while playing safe in the back end? It's an important question because since Week 10, Newton's stats versus the blitz are as follows: 67.7 completion rate (No. 1 in the NFL) for 13 TDs (No. 1) and 0 INTs (No. 1) and 87.3 Total QBR (No. 3).
Here's an example from that Falcons-Panthers matchup, with Atlanta moving to a blitz alignment before the snap of the ball (LB lines up over the LT). This isn't exotic stuff with the Falcons rushing five and dropping six (three-deep, three-under shell), but it allows Atlanta to provide a little heat while taking away Newton's favorite throwing lanes. That's why I call it a safe blitz.
Because of their personnel, the Broncos can also do this five-man pressure using Cover 1 (man-free) principles in the back end. Even if the defense doesn't get home, they are protected with the coverage. Sending the house versus Newton can get the defense in trouble, so why not use some safe blitz concepts after showing those bluff looks? More variety there and an opportunity to possibly steal a turnover.
4. Bracket Olsen
The idea of taking away a player for four quarters isn't realistic, but based on game situation, the Broncos can script to eliminate Olsen, the key to the Panthers' passing game. Whether that's on third down or in the red zone (bracket coverage, for example), Phillips can use some of the looks he showed against the Patriots and Gronkowski.
In this example, the Broncos again show six-man pressure with Miller jamming Gronkowski on the release and Ward in a position to carry the tight end. But that's just the start of this rare coverage look from Phillips as Stewart -- who's aligned over the top and who you can barely see in the first image -- drops down at the snap.
Yes, the Broncos are essentially triple-teaming Gronkowski with a linebacker and two safeties while they rush three. That forces Brady to look outside as he misses on the out cut to Edelman.
Again, Denver only rushed three in this situation and that might change against Newton given his ability to break contain. But I still like how Phillips used this coverage look to take away Gronkowski on this play. Make someone else beat you, right? And when it comes to critical game situations on Sunday, Phillips can force Newton to target Devin Funchess, Ted Ginn Jr. or Corey Brown versus his top-tier cornerbacks by rolling the coverage to eliminate Olsen from the route.
Yes, that will leave Aqib Talib, Chris Harris Jr. and Bradley Roby in one-on-one matchups. But I like those matchups a lot more than allowing Olsen to work the middle of the field, where he can be a weapon for the Panthers.
5. Rob the middle of the field
Watching the tape from the Panthers' matchups with the Falcons and Seahawks, playing Cover 1 with a "robber" (safety dropping inside) or a "lurker" (linebacker playing the hole drop) allows the defense to have two levels of immediate help inside. That tells the coverage defenders to play with an outside shade and funnel the receivers inside to their help. And it also goes back to what we talked about with Newton targeting the middle of the field off straight dropbacks or play-action.
To give you an idea of how this works, take a look at this example from the Seattle tape, with Pete Carroll's defense rotating the safeties and playing Cover 1 Robber.
Earl Thomas walks down in the box pre-snap, but the Seahawks' free safety bails once Newton hikes it, dropping into the deep middle-third of the field with Kam Chancellor sliding into the hole. This gives the Seahawks a defender inside to play the dig route from Olsen with Thomas over the top to close the post. Plus, it's the rotation from the safeties that allows the Seahawks to disguise this look in their pre-snap alignment.
This is just another coverage to add into the mix, along with Quarters, Cover 3, some trap looks outside, etc. But like the four situations we talked about above, playing with a robber gives the Broncos the ability to roll to their coverage assignments, muddy the coverage look and take away what Newton really wants.