Highlighting a Play For Dont'a Hightower

Before the 2012 draft, I wrote a post pointing out that the only spot on defense that was fundamentally sound with clear starters and sufficient depth was the inside linebacker spot. Then the Patriots drafted Dont'a Hightower in the first round. Now while I didn't understand what the Patriots plan was, they clearly had one. Once training camp started, two things became apparent that I was not expecting: first, the Patriots were staying in a 4-3 base; and second, they were moving Rob Ninkovich from Sam linebacker to left defensive end. I like this move for a lot of reasons, but I would like to highlight an idea that I immediately thought of when considering this situation. Below I'm going to diagram a play, that while it is in no way revolutionary, it becomes particularly more viable and effective for the Patriots this year, with the addition of Hightower, compared to last year.

First off, the defensive personnel:
Defensive Tackles: 75, Vince Wilford (1-technique); 98, Jonathan Fanene (3-technique)
Defensive Ends: 95, Chandler Jones (9-technique); 50, Rob Ninkovich (7-technique)
Linebackers: 51, Jerod Mayo (Will); 55, Brandon Spikes (Mike); Dont'a Hightower (Sam)
Safeties: 25, Patrick Chung (Strong); 28, Steve Gregory (Free)
Cornerbacks: 21, Ras-I Dowling (Right), 32, Devin McCourty (Left)

The Green Rectangle highlights the heavy pressure the Patriots have to stop the run. Ultimately, the fullback will have to make choice, accentuated by the Orange Circles.

The initial call in the offensive huddle is a Power-O Man Blocking Run to the strong (right) side. When they line up, however, the QB sees 8 men in the box ready to defend the run. The play calls for right guard, right tackle and tight end to push Wilfork (DT, 75), Ninkovich (DE, 50), and Hightower (SLB, 45), respectively, away from the B gap; the center and left tackle to prevent the backside pursuit by Fanene (DT, 98) and Jones (DE, 95); and the left guard to pull and enter the right B gap hitting Chung (SS, 25), followed by the fullback who then has a choice (highlighted by the orange circles): take on Mayo (WLB, 51) in the backfield or Spikes (MLB, 55) in the hole. Either way one will be free to pursue the running back unblocked, along with Gregory (FS, 28) who would be conservatively approaching the hole to make the tackle in case someone misses. Overall, this play gives the advantage to the defense, as at least two men should be free to make a play on the running back.

The Dotted Red Lines represent man coverage responsibility. The Yellow Boxes indicate the advantage for the offense.

So the quarterback audibles to a pass play. In particular, one that will take advantage of the single high safety. By sending two deep routes, one of them should be in single coverage. To prevent this, Chung and Hightower (SS, 25 and SLB, 45) are double covering the tight end with inside-outside leverage, but if the tight end is quick and can get behind Chung with his speed, Gregory (FS, 28) cannot choose correctly between the tight end post route or the right wide receiver running a go. Furthermore, Dowling (CB, 21) is on an island with the left receiver in a difficult position particularly for a well timed comeback. Finally, the running back would draw man coverage from the Spikes (MLB, 55) streaking towards the sidelines where a simple check down throw could produce a large gain due to so many people back pedaling. In terms of pass protection, the fullback stays to block the blitzing Mayo (WLB, 51) leaving 6 offensive players to block 5 defensive players, with Wilfork double teamed. Seemingly, this play gives multiple advantages to the offense both in where to go with the ball and in pass protection.

The Red Boxes indicate defensive zones, the Blue Boxes indicate an good opportunity for an interception, and again the Yellow Boxes indicate an advantage for the offense.

After the snap, however, the defense backs off into a Zone Blitz with 2 Deep Shell, with Chung (SS, 25) sinking quickly to get over the right wide receiver and Gregory (FS, 28) shifting over to the left wide receiver. Now Dowling (CB, 21) can play underneath and is in great position to pick off a pass on the comeback route, and McCourty (CB, 32) will have help on the go route. Ninkovich (DE, 50) and Mayo (WLB, 51) hard step inside to get the offensive right tackle and full back to get into their pass protection set, but then back into an underneath coverage zone. Hightower (SLB, 45) comes on a blitz, ignoring the TE acting like a 9-technique defensive end rushing the passer, hopefully beating the tackle who is out of position trying to block Ninkovich (DE, 50). Spikes (MLB, 55) has to back pedal into a deep zone, similar to a Tampa-2 defense, to protect against a pass over the middle. The same 6 offensive players are blocking, but only 4 defensive players are rushing and if all goes well there will still be a (semi-)unblocked rusher, Hightower (SLB, 45).

The correct decision here is the tight end over the middle, if he can get behind Spikes (MLB, 55), the advantage goes to the offense. This play puts a lot of strain on both Spikes (MLB, 55) and Ninkovich to drop quickly and be ready for the post route. Furthermore, Chung (SS, 25) also needs to move quickly to get in position. Ninkovich (DE, 50) must also stay disciplined and tackle well against the running back going into the flat should the quarterback dump it off. He should have help from McCourty (CB, 32) as well.

The purpose of the play is to create confusion while getting more defenders dropping into coverage and still effectively applying pressure to the quarterback with Hightower (SLB, 45). While the tight end is most likely the correct decision for the quarterback, it is a difficult one to make if Hightower (SLB, 45) can get to the quarterback quickly. If thrown too quickly to the tight end, Spikes (MLB, 55) and Ninkovich (DE, 50) should be in great position to make a play. If thrown to the left wide receiver, without understanding the coverage, a pick is very likely. Finally, trying to force it into the double coverage of the right wide receiver would also be difficult.

What makes this play relevant in terms of the Patriots 2012 personnel, specifically, is that it takes advantage of Ninkovich’s good coverage skills for a defensive end (compared to say Shaun Ellis or Brandon Deaderick who would have been in that spot last year), and replaces his pass rushing skills with a relatively equal skill set in Hightower, who showed competency pass rushing in Alabama's nickel package.