Patriots' Key to Offensive Success in Super Bowl Is Slowing Bennett, Avril
Many things were lost in the madness that ensued after the Seattle Seahawks' 28-22 overtime defeat of the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game.
Fans and analysts haven't completely overlooked Russell Wilson's poor play, but many focused on his game-winning touchdown throw. Similarly, many overlooked Aaron Rodgers' subpar display, although his expectations were always going to be lowered because of his opponent.
But almost everyone has ignored Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril's performances.
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The Seahawks' two primary pass-rushing threats were anonymous for long stretches of the game. Avril notched a sack on Rodgers late in the third quarter, but that was the only time any Seahawk took him down.
Part of the difficulty in attacking the Seahawks secondary over the past two seasons has been the quality of their pass rush. They have typically been able to force quarterbacks to get rid of the ball before they want to or alter a team's game plan completely because of their matchup advantages.
In the NFC Championship Game, the Packers relied on Rodgers' pocket presence and athleticism as well as his offensive line's ability in pass protection to neutralize the Seahawks pass rush.
Packers head coach Mike McCarthy didn't adapt his approach so that Rodgers was constantly getting rid of the football quickly or rolling out to either side of the field. He largely ran the offense they have run all season. Even without facing an effective pass rush, Rodgers was still only able to muster 178 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions on 34 pass attempts.
If the New England Patriots are going to get more productivity out of their passing game than that in the Super Bowl, containing Bennett and Avril will be vitally important.
After longtime offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia's offseason departure, it was no surprise that the Patriots' line dropped off in effectiveness. After the first month of the season, the pass protection was carrying the bulk of the blame for the Patriots' poor offensive displays.
While many of those criticisms went too far, they were based in truth. Save for right tackle Sebastian Vollmer, the Patriots haven't had a consistent, well-rounded performer up front. Vollmer and left tackle Nate Solder will be largely responsible for containing Avril and Bennett.
Both Seahawks defenders move around the field, with Bennett shifting inside to defensive tackle at times. Therefore, neither player will be locked in an individual matchup for four quarters.
With that said, Solder should expect to see a lot of Avril. Since he entered the league in 2008 and developed as a Detroit Lions defensive end, Avril has primarily relied on his speed to find effectiveness as a pass-rusher.
Solder has struggled to handle speed-rushers this season.
The former first-round draft pick is a physically gifted O-lineman. He doesn't have the quickest feet of any left tackle in the NFL, but he's also not weighed down by his lower body. Solder's biggest issues in space expand from poor technique.
He makes incredibly poor decisions when establishing his stance and too often he finds his momentum carrying him forward to allow quicker defensive ends to simply knock him to one side before advancing around the edge to the quarterback.
Two sacks from early in the season highlighted these issues.
On this play from New England's Week 4 loss, Kansas City's Tamba Hali lines up across from Solder's outside shoulder at the snap. Hali gets a great jump when Tom Brady takes the ball from the center, immediately putting Solder at a disadvantage. Instead of focusing on getting depth in his drop, Solder quickly attempts to engage Hali.
He does so with little conviction or balance, though. Solder meagerly extends his hands toward Hali, at which point the linebacker smacks them away before running toward the quarterback. Hali forced a fumble by hitting Brady from his blind side.
This play was simply too easy for Hali. It's the kind of performance that a starting left tackle in the NFL can't put forth.
Solder gave up a very similar sack in Week 1 against the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins defensive end didn't get as good of a jump off the snap as Hali, so Solder was in good position from the start of the play. Despite that, he quickly lunged forward and dropped his head as he attempted to engage the defender.
By doing this, the defensive end was simply able to use Solder's momentum against him by punching his arms downward.
As Solder fell forward, the defensive end turned the corner and hit Brady in the backfield. The Patriots QB didn't fumble the football on this occasion, but the speed at which the defensive end got around Solder allowed him to run right through the signal-caller to land a big hit.
When the speed rush isn't beating Solder, it can act as a setup for other pass-rushing moves.
On this play from the same Dolphins game, Solder shows off terrible technique as he overextends to the outside when he sees the speed rush coming. The defensive end spins back to the middle of the field and Solder's feet are trapped beneath him.
Solder can only grasp at air in desperation to prevent him from advancing into the pocket to hit Brady.
Against speed-rushers, the 6'8", 320-pound Solder is always likely to have the upper-body strength and bulk advantage. Bull rushing him isn't easy, but it is possible if the edge-rusher can get him off balance. When Solder fears the speed rush around the corner, the defensive end can time his engagement to push him back into Brady.
That is exactly what happened on this play against the San Diego Chargers in Week 14 when Melvin Ingram got into Solder's chest and shoved him into the New England signal-caller.
Avril isn't likely to do this, but the threat will exist if he can establish his speed rush. Obviously the Patriots would like to give Solder help to prevent Avril from attacking him in space, but against this defense that won't always be easy.
The Patriots should make a concentrated effort to establish the run early in this game to try to slow down the Seahawks pass rush. The Packers were able to run the football effectively early in the NFC Championship Game, and that undoubtedly aided their edge defenders.
While Vollmer isn't a perfect pass protector and Bennett should be able to cause him some problems on the other side of the field, the bigger concern with Bennett comes when he moves inside.
An effective New England running game should help keep Bennett from shifting to defensive tackle, but in passing situations the Seahawks will put its guards under enormous pressure. Ryan Wendell, the team's regular starter at right guard who moved to center for the AFC Championship Game, is a problem in particular.
Regular starting center Bryan Stork missed the AFC Championship Game after injuring his knee in the divisional round, but he is back at practice and should have a chance to play in the Super Bowl. This will likely lead to Wendell slotting back in at right guard.
Wendell is a run-blocking guard who has major issues in pass protection. Bennett should be able to exploit his slow feet and poor technique if given any kind of space to work in.
Against bigger, typically slower interior offensive linemen, Bennett's explosiveness at the snap makes him a major matchup problem. His fluidity, low center of gravity and acceleration while lining up closer to the ball at the snap allows him to advance quickly down the field.
On this Week 9 play against Oakland, Bennett lines up at left defensive end and immediately attacks the right guard's outside shoulder. The guard attempts to engage Bennett quickly with his arms extended.
While accelerating off the line, Bennett showed excellent body control and fluidity to swing his arms and knock away the extended arms of the right guard. From there, accelerates past the guard and attacks the quarterback in the pocket.
From the snap to the sack, Bennett was quick to complete the play.
Even when the right guard was able to get his hands on Bennett, the defensive lineman was too quick and fluid to be stopped. His overall speed prevented the center from coming across to pick him up after he had beaten the right guard.
With Wendell manning the position, Bennett should be able to attack consistently the B-gap of the Patriots offensive line. If he draws double-teams, then Avril will be expected to win in one-on-one situations on the other side of the offensive line.
The Patriots typically adjust very well to their opposition on both sides of the football. However, adjustments won't make any difference if Bennett and Avril are able to play to their potential as major matchup problems.
If Brady is going to find his weapons down the field with any kind of regularity, his offensive line has to have one of its best games of the season.
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