Volin On Toucher & Rich: Patriots Threw The Kitchen Sink At Peyton Manning
BOSTON (CBS) - It's been a long, long time since fans in this region have seen the Patriots defense play against an elite quarterback as well as they did on Sunday.
Ben Volin of the Boston Globe came on 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich show Tuesday morning to weigh in on what made New England's game plan so effective in their 43-21 win over Denver.
"This was one of those games where they kind of threw the kitchen sink at Peyton Manning and the Broncos. The Patriots mix up their game plan every week -- it's general things like some weeks Darrelle Revis will match up on a receiver, or some weeks he'll stick to one side. You know, general things. In this game they mixed up their coverages from series to series and snap to snap. They didn't show the same thing twice."
The Rob Ninkovich interception was a perfect example of Ben's point, because we haven't seen that from him this year. But there were other examples too.
"Rob Ninkovich dropping off into zone coverage about six times -- they didn't really do that a whole lot this year. Patrick Chung was lining up on Wes Welker. Brandon Browner was defending the slot sometimes. On some series Revis would only stick to the left side, and other series they would match him up. Each of the defensive backs ended up covering four or five different Denver receivers throughout the game."
Even future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning couldn't get a good grasp of the Patriots' defensive scheme, which was constantly changing on Sunday afternoon, plus executing and firing on all cylinders.
"Peyton Manning could sit there on the sideline and look at the still photos but it wouldn't do him any good, because the Patriots were literally switching up their defensive coverages every series, or even every snap. Just a really good job by the Patriots not showing any tendencies," said Volin. "A really solid game plan all around by Bill Belichick. It was the type of game where you really see the differences in coaching between Belichick and a guy like John Fox, who is a guy that I think has gotten by mostly on the talent of Peyton Manning."
Listen below to the full interview!
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