Originally Posted by
steelreserve
Just to clarify on all this shit:
The way to beat Brady is not with man coverage and no pressure; with time, eventually the receivers will get open.
The way to beat Brady also is not with zone coverage and lots of pressure; with a zone, no matter how much pressure you have, someone is open from the start, and he will get rid of the ball faster than you can get to him.
The only way it works is for man coverage to keep the receivers from being open for the first 2-3 seconds, and for the pressure to be getting there by that time. Not to have perfect man coverage for the whole play because that's unrealistic, just the start of the play. That's it. And that's what the Falcons did for most of the game.
If you just don't have the personnel to pull off both, you are still better off playing tight man coverage for the first 2-3 seconds and gambling to somehow get pressure, than you are playing a zone and gambling to get pressure.
What we did against the Patriots was zone coverage, no pressure, which is just admitting defeat right off the bat.