He was named NFL Coach of the Year for turning the New England Patriots from 4-13 into instant Super Bowl contenders, but Mike Vrabel has been accused of having “made it easier” for the Seattle Seahawks to beat his team in the big game.
Vrabel and the Pats were on the wrong end of a 29-13 scoreline in Super Bowl LX, largely because they were dominated by Seattle’s smothering defense. That dominance can be attributed, at least in part to Vrabel tendencies, according to Conor Orr of Sports Illustrated.
Orr explained how “New England’s defensive tendency was to play ‘bigger than you.’ For example, if a team came out in two-tight-end personnel grouping, the Patriots would play their opponents like a team using three tight ends. Mike Vrabel was, after all, a pugilist at heart and loved to beat opponents down, though revealing those habits made it easier for the Seahawks to design an offensive game plan to beat it (some of which involved timing New England’s defensive stunts and running opposite them.”
Telegraphing what his defense might do was just one way Vrabel and his staff were out-thought by the Seahawks on Sunday, February 8. Other examples not only undermined a game, but ultimately overwhelmed Patriots defense.
They also revealed why Drake Maye looked like anything but a quarterback with MVP credentials.
Mike Vrabel, Patriots Staff Made Wrong Calls Defensively
On the surface, the Patriots played well enough defensively to lift the Lombardi Trophy, but the appearance of a stout unit was deceiving. Although they only gave up one touchdown, the Pats failed to force a turnover, sacked Maye’s opposite number Sam Darnold just once and allowed Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III to rush for 135 yards.
As Orr pointed out, Walker was able to run away from stunting Patriots defensive linemen. He also “generated a season-high +42 rushing yards over expected in the Super Bowl, forcing 9 missed tackles for an extra 79 yards. The Patriots had not allowed more than 35 yards off missed tackles to any player this season,” according to Next Gen Stats.
Poor fundamentals harmed the Patriots, but so did suspect coaching. Particularly when it came to matching personnel.
Specifically, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell had focused some of his pre-game analysis on how the Seahawks use 12 personnel, one running back and two tight ends. Barnwell noted that “When the Seahawks operate out of 12 personnel (one RB, two TE), NFL defenses have responded with their base defense nearly 74% of the time. They’re the league’s best offense by EPA/play by a considerable margin out of 12 vs. base and below-average vs. nickel/dime defenses.”
To Barnwell’s surprise, the “Patriots were in their base defense on 22 of 25 snaps against 12 personnel tonight.”
Failing to matchup with different defensive looks made it easier for the Seahawks to play the game they wanted. Unfortunately for the Patriots, Maye was afforded no such luxury by an equally limited game-plan on the other side of the ball.
Coaches Left Drake Maye at the Mercy of Seahawks
Maye was left wishing for a do-over because Vrabel and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels left him at the mercy of the Seahawks. They knew the Seahawks would attack the pocket with designer pressure, but Vrabel and McDaniels never did more to protect Maye.
Instead, they left floundering rookie left tackle Will Campbell to endure yet more postseason misery. Campbell’s problems were compounded by rarely having a tight end next to him or a running back to chip on his side of the line.
Vrabel let McDaniels stay with familiar blocking schemes, even though “the Seahawks’ defense installed a number of calls for the line throughout the week and gave the team’s vaunted front four the freedom to decide what they wanted to employ. As one coach said, they were able to figure out where the Patriots’ line was sliding its protections and pick the appropriate stunt or ‘game’—a blanket term coaches use for a series of coordinated movements— based on those predictions,” according to Orr.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald and defensive coordinator Aden Durde had the measure of Vrabel and McDaniels. Especially with their blitz schemes for slot cornerback Devon Witherspoon.
The latter “generated a career-high 4 pressures on just 6 pass rushes in the Super Bowl, recording a sack and forcing an Uchenna Nwosu pick-six,” per Next Gen Stats.
Orr noted how “Seattle called the two Devon Witherspoon blitzes early in the game with purpose, hoping to rattle Maye as soon after kickoff as possible.”
The Witherspoon plan caught the Patriots cold, but its repetition also showed how slow Vrabel and his staff were to adjust. As NFL Media’s Bucky Brooks pointed out, Macdonald “kept repeating the Overload blitz with Nickel hitting the B gap over and over. Nothing complex, but the Patriots couldn’t pick it up, so there’s no need to change.”
That inability to change things up defined how the Patriots wilted on the biggest stage. They simply allowed the Seahawks to do what they’d always done. Like when McDaniels rarely used six offensive linemen to establish a running game against the nickel defenses the Seahawks play on base downs.
Vrabel had the inferior team talent-wise, but that’s where shrewd coaching is supposed to make the difference. It worked for the Patriots in Super Bowls past, but was missing here.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Patriots HC Mike Vrabel ‘Made It Easier’ for Seahawks in Super Bowl appeared first on Heavy Sports.