It’s not unusual for playoff teams to go through a catharsis at some point in the long NFL season, and the New England Patriots’ came in the seething days after a narrow victory over the Miami Dolphins on Nov. 23.
After the Pats built a 27-3 lead into the third quarter, defensive coordinator Steve Sidwell pulled back the dogs and rushed three or four, dropping the rest of his nickel and dime packages into umbrella coverage.
With time enough to dial his stockbroker, quarterback Dan Marino stood comfortably in the pocket and beat the Pats on three drives for touchdowns.
And after the Dolphins recovered an onside kick in the final minute, New England was close to one of the most humiliating defeats in franchise history.
The Patriots hung on for a 27-24 win and a few days later Sidwell, coach Pete Carroll and the defense had a little heart-to-heart that possibly saved the season.
“You’ve been asking to put more pressure on the quarterback. You’re going to get it,” Carroll told his defense.
No more umbrellas. The Patriots have been raining blitzes on quarterbacks since.
Last Monday, with the AFC East title on the line, New England poured through Miami’s offensive linemen as if they were tackling dummies.
They sacked Marino four times, made him rush several other throws and he was panicked into an interception. Everyone knows it’s going to be more of the same today at Foxboro Stadium.
On second- or third-and-long, Sidwell is going to send his front four, plus linebacker Chris Slade and any combination of defensive backs Larry Whigham and Chris Canty and linebackers Todd Collins, Ted Johnson or Tedy Bruschi.
With two offenses that are sputtering, in all likelihood, the outcome of this game is going to hinge on how well the Dolphins handle the blitz.
This has been a strange year for the Patriots, who were favored by many to return to the Super Bowl.
They had 21 sacks in jumping to a 4-0 record. Then, only 10 sacks in going 2-5 in the next seven games. Finally, with Sidwell taking the lock off the dog pound, they’ve had 15 sacks in the last five games, a stretch in which they’ve gone 4-1 with two wins over the Dolphins.
Sidwell, a former linebacker at the University of Colorado, is in his 16th NFL season and was hired by Carroll this year to revamp a defense that was diammetrically different under Bill Parcells, who played read-and-react football and didn’t blitz much.
“I’m just here putting in Pete’s defense,” said Sidwell, who once put in Jim Mora’s defense, when it was great, at New Orleans.
Carroll’s defense is complicated. Aggressive, chancy and complicated.
“Last year everything was so simplistic,” said cornerback Jimmy Hitchcock. “It was almost boring. This system is so much more complex. We’re really starting to play it well now, but it’s going to take a year and a half to really know it.”
Sidwell isn’t given to Carroll’s emotion. He looks you in the eye and speaks in flat, clear tones and language. “We had a 27-3 lead in that Miami game and there was no need to take a lot of chances,” he said.
Now, looking back on it, he admits, “Yes, maybe we were too conservative.”
Hitchcock was a bit more graphic. “Marino ate us alive that day,” he said.
If he eats the Pats alive again, he’ll have to do it by beating the blitz. The Patriots have learned their lesson. The dogs are loose.
