Sometimes in that hurry-up tempo, the Patriots will use one word, or a series of short phrases, to get their offense lined up quickly to keep the defense off balance. The Baltimore Ravens know how to deal with this tempo. I've been coached by Bill Belichick in dealing with this tempo, and a coach that helped me in that area was Dean Pees, now the Ravens defensive coordinator. So this Ravens defense will be ready for that. They will have their own short phrases or single words that can line up an entire defense. Ever since training camp, playing defense against good tempo is covered by good coaches -- like Belichick, Pees, Patricia. For example, the color white. If you hear that, it's a primary color, and primary colors can mean even fronts. The color white can mean man or zone based on how you want to interpret it. So if a linebacker communicates "white" to a front, it can easily mean "even front, man coverage in the back." So instead of having to say "even! even!" to the front, making line calls -- you have one color and everyone knows what they are doing. Another key thing is this: When you know they're in hurry-up, you don't match in coverage; you play sides, left and right. These nuances are things Dean Pees knows. I remember hurry-up run plays against Baltimore that were stopped in the past matchups. What I'm saying is that they will be ready for tempo.
Tedy Bruschi Chat: Chat with Tedy Bruschi - SportsNation - ESPN Boston
