It’s said that Bill Belichick always tries to take something — a big something, otherwise why bother? — from an opposing offense. The Falcons and Matt Ryan saw as much when they played in Foxborough on Sept. 27, 2009. Tony Gonzalez, just imported from Kansas City, caught 14 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns in the Falcons’ first two games. Against the Patriots, he caught one pass for 16 yards, that coming in the fourth quarter of a 26-10 loss.
On that dreary Sunday, Belichick bracketed Gonzalez with two defenders and dared the other Falcons to beat his team. Roddy White caught four passes, Michael Jenkins five. (Being an Alabama junior, Julio Jones caught none.) It was vintage Belichick, even if the game didn’t amount to much. The Falcons finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs; the Patriots went 10-6 and lost in Round 1.
The most famous Belichick game plans were concocted for Super Bowls. In January 1991, as the Giants readied to play the Bills, Belichick — then Bill Parcells’ defensive coordinator — told his men, “We’re going to let Thurman Thomas get 100 yards.”
His rationale: It was better for the power-running Giants to make Buffalo move slowly on Thomas’ legs, as opposed to fast-breaking with Jim Kelly running the no-huddle and hitting his wide receivers. The Bills had led the NFL with 428 points and mustered 99 in their two playoff victories. The Giants won 20-19 when Scott Norwood missed wide right. That game plan is on display in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Eleven years later, Belichick’s Pats faced the Rams, who had scored what stands as the seventh-most points in NFL history. (These Falcons just matched that total of 540, FYI.) To check Kurt Warner and his many and splendid receivers, New England deployed five, six and even seven defensive backs. This dared Mike Martz, the offensive mind behind what was known as the Greatest Show on Turf, to feed running back Marshall Faulk. For reasons unknown, the Rams let Warner keep throwing — he completed 28 of 42 passes — while Faulk carried only 17 times.
Belichick didn’t just overload his secondary. A key moment came when linebacker Mike Vrabel stationed himself as a fifth lineman and blew in on Warner, forcing a rushed pass that Ty Law intercepted and returned for the game’s first touchdown. And that’s why Belichick keeps winning Super Bowls: He thinks of stuff.
At issue this week is what he’ll try to take from the Falcons, who scored 30 or more points in 13 of their 18 games. The catch is that these Falcons might actually benefit from Belichick going exotic and bracketing, say, Jones. Because Julio, grand as he is, has become a faulty barometer of this team’s success.
Of his eight 100-yard games this season (counting playoffs), the Falcons lost four. This isn’t to suggest that Jones was the reason they lost, but it is noteworthy. Going by total yardage, the best defenses the Falcons faced were No. 2 Arizona and No. 4 Denver. In those games, Jones caught a total of six passes for 64 yards and no touchdowns. The Falcons won both.
Asked Tuesday about the possibility of Belichick again pulling a Gonzalez, Ryan said: “I don’t know if it’s easy to do. We’ve got a lot of guys who’ve made plays for us all year. We’ve been very balanced in the run game and the pass game. We’ve been very balanced with who we’ve thrown to. We change personnel groupings a lot. We do a lot of different things.”
Then: “I’m sure they’ll have a plan, and they’ll do a great job with it. They’ve done a great job all year and have for a long time. We’ve kind of had the approach that however a defense tries to defend us this year, we’ve got an answer for it. We’ve got people who can make plays and we’re not afraid to trust any of our guys to go out and make plays.”
That’s the beauty of Kyle Shanahan’s offense — every receiver isn’t just eligible but viable. If an opponent tries to play with too many defensive backs, it’s apt to be overrun by Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman. This team strikes from all angles. It’s not happenstance that Ryan set an NFL record by throwing touchdown passes to 13 different receivers; often it seems as if he has 13 options on a given play.
Does Belichick review past game plans for re-purposing? Oh yes. Quoth the man himself: “You go back through your notes and you say, ‘That’s a good idea; let’s take a look at that this week.’ And sometimes you say, ‘It was good for them, but this is a little different; we don’t want to do that.’ Somewhere along the line it all comes together. You add some things, you kick some things out and you end up where you are — and hopefully it all ties together.”
We can assume Belichick will have something for the Falcons. He could use cornerback Malcolm Butler, whose goal-line interception saved a Super Bowl victory in Dan Quinn’s last game before moving to Flowery Branch, to shadow Jones wherever he goes. He could try to play with six/seven DBs and make Freeman/Coleman a latter-day Thurman Thomas. He could do almost anything. He’s Bill Belichick.
But Shanahan is no empty suit, and these Falcons have figured out pretty much everything to date. And they, with their wealth of offensive, might be the one team that welcomes the Belichick Treatment. If he takes someone away, there’s more for everyone else.
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