Don’t call New England Patriots left tackle Matt Light a meanderer
On his show today on ESPN 890 Mike Felger asked New England Patriots left tackle Matt Light about the team’s zone blocking scheme, or perhaps more accurately, he asked him to what extent it is zone blocking. In true Patriots fashion Light deflected the question by asking Felger about his view on what zone blocking is. Felger opted for the common explanation that in a zone blocking scheme the offensive linemen try to stretch the play outside by, as he put it, meandering outside to make blocks and have the runningback read and hit a gap as he pleases. Light didn’t exactly dispute that description but he strongly objected to Felger’s choice of words: “If you ever use the words meander and block in the same [sentence]” were Light’s specific words.
Apart from the meandering I suppose Felger’s description of zone blocking is more or less accurate. I don’t really know. I’ve heard and read all kinds of descriptions of what zone blocking is including a couple that in my opinion are contradictory.
One easy way to explain zone blocking is to say “it is what the Broncos do.” I don’t necessarily buy that. I mean, yes, they zone block, I guess, but one thing that sets them apart from what the Patriots do is that the Broncos use that dirty double-team block where the back-side offensive lineman cut-blocks the defensive lineman they’re blocking a split second after the play-side offensive lineman releases to block a linebacker or a safety. The Broncos offensive line is schematically less than half-a-second away from a chop block on most plays (chop blocks are illegal because they are considered substantially more likely to cause injuries than other most other forms of blocking). I’ve seen the Patriots do that only once this year (Billy Yates against San Diego Chargers in the second week of the season) and I hope I won’t see it again. I’m all for cut blocks but I really don’t care for chop blocks and near chop blocks.
By and large, it seems to me that the Patriots have used zone-ish blocking schemes with tackles and center Dan Koppen frequently pulling against 3-4 defenses (New York Jets and San Diego Chargers) and old-fashioned traps with pulling guards against 4-3 defenses. That’s not to say they don’t run traps against the 3-4: Yates got hurt when running a trap against the Chargers.
As Light pointed out, the blocking scheme for any given game doesn’t just depend on the formation the opposing defense favors but also its front-seven personnel. Pounding the Bills inside the tackles made a lot of sense since they have a fast but fairly light front-seven. Trying to out-flank the Chargers with zone blocking made sense since the Chargers have big guys who aren’t as easily out muscled.
For the record, I still miss the off-tackle Power-I they ran last year with so much success. This season the Patriots have used the same formation, but with sub-optimal personnel groupings and play calling. Maybe it will come back if tight end David Thomas gets healthier.
By the way, as he mentioned during the interview, Light is from Greenville, Ohio, which is pretty much just across the border from my wife’s hometown Richmond in Indiana. She actually has a few relatives up Greenville way. Serious hick country, that whole border area, just a stone’s throw north of hillbillies who cook moonshine in hollers in Kentucky. I love it. If you want to visit the area I recommend Hueston Woods outside of Oxford, Ohio, home of Miami University.
(Hey, Felger, thanks for the directions to your Back Bay parking spots!)
