Greg Cosell's Film Review: Why Tom Brady always has productive targets, even without Gronk

There are a few themes to the New England Patriots’ winning ways through the years, including their history of successfully throwing the ball no matter who is catching it.

They’ve had Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski. They’ve also done it with guys who aren’t obvious stars. Tom Brady has had success throwing to guys like David Givens, Deion Branch, Reche Caldwell, Troy Brown and others. Now they’re getting a big contribution out of Chris Hogan, who had nine catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns in last week’s AFC championship game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Hogan spent three seasons with the Buffalo Bills and never had a 100-yard game with them.

And what’s striking is the Patriots have done just fine this season with Gronkowski practically playing just five healthy games. I think the Patriots were uniquely equipped to have success without Gronkowski, and their overall approach has allowed them to unearth productive receivers like Hogan as well.

The Patriots have a different game plan every week, on both sides of the ball. They will entirely change what they do from week to week, based on perceived weaknesses in the opponent. As such, they’ve never had an offense that ran through Gronkowski per se, even though he has been very productive. They don’t run an offense through anyone. It changes week to week. So when the Patriots had to come up with game plans that didn’t involve an injured Gronkowski, it wasn’t a huge philosophical shift for them.

Hogan is a good example of a talented but overlooked player who can be very productive within the offense. I like him as a receiver – he has some skill as a deep threat, and has good size – but I believe a lot of his success is a product of the Patriots’ schemes and concepts. I think Julian Edelman can win routes from the slot, whereas Hogan fits great within the context of the offense. They can get receivers open a lot with formations, personnel and route concepts. And Brady is great at finding those open receivers, of course.

When we look at the Patriots’ AFC title game win, we see some of these concepts in action.

On third-and-8 in the second quarter, the Steelers used a late rotation to “Cover 3” zone, with three defensive backs each responsible for a deep third of the field. The Patriots’ three-man route concept from the trips side (three receivers) broke down the coverage and left Hogan wide open with room to run. The late rotation from safety Mike Mitchell moving to the middle forced cornerback Artie Burns to over-compensate on Danny Amendola’s seam route. Edelman ran an out route that ate up the flat defender William Gay. That left Hogan open for 22 yards.

On third-and-13 in the third quarter, the Patriots ran a route concept that’s very hard to defend. There was a post-cross route combination with Edelman running the post and Hogan running the cross. Martellus Bennett ran a wheel route with LeGarrette Blount coming out of the backfield. Give Hogan credit, too: He had a great stair-step (after showing a crossing route, he ran up the field a few steps before crossing the field) to create separation and present himself to Brady for 39 yards.

While some players have become very productive players with the Patriots, it doesn’t mean anyone can play receiver in New England. The Patriots have a complicated passing game. Some talented receivers have come to New England and not played well. It’s not an offense anyone can fit into.

Receivers have to be able to react to the defense after the ball is snapped, because they work off the leverage of defenders, especially against a zone. The receivers have choice routes and options routes, and they have the burden of understanding which route to run based on the defense. The receivers who fit best in the offense understand the routes to run, and get on the same page with Brady.

Here’s a good example. On third-and-goal late in the third quarter against the Steelers, Pittsburgh was in a red zone “quarters” zone concept. Steelers cornerback William Gay matched up with Edelman, and Brady had to wait for Edelman to define his route before turning it loose. When Edelman stopped and reversed in the end zone, Brady hit Edelman for a 10-yard touchdown.

The Patriots aren’t exactly able to plug and play anyone into their offense, but because of their scheme and play-calling, they have been able to get great production out of many different receivers. Having a great quarterback like Brady, who is able to control the game at the line of scrimmage and understands how to play from the pocket and find open receivers, is also an obvious advantage for any receiver.

The Patriots have been able to replace Gronkowski’s production in the offense this season, and the passing game has been very good yet again. There are good reasons for that.

– – – – – – –

NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.