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Patriots Seeking Offensive Identity. All teams in the NFL have a personality. In San Francisco, there is Steve Young and the greatest receiver of all time, Jerry Rice. In Tampa Bay, there is the tenacious defense of the Bucs headed by Warren Sapp. In Denver, there is the Mile High Salute, future hall-of-famer John Elway and Pro Bowler Terrell Davis. What's in New England? "I think the players will tell us what it's going to be," said Ernie Zampese, the Pats' new offensive coordinator. "They'll show us what they can do and what they can't do, and we'll take it from there." We have Drew Bledsoe. Is that enough? The passing aspect of the offense is proven, but the running game isn't. Zampese is right when he says that the players will tell us what it's going to be. Pete Carroll and Ernie Zampese are working hard to get a great running attack for the upcoming season. Rookie RB Robert Edwards and 2nd year RB Sedrick Shaw will be the ones carrying out the running attack for the majority of the duties. We do have the weapons. How explosive they will become is up to the players. The Patriots have created hype by saying that the team will run the ball more. The most notable team that said they would run the ball a lot and have been unable to do it is AFC East rival Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins, headed by head coach Jimmy Johnson, had the 2nd WORST running attack last year. "No use saying you're going to run the ball or that you're going to be a running team if you can't run it," Zampese said, "You have to start from somewhere, so we'll start with the running game. But ultimately, the players decide what we do best." Zampese was brought here to New England to fine-tune the offense that was originally created by him. Coach Pete Carroll used the same style of offense to duplicate the success Zampese had in Dallas, which included a Super Bowl victory. Carroll said that "we're going to the source", referring to the Zampese and the offense he perfected. Zampese has been with pro bowl-caliber players and has made them into hall-of-famers. He was in Dallas for four years as coordinator of the Cowboys, working with quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith, wide receiver Michael Irvin and tight end Jay Novacek. Before that, he directed the Los Angeles Rams' offense with Jim Everett at quarterback. Even before that, he was the coordinator with the San Diego Chargers in an offense that was built around quarterback Dan Fouts and receivers Kellen Winslow and Charlie Joiner, which are all Hall of Famers. If Ernie Zampese knows anything, he hows how to light up a scoreboard. Ernie's situation with his past teams is not much different than here in New England. As explained before, Ernie always had a great group of players that included a strong quarterback, a speedy running back, and one or two talented receivers. Its the same here in New England. He has Drew Bledsoe, Robert Edwards, Sedrick Shaw, or other great running backs, Terry Glenn, Shawn Jefferson, and a saddle full of pro bowl-caliber receivers. He believes he can turn Sedrick Shaw and Robert Edwards into great players for the Patriots. If the players are healthy, he can make anything happen. "They're working hard and they're looking good," Zampese said. "Of course, it's really hard to tell what you have until they put the pads on and go at it during regular training camp." Even if he's been with the Patriots for only a few weeks now, Ernie has already made a change with the offense. He has added a short passing game in which Bledsoe will be asked to get rid of the ball more quickly to receivers who will run shorter pass routes. This will expand the options and help keep the flow of the game in the Patriots favor. "It gives the offense a sense of urgency; everything has to be done a little quicker," said Zampese. "Most of the routes are timing routes so there's going to be a lot of practice involved." He has found working with Bledsoe easy and he has been constantly asked to compare his new quarterback to Troy Aikman. "I hate to make comparisons; they really have different styles," said Zampese. "But I'll say this: Drew can throw every kind of pass that Troy ever threw. Drew can throw long and he can get it there on all the sideline routes. In fact, right now we're trying to get him to take a little off some of his throws because the routes are shorter." What makes this addition so spectacular is that it helps beat blitzes, something the Patriots thought they would have problems with. This is a big plus for the Patriots in a crucial area. You don't have to be a football genius to realize the Pats' new backfield will see a lot of blitzing by opposing defenses. The first week of the season will showcase how well the Patriots handle the blitz when they play the defending Super Bowl champions, the Denver Broncos. Shorter pass routes and quicker passes will definantly help take a lot of the pressure placed on the inexperienced running backs. Rookie fullback Chris Floyd might be a good fit when he is assigned to block for the quarterback, along with run blocking. Of the newcomers, Zampese says he has been impressed with Edwards, especially with his ability to catch the ball coming out of the backfield. And Cullors and Shaw have potential to be explosive, and possibly even be starters. Zampese prefers not to get into too much detail because he hasn't seen them on the field and playing. He'll have that opportunity in a month. |
