HOUSTON -- All season long, the New England Patriots have kept
the genie in the bottle.
Time and again, they've gone against high-profile running backs and held
them down.
Look at the backs they've held under 100 yards -- Eddie George twice,
Ricky Williams twice, Curtis Martin twice, Edgerrin James twice, Travis
Henry twice, Fred Taylor and Tiki Barber. Only one back topped 100 yards
against the Patriots this season -- Denver's Clinton Portis (26 carries,
111 yards in a 30-26 New England victory).
But the Patriots feel the challenge that awaits them in the Super Bowl
is different. With big banger Stephen Davis and the shifty DeShaun
Foster, the Patriots face a team that is both talented and deceptive.
"Our defense and their offense mirror each other," explained Patriots
linebackers coach Rob Ryan. "They are unique. They hide their formations
so much better than most teams. They run a lot of toss-cracks, they run
a lot of different draws with different combinations of pullers. They're
a unique running game and we haven't seen anything like them.
"I'm sure they haven't seen anything like (nose tackle) Ted Washington
either," added Ryan, "but they stick with the running game and they come
at you with different scheme runs, so we have to be at the top of our
game to have success against them."
The 6-foot, 230-pound Davis has been a beast this season. He ran for
1,444 regular-season yards despite being inactive in two games and
limited in two others by a quadriceps injury.
In the playoffs, he has run for 266 yards on 51 carries (an average of
5.2 yards per carry).
"You have to know what they're in and that's what's hard about
recognizing the formations," explained Ryan. "You have to play their
plays even more than recognizing formations. On almost every play they
have someone motioning. They start off in a one-back set, they can be in
a two-back set by the snap of the ball. They can have a tight end or
back come all the way across and then back." Against Philadelphia, the
Panthers unveiled a backfield formation with two tight ends set behind
the guards, the wide receivers in close and Davis deep in the backfield
-- kind of an inverted wishbone. They ran eight plays from that
formation with decent success.
Carolina head coach John Fox has promised something else will be
installed for this game. As much as the Panthers throw at a defense in
terms of motion and formations, they really only have four basic running
plays, a throwback to the Giants teams of the mid-'80s. But it's the
disguise before the snap and the effectiveness with which they run the
plays that makes them hard to stop.
Their persistence, said defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel, also sets
them apart.
"The major difference is their commitment. 'A lot of teams in the league
will move the ball by throwing; Carolina has the commitment to the run
and they will run the ball regardless of the result.
"If they gain 2 yards on a play, they'll come back and run it again. If
they gain 2 yards, they'll run it again. Some teams, if they run the
ball on two plays and get nothing, they won't run it that third time.
But Carolina, they will," said Crennel.
When Davis was injured, Foster became more involved in the Panthers'
attack. He's run for 95 and 60 yards in the past two games.
"Stephen has been around and knows how to hit the holes," explained
Panthers fullback Brad Hoover. "DeShaun knows all the reads too, but is
a tad behind Stephen in reading blocks. Stephen is a powerful runner
with some burst; DeShaun is more of a speed guy who has some power."
Players in the Patriots front-seven are very much aware that how well
they play early in the game will go far toward determining the winner.
"If we don't slow Davis down it will be a long day," said defensive
lineman Bobby Hamilton. "We have to play sound technique and do our job
and only our job. If you try to do your job and someone else's, you'll
leave a seam and he'll bust 'em open because he has a lot of speed."
"The running game is the strength of their team and it is one of the
many strengths or our team," explained linebacker Tedy Bruschi. "It's
going to be strength versus strength."
But as exceptional as Carolina's attack is, the Patriots can take some
solace knowing they've held down good backs before.
"We've dealt with a strong running game just about every week," said
safety Rodney Harrison. "We've stopped Ricky Williams and only one guy
-- Clinton Portis -- ran for 100 yards on us. We've gone against Fred
Taylor, Edgerrin James and Eddie George. Time and time again, there's
been a challenge for us. It's just a matter of whether or not we are
going to stop (Davis) with seven or eight men. We cannot allow a guy to
run crazy on us."
