Getting Stefon Diggs more involved in the passing game was a priority for the New England Patriots, so offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels made one big change to inspire the wide receiver’s return to form against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 16.
Diggs reeled in nine catches for 138 yards during the 28-24 win at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday Night Football. Most of those catches owed a lot to the way McDaniels altered Diggs’ route tree.
Similar alterations also helped Diggs’ fellow Pats wideouts beat a core Ravens coverage concept in clutch moments.
Josh McDaniels Changed Stefon Diggs Plan
Diggs wanted more targets after an uncharacteristically quiet outing against the Buffalo Bills in Week 15. McDaniels initially downplayed Diggs’ lack of involvement, but the play-caller had clearly worked on some new plans ahead of facing the Ravens.
Those different strategies became obvious after Diggs had made a contested catch along the sideline for 25 yards on the Patriots’ opening drive.
This was a reminder 32-year-old Diggs hasn’t lost his talent as a deep threat, but the rest of his involvement was based on more nuanced schemes. Those schemes had Diggs “working open on crossing routes and in zone voids. The veteran wideout caught two catches for 58 yards on crossers, two outs for 24 yards, and one vertical route for 23 yards,” according to Patriots.com Staff Writer Evan Lazar.
One of those designs saw the “Patriots running intersecting crossers (Yankee concept) downfield. Ravens CB Ar’Darius Washington thinks he’s passing off his crosser (Douglas) to CB Marlon Humphrey on the other side of the field, but Humphrey doesn’t get the message. Washington then gets a little lost in space, rather than jumping Diggs’ crosser from the other side of the formation, and Diggs runs across Washington’s face into a leading throw by Maye for a 33-yard catch-and-run.”
This was vintage McDaniels, a quick-hitter over the middle drawn up to create yards after the catch for a sudden receiver. The concept made stars out of quick slot-specialists like Wes Welker, Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman, but having Diggs and his game-breaking speed run these routes represented a deluxe update of an old Patriots favorite.
Similar principles of a shallow choice route and quick throw helped Diggs convert on 4th-and-2 on the game-winning drive.
Option routes from the slot used to be the foundation of the Pats’ passing game in Tom Brady’s prime. McDaniels brought them back not only to free Diggs, but also to help beat a particular type of coverage.
Patriots Wide Receivers Exploited Ravens Scheme
It wasn’t just Diggs making big plays after the catch in Baltimore. Second-year quarterback Drake Maye also got help from fellow receivers who consistently beat man coverage.
That was the priority because, as Lazar noted, “the Ravens entered the week ranked eighth in man coverage rate, while the book on New England has been to play sticky man coverage while taking away Maye’s deep ball.”
Defenses playing man coverage at such a high rate is usually a sign they don’t fear a team’s receivers. That makes sense when Diggs is the Pats’ lone star pass-catcher and he’s been seeing more double coverage.
Opponents doubling Diggs and risking covering Maye’s other targets one on one was a growing problem for McDaniels. Yet “on Sunday night, the Ravens played 14 drop-backs in man coverage, and Maye was 9-of-13 for 131 yards and a touchdown when Baltimore was in man-to-man schemes,” per Lazar.
Those impressive numbers were made possible by tight end Austin Hooper and wideout Mack Hollins. Both got free between the numbers, with Lazar crediting Hooper for winning on a seam route, while Hollins was open on another crosser to help setup the decisive score, a 21-yard touchdown run by Rhamondre Stevenson.
The Patriots found answers when they needed them most. McDaniels has cracking the code to get marquee skill player Diggs involved again has come at the perfect time with the playoffs looming.
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