“Let’s go.”
Those were the words Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Gus Bradley emphasized in discussing his No. 1-ranked defensive unit taking on the No. 1-ranked offense when the New England Patriots travel west to face his team on Sunday.
Bradley knows that the Patriots have good players and a good scheme on offense, led by one of the best quarterbacks in the league, Tom Brady.
However, Bradley said he will not make wholesale changes to deal with New England’s no-huddle offense. Instead, the Seahawks will tinker with what’s already been successful for them this season to keep up with what the Patriots do offensively.
“We’ve kind of built a personality, a philosophy,” Bradley said. “And I think it’s important that each team we play, we really stay within that philosophy.
“Carolina was a classic example. Here we’re seeing speed option, and we still played our defense. We adjusted it somewhat, but we’re very cautious not to get away from who we were. And we want to play fast and make sure everyone knows what we’re doing and communicate. And that’s really the same approach we’re going with in this game.
“So I think it’s going to really be a situation where, ‘You know what we’re doing? And we know what we’re doing — you’re going to check at the line of scrimmage — now let’s go.'”
Bradley understands that his unit might not be able to substitute as much with New England running the no-huddle offense, so it will be important that defensive lineman such as Brandon Mebane, Alan Branch and Red Bryant are in good enough condition to play at a high level for an extended series if they get stuck on the field in Seattle’s base scheme defensively.
“I think we’ll see it right away in the first series or the second series,” Bradley said. “I mean, they’ve had a lot of 12-, 13- and 14-play drives. So within those series, maybe if there’s a deep incompletion or something like that, there’s going to be times like that that we have to be on it on the sidelines and make sure we get our rotations in.”
Bradley went on to say the play of cornerbacks Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner will be important once again, because they will be challenged with the amount of single safety the Seahawks play, putting pressure on the duo to cover on the perimeter.
“Our guys have a great mindset going into it,” Bradley said. “They love the challenge, just like they did last week, and the Green Bay week. And they’re saying, ‘Let’s go.’
“It’s not going to change who we are. And we understand the difficulties of it. And if it’s more difficult, we’ll adjust.”
