Ryan Clark(Steelers CB): Tom Brady 'sees ghosts'
Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark said Monday on ESPN's "NFL Live" that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady "sees ghosts" when defenses are able to bump his receivers and keep him under pressure.
Walker: Clark's Evaluation Has Merit
Walker Numbers don't lie and neither does game film, so Ryan Clark has a strong point when he says Tom Brady "sees ghosts" in the pocket, writes James Walker. Blog
Clark, working this week in Bristol, Conn., as a guest analyst, made his comments when asked how vulnerable the Patriots are given the offseason loss of Wes Welker.
Clark said the key to playing the Patriots is keeping pressure on Brady.
"In 2010, we saw it start with the Jets in the playoffs," he said. "When Tom Brady gets pressure and when you're man-to-man and bumping those guys and making it hard for him to throw, he sees ghosts.
"Even when guys aren't around him, even when he's not about to be sacked, when his clock goes off in his head that the ball should be out, we'll see him duck, we'll see him flinch. When you get Tom Brady doing that, the whole New England Patriots mystique goes away."
Clark was then asked what the game plan was when the Steelers played the Patriots.
The Haunting of Tom Brady
The longer Tom Brady spends in the pocket, the less effective he is. Last season, he had an 81.1 Total QBR when in the pocket for less than three seconds and a 59.7 Total QBR when in the pocket for three or more seconds. A look at Brady by time in the pocket in 2012:
Category Under 3 seconds 3 or more
Comp. pct. 68.2 42.3
Total QBR 81.1 59.7
Sack pct.* 1.8 11.8
*Sacks per drop-back
"I'll be honest, the years we tried to go in there and fire zone and play Tom Brady in that way, he was able to pick us apart. In that, you're not overloading the offense -- one-on-one rushes, only rushing five, so he's able to find places to go," Clark said.
"Two years ago we played them and dominated them because we went man-to-man and had a big corner in Cortez Allen on [Rob] Gronkowski, and made it hard for Tom Brady to get the ball off, in timing, and made him to have to make plays. It was hard for him."
Clark said the Patriots' loss of Welker is "huge."
"I know they think Danny Amendola can come in and have the same type of numbers he had with the Rams, but we also have to remember, he's fragile," he said. "He's not a guy who has completed a whole season, especially playing inside in what can be a physical AFC East. You also think about Gronkowski and the injury; that is going to be bigger than anything for the New England Patriots coming in this year. Also Aaron Hernandez …"
The Patriots host the Steelers on Sunday, Nov. 3