New York Jets receiver Brandon Marshall, the team's biggest playmaker, faced double-teams all afternoon Sunday against the New England Patriots.
And for the Patriots, it worked. Marshall was held to just four catches. Brian Costello of the New York Post expects the rest of the league to use New England's defensive plan as a blueprint to slow down the big wideout:
"Is this the formula other teams are now going to follow?" write Costello. "It will be difficult if [Chris] Ivory is at 100 percent. You might want to walk that safety up to the line for an extra run defender instead of putting him on Marshall. But surely other teams are going to try this approach.
"Take away Marshall and make Eric Decker beat you. Decker played well against New England, catching six passes for 94 yards, but Marshall is just such a dynamic player that having him limited really hurts the Jets offense. You can be sure defensive coordinators were paying attention to what [Bill] Belichick did Sunday."
