Analysis

Patriots-Bengals Film Review: What’s Up With Jules Edition

October 20, 2016 by Mike Dussault

julian edelman gif

I came out of the win over the Bengals happy that the Patriots were no longer having to over-rely on Julian Edelman. Preserving Edelman for the key moments in the playoff run is of prime importance as we saw last year, when the Patriots 3rd down numbers fell off a cliff when Edelman went down.

However I made the mistake of flipping on Felger and Mazz on Monday afternoon to discover them wondering what was going on with Edelman. Huh? I usually don’t humor F&M’s silly outrage with blog posts, but it does seem like Edelman’s been a little bit more quiet than we’re used to. Add in a few recent penalties and his lack of a touchdown through six games and I started to wonder if something was up with #11.

So I took a look at Edelman’s season so far to see what, if anything, is really going on.

Patriots vs. Bengals Film Review: Defense Edition

October 19, 2016 by Mike Dussault

There was a lot to like about the Patriots defensive performance in their 35-17 win over the Bengals. It wasn’t all perfect, there were three drives where the Bengals moves the ball with ease, but as the game progressed the Patriots defense settled in and showed improvement in some of the areas they struggled in early in the season.

For the game, the Patriots held the Bengals to 5-10 on third down, and 2-4 in the red zone, including a fourth-down, goal-line stop that should fuel the defense’s confidence. The Pats are now second in the league in points allowed. That’s the ultimate bottom line stat and shows that despite some struggles on third down and in the red zone, this is still a very good defense that is one of the hardest in the league to score on. That has to count for a lot.

And even you’re not sold on points against, the bad areas are now improving statistically every week. Third down, red zone, yardage… each week they get a little better. If that continues this will be a playoff-ready defense by any metric.

Here’s what else stood out from film review, including a few more Elandon Roberts “fire in the hole” hit GIFs…

A Little Bit of James White Appreciation

October 13, 2016 by Rick Starke

James White has had many detractors over his first two years as a Patriot, despite showing some promise. I’ve been one of those, as have other members of the staff here at PatsProp (yup me – Mike D). All offseason, we had been looking for more from him, or expecting him to go, especially with some of us expecting DJ Foster to take his spot if he didn’t step up.

As for the rest of Patriots Nation, we had observed two camps on this…the pro-James White crowd (as Mike D had dubbed, The White Boys , and the pro-DJ Foster crowd (uh…Foster Families?). Well, nearly one third of the way through the season, the White Boys have been correct here, and it has been a great sight to see.

First, we’ll start with a play versus the Browns that will NEVER show up on a stat sheet that anyone cares about, but I almost jumped out of my seat with excitement when I watched it live:

WHEW.

Look at that. James White is lined up at the snap on Brady’s left. White reads the overload blitz from the offense’s right, shifts across the formation, sees Cameron Fleming pick up the inside blitzing linebacker, and continues outside the tackle to pick up the blitzing defensive back. This play would be a film junkie’s DREAM if the pass didn’t end up incomplete on a great breakup by Brian Boddy-Calhoun…but the important thing here is that White showed the awareness to protect Tom Brady from an unabated shot to the chin from the blitzing corner.

A Closer Look at Elandon Roberts

October 12, 2016 by Mike Dussault

By now you’ve probably had the treat of seeing Patriots rookie Elandon Roberts run right through Joe Thomas to tackle Isaiah Crowell this past weekend. If not here it is from the end zone cam of the All-22 which really captures what a wrecking ball Roberts was.

elandon roberts

This is the kind of thumping the Patriots have really missed since Brandon Spikes left (and then came back only to leave again). The Patriots struggles against the run last season when Dont’a Hightower was out were well-documented, yet the Patriots still did little this offseason to address their linebacker depth.

Enter the 214th overall pick in the draft. Roberts immediately showed up in preseason because he comes downhill like a runaway dump truck, destroying anything in his path. In the final preseason game, Roberts went down with what looked like a game-ending ankle injury. Yet, perhaps knowing he was on the bubble to make the team. Roberts battled through the injury and returned to lead the team with nine total tackles.

How a Bad 2010 Browns Team Beat a Good Patriots Team

October 8, 2016 by Rick Starke

Back in 2010, Rob Gronkowski was a rookie. He wasn’t yet Gronk. BenJarvus Green-Ellis was busy churning out tough yards and never turning the ball over. Danny Woodhead was just starting to be more than a fast little Jets spy. Wes Welker was still piling up receptions on his way to being the Patriots all-time receptions leader. Randy Moss was just recently traded, and Deion Branch had come back to town! Aaron Hernandez was showing himself to be a promising rookie. Nobody had yet grown tired of Brandon Spikes, or Ron Brace, or Jermaine Cunningham. Holy crap, Tully Banta-Cain was back for a second stint. Rob Ninkovich had yet to become a workmanlike folk hero.

The Browns…well, they had fantasy football “Oh crap, MAYBE on my bye week?” guys everywhere. Mohammad Massoquoi. Colt McCoy. Ben Watson. Josh Cribbs. Chansi Stuckey. Brian Robiskie (did you have him? Yeah, I also play dynasty). Peyton Hillis had a great year that year, with 1600+ yards from scrimmage and 13 tds…otherwise…eek. T.J. Ward and Joe Haden were there on defense, but nobody else that was sending shivers up your spine.

The Browns won 34-14.

How. HOW?!

A Closer Look at Patriots’ Advanced Defensive Stats

October 5, 2016 by Mike Dussault

rob ninkovich Stats are for losers, right? Far be it from me to disagree with BB, but stats can give us a bigger picture. I always wait until four gams into the season before I jump into the stats. Anything before that is just simply too small a sample size.

As most of you know, the Patriots defense has been my long term pet project here on the blog. When you line up the 2016 stats and compare them to recent years it becomes even more clear that while the Patriots defense is good at preventing points, they’ve been pretty terrible at everything else.

I know there are plenty out there banging the “points allowed are all that matter,” but I disagree. Football is a complimentary game. Points allowed is certainly an important stat and the one at the bottom line, but the rest of the stats paint the picture of a defense that isn’t forcing turnovers, isn’t getting off the field and allowing far too long opponent possessions. That isn’t holding up their end of the bargain with the offense and special teams.

That said, it’s four games in. With Tom Brady back we can expect far more out of the offense going forward. That should help the defense. But still, every time in the first four games the Patriots have needed the defense to step up, they have failed to do so.

Let’s hope that changes in the coming weeks.

Will the Patriots Defense Reach Their Potential in 2016?

September 29, 2016 by Mike Dussault

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Things are going to change in 2017 for the Patriots defense. The list of defenders due to hit free agency after this season is long and talented — Dont’a Hightower, Jamie Collins, Jabaal Sheard, Alan Branch, Logan Ryan, Duron Harmon and Chris Long are some of the high profile names.

Now, the Patriots have the cap space to re-sign who they want. They won’t re-sign all of them, but they have enough in the pipeline to overcome a few departures from that group. Guys like Trey Flowers, Cyrus Jones, Vincent Valentine and Eric Rowe are some who could potentially take elevated roles in 2017 if guys leave.

But make no mistake, change is coming and what the Patriots have right now on defense is as experienced and talented a group on paper as they’ve had since the mid-2000’s. We knew coming into the season that this defense had the chance to be special. This was supposed to be peak Patriots defense for the second time in Bill Belichick’s reign. That’s what happens when you return everyone except one defensive end, and add even more talented contributors like Long and Valentine.

But what is troubling is similar issues continue to haunt this defense and I can’t help but wonder if they’ll truly reach the level Patriots fan believed them capable of this offseason.