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Patriots vs. Bears All-22 Thoughts: Defense Edition

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Hard to read too much into this week’s defensive stuff too much with a blowout on for most of the game, but some interesting individual performances from guys like Brandon Browner, Dominique Easley and Darrelle Revis.

Here are my All 22 thoughts…

Deontae Skinner wasn’t even close to tackling Matt Forte on the second play of the game as he met him 1-v-1 in the hole. This play alone might’ve been what precipitated Tuesday’s trade for Jonathan Casillias.

If you’d told me Easley would be playing stand-up defensive end this year I would’ve thought you were crazy, but he was solid drawing a holding penalty after losing contain for a split second.

Early on this was as close to the double nose as you can get with Wilfork and Chris Jones in the middle. Easley’s ability to slide out to defensive end was unexpected and he made another great play, blowing up a screen to get off the field on third down.

Don’t know what it is with Ninkovich losing contain so much the last couple games, but it showed up again as Cutler scrambled for a first down on the second possession.

Loved Browner with the pass breakup against Bennett on third down. That play summed up everything the Pats need from Browner. Press across the board, nowhere for Cutler to go.

Kind of funny that Darrelle Revis’ finger-wagging pass breakup on Brandon Marshall came out of zone coverage. Looks like some additional zone out of three-safety looks for the Pats early in this one. Haven’t seen a lot of that until now, mostly cover 1 or cover 4.

Interesting front here with Chung in a linebacker role and Hightower slipping out to the edge. I like getting Hightower some time on the LOS, he really excels there and can be used for some pass rush. 

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On Matt Forte’s touchdown reception Collins had no chance. But there was no pressure either and that allowed the easy throw from Cutler. 

Again, seeing more Cover-2, perhaps a function of being up 17-0.

Akeem Ayers might’ve gotten the sack, but it was Jamie Collins who threw Forte aside and caused all the problems for Cutler. Collins gets a lot of flack for being out of place as an inside linebacker against the run, but there has been some improvement from him there over the last few weeks. But he deserves credit for plays like this and they need to use him more for this kind of advantage, turning the tables and making running backs take him on.

On Ninkovich’s sack six it was an interesting front of Moore and Easley inside, Ninkovich and Ayers on the edges with Hightower coming on a blitz and making the initial pressure happen.

2nd Half

With a big lead the Pats went did went to 2 and 3 deep zones in the second half. The Bears had some success running against them on the first drive, but I don’t think the Pats really care too much at that point.

Big benefit of a blowout – getting Wilfork some rest and getting the new guys more experience.

Nice inside game from Wilfork and Ninkovich to set up Easley’s sack, as Nink went inside and Wilfork looped outside. Seems like they’ve been trying this and that’s where Ninkovich has been losing contain, because Wilfork doesn’t replace him on the edge. Not sure who to fault there, perhaps it’s a passing down only move.

Not surprising but Easley needs to work on his jams off the line of scrimmage – it’s definitely something he never did in college. But he whiffed on Martellus Bennett as Bennett picked up 34 yards. He was wide open.

Bennett’s touchdown catch a few plays later was impressive with Browner all over him (getting a penalty for it too). While Browner won’t follow a tight end inside, he certainly is a good weapon against big ones when they split out – if he doesn’t hold them of course.

Definitely seems like Logan Ryan has a target on his back when he’s out there. We haven’t seen the same ball skills and zone savvy we saw last year yet.

So hard to really analyze the defense in a blowout like this. They’re just playing soft zone now and keeping everything in front of them. Even the yards on the ground they give up don’t seem to bother them.

After a hot start I think Casey Walker has leveled off a bit. Not making many plays, struggling to get off blocks or split double teams. Getting Siliga back for Detroit (hopefully) will help.

Some more man coverage coming here in the fourth quarter, keeping Cutler on his toes. They had more success going to Bennett than I would like. That worries me a bit with Julius Thomas coming to town.

Patriots vs. Jets All-22 Thoughts: Offense Edition

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The Jets never make things easy for the Pats offense and this game was no exception. Featuring a good deal of Cover 3, the Jets played fairly conservative this time around, but when they picked up the pressure in the second half they had some success.

The difference though was Tom Brady, who was calm in the face of pressure all night, delivering strikes to the holes in the zones with remarkable consistency.

Here are my notes from the All-22 rewatch, offense edition:

Jets opened in off-man coverage and Brady-LaFell took advantage with two comeback routes in a row. Brady’s passes were a little high though. 

Jets were in a Cover-3 on Vereen’s first touchdown with five guys across the field at about five yards depth. Seemed like they would allow the short stuff then plan on coming downhill with big hits. The problem – the back left safety bit on Wright underneath leaving Vereen wide open. Big mental mistake, and one that really came back to haunt the Jets at the end.

 Second possession was a three-and-out but a nice hard run by Jonas Grey. Third down saw the same kind of coverage as Vereen’s touchdown, with the Jets dropping 7 in zone coverage. It seems like the Jets were also a little more respectful of the Pats deep passing game than they have been in year’s past. And certainly more than other opponents have been earlier this year.

Really vanilla coverages and not much aggression by the Jets so far. Has to be due to their lack of good cover corners. They’re playing some man on the Pats’ third possession but it’s off-man that’s supported with underneath zone coverage.

Here’s the Jets’ third down zone coverage, only rushing three. This one goes incomplete downfield to LaFell for the Pats second-straight three and out.

Jets send five guys on the first play of the fourth drive, but the protection holds and Brady easily lofts a perfect pass to Edelman for their first first down in three possessions.

The Jets’ zone coverage continues to work well early as Brady has a pass deflected at the line on second down. However there isn’t much pressure so it seems like Brady is finding a comfort level in the pocket.

Same coverage on third down and Brady finally finds the hole in the coverage, connecting with Gronk for a first down. Pinpoint throw, solid pocket. Drive continues…

Play-action comes next and the Jets pay for it because their linebackers aren’t dropping this time. Brady finds LaFell, showing good patience under a bit of pressure. As of now, the Jets defense certainly isn’t in his head like they often can be.

Gotta tip the hat to the pass protection so far. Those are some good rushers and Brady has all the time he needs. I think the Jets wanted to just rely on their guys winning the matchups instead of the usual deception of “who’s coming, who’s dropping”. They weren’t winning against our rag tag band of OL anti-heroes.

As Greg Bedard pointed out in his film review Jordan Devey has to have better awareness after just sprinting downfield, not realizing that the called screen to Shane Vereen had been blown up. Inexperience shows there.

Vereen’s second touchdown below and as you can see, the Jets drop 9 into coverage including four guys around Gronk. Brady waits and finds Vereen for the TD.

Brady really found his stride against the Jets zones on this drive, calmly taking his time and delivering pinpoint throws to the holes in the zones.

Final drive of the first half and the Jets start to send some more pressure, blitzing Davis and dropping Richardson into a short zone. Finally some more Rex-like defense. Then comes an LB/S blitz on the next down but Brady finds LaFell for the first down.

Great throw by Brady on the next down with pressure in his face as he finds Gronk for 20 yards. Jets rushed just four but finally got Wilkerson through as he beat Devey.

After a PI call the Pats get a 1st-and-10 at the 12 with :23 second left. First down – Jets drop eight, Brady can’t find a hole. Second down – Jets get a free rusher off the edge, forcing Brady to scramble and throw it away. Then Devey takes the retalitory penalty and we’re kicking a field goal headed into the half. Missed opportunity there, but good defense by the Jets.

Linebacker blitzes are continuing in the second half, along with Sheldon Richardson dropping into short zones. Brady’s on in this one though.

Third-and-3 and we’re seeing two deep safeties. Very surprised by this, especially from the Jets. Brady has time and finds Edelman for the first.

Just not a whole lot going on in the run game, only enough to keep the Jets aware of it. But this game was all about Brady and the passing game. Makes it even more befuddling that they tried to run on the last possession of the game. But we’ll get to that…

I don’t know how you defend the quick hand off to Edelman in motion. One of these days a defensive end is going to read it and clean Edelman’s clock, but for now it looks unstoppable.

Jets hold the Pats to a field goal 3rd-and-9, again running the three-deep, five-under coverage with just three rushing. Brady finds the hole but they come up just a couple yards short.

Jets force a three-and-out on the next drive, with their pressure finally winning some one-on-ones. Cannon gets beat on third down and Brady has to rush his throw to Amendola, who was open. Would prefer not to see Cannon rotating in at tackle any more, and definitely not at guard.

Another three-and-out due to pressure when the Jets sent 6 then an Edelman drop. On third down pressure is again a factor as Solder gets beat off the edge just enough to get Brady off rhythm. Jets pressure coming through in the clutch here in the second half.

Jets sending pressure again on the Pats final touchdown drive but Brady is right on the money three times in a row to get the Pats inside the 10 yard line.

But then two penalties back them out to the 19. That would’ve been a major storyline had Amendola not made a spectacular touchdown grab. Have to be more disciplined that close to the end zone with the game on the line.

Now the final Pats possession –  three straight handoffs to Shane Vereen that netted one total yard. I don’t know why they didn’t throw here. Brady was so on fire in this game, put the game in his hands.

Oh well, Chris Jones came through in the end.

Patriots vs. Jets All-22 Thoughts: Defense Edition

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This was as bad of a defensive performance as I’ve seen since, well, the Chiefs game, but the Pats get a bit of a pass given the short week and injuries they were coming off of.

Still, most of the defense lacked the necessary “pop” to their game, and save a three-drive stretch where they forced punts in the second half, the Jets offense basically had their way with them.

Still, they made the very last play of the game and that was enough to get an ugly win. The defense is much better than this and we’ll certainly see them look a lot better against the Bears this weekend.

Here are the All-22 Defense thoughts…

Pats mixed their coverage and personnel on the first drive, none of which was especially effective. Ninkovich immediately displayed the recurring problem of the night, crashing down and losing contain.

They matched receivers at times. Browner was playing outside cornerbacks as I expected. I really don’t think we’ll see him inside on tight ends or at safety. 

All four safeties saw snaps on the first drive. McCourty gave up a third down conversion after being in press man on Cumberland. Interesting that NE uses him not only on the back end but in this role as well.

Jamie Collins isn’t great in base against the run, but when he’s in subpackages and has room to use his speed he’s very good. He’s learned to take a beat to find where he needs to go rather than immediately reacting and getting himself out of position. He should be a good weapon against Matt Forte this week.

Not as impressed with Casey Walker early on as I have been in weeks past. He’s not getting off blocks. In fact, the entire DL is having trouble with that.

Sometimes it seems like Collins thinks he’s even more athletically capable than he is. Here’s a prime example where he needs to come downhill hard to Wilfork’s right. Chung has the backside. Collins isn’t fast enough to make this play headed where he’s headed.

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Chandler Jones is so slippery inside, it’s notable given his length. The Pats showed some looks on passing downs with him inside, they even shifted Easley to DE at one third-and-long.  Might need more of that.

There really is nothing worse than watching a quarterback scramble for a first down on third-and-long.

The shift to a 3-4 front seemed tied to their inability to stop the run. It’s a Wilfork-Walker-Jones front three. This included Chung in the box for an 8-man front.

Great screen recognition in the second quarter, along with a pressure from Easley that came quicker than the Jets were hoping it would. Small steps for Easley so far, still waiting for that first big play from him. Should be coming soon.

9 in the box and they still give up 5 yards on this run.

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Now here’s a hole. This went for 9, not sure where Casey Walker was going as he started at the left hash and basically took the whole defense to his right side out of the play. Collins is late to react but gets in the way to make the tackle.

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After sustained drives all half, along with so many games in a short time span, the defense looks gassed at the end of the first half. But they came through in the red zone once again.

Ninkovich picked up right where he left off by getting pinned inside and losing contain on two of the first three plays in the third quarter, picking up a total of 29 yards. 

We first saw the three cornerback, one safety package last year and it’s popping up again this year.  It often comes with press man across the board, but leaves a seven man box for run protection. It’s a mix of sub and base.

Twice the Jets converted third downs on their first drive of the third quarter with Kerley and Decker aligned closely together. First time they crossed and Decker got separation on Dennard. The second time Revis played outside leverage on Decker but the receivers crossed later again opening up enough separation for Decker to convert at 3rd-and-12. Nice play design by the Jets.

Jamie Collins is pretty solid at getting out on running back swing passes.

Just a dominant first drive of the third quarter by the Jets featuring a balanced attack. Had been hoping the Pats would bring some fire out of the locker room but it would have to wait until the next three drives.

Pats switched it up a bit on the next drive, going to a 4-3, then a 5-2 front. Coverage was good and helped force a four-play drive. Credit Dont’a Hightower with a good tackle that prevented the running back from converting a checkdown on 3rd-and-12.

They force a three-and-out on the next possession, bringing six on third-and-long with Chandler Jones finishing it off. Really, I don’t think the interior run stoppers looked that bad for most of the game. Once Ninkovich stopped losing contain there wasn’t anywhere for them to go.

Another solid stand, their third in a row, on the next drive. Again, more coverage than pressure on third down. Browner is what he is, a big outside corner who’s going to take some penalties this year. When he’s on the outside and has the sideline he’s effective, when he has to pursue across the field, he’s not as good. But his makeup speed is better than I thought it was.

Here’s Chandler Jones owning Ferguson on the edge, stopping Vick for a loss. Too bad there’s a penalty on Logan Ryan.

Probably the most frustrating play of the day comes on 3rd-and-2 as Geno Smith converts running it after being totally flushed out of the pocket and surrounded by Pats. How does he get out of this…?

Pressure was a big problem after reviewing this one, and here’s a great example below. Five man rush with four guys on single blockers and no one wins.

Yards-after-contact piling up here in the fourth quarter, especially inside. Defense is gassed top-to-bottom now.

Smith finds Cumberland for the touchdown to cap off another impressive drive. It was Chung in coverage, just a couple inches off. This is why Chung gets pulled off in coverage situations. Not his bag. Never has been. Never will be. Credit to Geno for finding that matchup.

They went back at him on the failed 2-point conversion but I liked how Chung stuck with Decker. Often those passes are wide open, but Chung did enough to force a perfect throw that Geno did not make.

Final drive to set up the missed field goal start with checkdowns from Geno. Good drive starters that the Pats seemed okay to allow.

Geno makes back to back throws to get them to the Pats 45 when the play essentially broke down but the pass rush just couldn’t finish him off. That’s what happens when you only send three guys. Pats then send five guys to remedy that and Geno finds the checkdown for another five yards.

Pats just couldn’t make that one final play to finish the game on this drive. Something we’ve seen plenty of in recent years in close losses. Luckily Chris Jones found that last bit of gas to preserve the win. 

Patriots vs. Bills All 22 Thoughts: Defense Edition

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Simply put, this was a game won by the Patriots defensive line in the trenches. Buffalo clearly wanted to attack the Pats’ run defense but they couldn’t get by Vince Wilfork, Casey Walker, Chris Jones, Rob Ninkovich and Chandler Jones. 

Just a very solid defensive showing up front from the Pats where everyone did their job and there weren’t many missed tackles or blown assignments. 

Here are things that stood out on the All-22 film review, defense edition.

Chandler Jones showed strong edge awareness early in this one. This is something he wasn’t doing consistently , especially against the Chiefs.

As much as I wanted to see Deontae Skinner pop on the film, he’s still very much a rookie, reacting a moment later to everything than Mayo. He’s not ready to get thrown into the fire with Mayo gone. Last year with Vellano and Chris Jones was one thing, but a linebacker who is involved in so much of the run and pass game is another.

So tough watching Mayo ball out early in this one. He flew into the backfield and blew up this run:

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Just very solid team defense all around in the first quarter. Even when tackles were broken the next guy was there to fill, especially the corners and safeties. This is Patriots football. Everyone doing their job. Bills got a couple passes on them, but those were pinpoint throws that are almost impossible to stop.

There were quite a few defenders who couldn’t cover Scott Chandler, and it was Skinner’s turn on the last play of the first quarter. You can see how much Skinner is thinking out there and it’s slowing him down. Looks like his pursuit speed is actually pretty decent.

Here’s Collins’ interception, this is not a pass you want to throw.

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Can’t say how much I like Dennard enough. He allows a completion on third-and-three and still instantly makes the tackle short of the first down. Solid, aggressive corner play.

Gronk getting a lot of love for being “back”, but Wilfork is “back” too. Great game from him, just so strong at the point of attack and able to quickly get off blocks inside.

When big running back Bobbie Dixon came in, the Pats were responding with more of a 3-4 front. This makes sense, this is their best run-stopping package. With Casey Walker playing well at nose they’re able to use more 3-4 fronts again.

Even when Dixon gets the edge here, Revis comes up off his block and makes the tackle. Team defense.

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Now it’s Patrick Chung’s turn to give up a completion to Chandler, but not really his fault, Revis is in man on Watkins and just picks him. Still, not a great matchup having Chung on a big tight end.

Big whiff by Dennard on Woods’ first touchdown, just couldn’t get a hand on the receiver to disrupt the timing. Nice fake by Woods.

On Spiller’s long run before he fumbled it at the end of the first half it was a good example of Jamie Collins doesn’t have the physicality to be a great run-stopping linebacker. He gets totally blocked by an offensive tackle and can’t disengage. This could be a focal problem going forward without Mayo.

Vince Wilfork singlehandedly just blew up a run and made the tackle. Impressive game from him continues into the third quarter.

Casey Walker splits the double team and makes the tackle. When Siliga gets back the Pats are going to have some options up front. This is good long-term Wilfork insurance as well developing three solid interior DL.

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Scott Chandler is about to make this catch with one hand but it’s actually okay position by Tavon Wilson, he just doesn’t look for the ball or get a hand up in time. Did I mention I wanted the Pats to sign Chandler this offseason?image

 Revis bailed to off-man coverage on the long reception he gave up to Watkins, not sure why the adjustment came but it allowed a free release and Watkins shook Revis near the goalline.

It’s clear how badly the Bills wanted to run on the Patriots but the Patriots defensive line did not allow that to happen. Really it covered up Skinner and Collins’ weaknesses in that area of the game, because just about every play that hit the second level would hit the third level as well. But not many got past the first level.

I really want to find something on Skinner to give us some hope but even his sack was more of a coverage sack. He hesitates again (rookie thing) but that paid off because it opened a lane to Orton. At least he had the speed to go and finish it. I guess that’s a silver lining.

Not sure how Chandler Jones ended up in coverage on Chandler on his catch in the third quarter, but it wasn’t even close once Chandler had to turn and run to cover Chandler. Lot of Chandler going on in that play.

Workman-like effort from Ninkovich as usual as he picks up his third sack of the game. Not flashy, but does his job and if the rest of the defense follows his lead, they’re pretty solid.

In the fourth quarter the Pats put Chandler Jones to press Scott Chandler and Tavon Wilson to cover him. Makes sense finally.

Not a great fourth quarter for Dennard, a missed tackle, then he gets lost in the wash covering on 4th down and gives up a big gainer.

Arrington too had a rough one, giving up the next two completions after Dennard’s long one. Still, tight plays and he’s right there. Sometimes that happens.

Patriots vs. Chiefs All 22 Thoughts: Offense Edition

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The good news about watching the All-22 offense is that they don’t have a lot of plays so it doesn’t take very long! But seriously folks, taking an emotionless look back at what has been haunting us all week really helps. 

Things are never as bad as everyone would have you believe and I actually came away from the re-view with a feeling like this offense will take strong strides soon.

I continue to believe the offenses struggles start with the offensive line and they started in training camp. They are not a coordinated unit yet and the sooner they can stick with a starting five, the sooner things will get better.

I thought the pass protection was better in this game. They still had their problems, but there were plenty of times where Brady had the time he needed. The third quarter sack where Hali went right around Solder was a tough play – Hali got a perfect jump on the snap. Not sure any LT has the quickness to get over on him when that happens.

Connolly looked a little lost, especially when asked to pull. As Greg Bedard pointed out this week, he just hasn’t repped at LG very much and I agree that it shows. He took some bad angles and was a little slow pulling. But I did see him improve a bit over the course of the game.

But what is most troubling to me about the offensive line is their downfield blocking. It’s rarely clean and that doesn’t leave much room for the ball carrier to avoid the free hitter. The backside linebacker made plenty of plays for the Chiefs as the Pats OL just didn’t seem to have the quickness or keep their blocks sustained long enough to open up a big play hole.

Stork was solid outside a couple plays and I think he should get the starting nod again. He earned it. And he is a master of picking up his fellow Patriots off the ground. 

Communication for the entire OL is still not where it needs to be and a lot of the interior pressures were the result of miscommunication by Connolly and the two rookies. That’s understandable. It will get much better with experience.

I thought Wendell actually looked okay at left guard. At least he had some quickness and athleticism to get to the second level. If Fleming is out this weekend could we see a Wendell-Stork-Connolly interior?

Brandon LaFell had one of the few positive days and the more i see of him, the more I understand why the Patriots coaching staff likes him. He’s got size and physicality, and he fits the Pats underneath offensive focus.

Wish Tim Wright could get more involved. He’s another one that looks like a perfect fit for what they do, but we do know it takes time in this offense.

Brady’s first interception seemed just lazy to me, like he was trying to force it. Even if Edelman kept running it still would’ve been picked I think.

Tons of single high safety looks with stacked boxes. Understandable why Brady took a shot to Edelman on the second play of the game. Hopefully when that’s Dobson he can separate a little better. But I also think Brady thought it was press, which Edelman could’ve gotten off of to get free, but the corner bailed just before the snap and already had a running start going down the field.

Garoppolo is clearly a good fit for what the Pats do and it’s a minor silver lining that he got two drives in this one. His release is quick even by NFL standards and that will make him efficient and tough to sack.

Finally, everyone has a theory as to what is wrong with the Pats offense. The simple truth is that the machine isn’t working yet. We can debate which pieces don’t fit or are declining or sub-par, but there are pieces in place to make the machine run far better than what they showed here.

Developing the downfield blocking is a concern, because guys don’t suddenly get more athletic, but as far as the passing game they will be able to protect Tom Brady eventually. Hopefully this weekend. Once that domino falls and becomes consistent, they’ll be back to the kind of offense we expect to see.

Finding that consistency could decide the fate of the season.

Patriots vs. Chiefs All 22 Thoughts: Defense Edition

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Missed tackles. Inability to get off blocks. Blown contain. Falling down. Those four things summed up about 90% of the Patriots defensive problems in reviewing the All-22 game film this week.

It was almost a carbon copy of what we saw against Miami, where the players are in position to make plays, to get stops on third downs, but those fundamental mistakes proved the difference.

Once things began to unravel, the problems were hastened by players try to do too much. And their inability to stop the run early put them on their heels and severely hurt the pass rush.

I remain optimistic about this defense. The front seven leaders that are emerging are Chandler Jones and Dont’a Hightower. When they don’t play well, and they certainly didn’t against the Chiefs, the rest of the defense seems to follow suit.

Here are some player specific observations:

Chris Jones made some good plays early in the game and appeared to be returning to form. He had a good pass rush in the first quarter, showing good violence in his hands to knock the offensive lineman off balance. 

Rob Ninkovich hasn’t shown up in many big plays this year, but his ability to set the edge is solid. Chandler Jones on the other hand was up and down setting the edge all night and it eventually got him pulled, though he did appear to injure his shoulder and that could’ve played into the benching as well.

It comes back to DO YOUR JOB for Chandler. He’s trying to beat guys inside instead of setting a hard edge and it came back to hurt him at least four times for big gains. He has to shoulder a good deal of blame in this one.

Dont’a Hightower was up and down as well, and is another guy trying to do too much later in the game resulting in him being out of position due to overaggressiveness. He and Jones must bounce back this week and the rest of the defense will look a whole lot better.

Revis has caught some flack but I think he’s really close to being the player we thought he was. He has perfect position but he’s just millimeters off right now. That will change.

And as for those people worrying about the scheme, it’s the least of their problems. Again, set the edge and tackle and they’re forcing at least 3 more punts in this game easy.

Jamie Collins is not a downhill player inside. He has trouble taking on offensive linemen coming to block him and relies on his athleticism (as he should) to get around them. But he will not defeat them with physicality and thus he gets lost in the wash a lot. In space however, he is very strong and athletic.

A down game for Jerod Mayo who struggled to get off blocks and could possibly seem a step slower than I remember him. He’s never been that savvy in coverage and that problem was once again apparent, though covering Jamaal Charles is no easy task.

Easley saw his first extended action of the year, including time at defensive end, a spot where I don’t think he’s a great fit. Still he was solid and showed ability to set the edge. His pass rush started to show signs of life in this one, including the play below where he was partially responsible for getting Alex Smith out of the pocket. This is so critical for this defense and exactly why Easley was brought in.

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Bunch formations really gave the Pats a hard time. They showed poor anticipation to defeat them until Jamie Collins got in there on one in the third quarter.

The Pats similarly had no answer for Travis Kelce, which, after practicing against Gronk, seems a little strange.

I think this defense is set to elevate their game in a major way. It really comes down to fundamentals – wrapping and tackling, getting off blocks and playing within the system without trying to do too much.

If they do those things, look out.

Patriots vs. Vikings All 22 Thoughts: Offense Edition

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Not much doing on the first possession – a three and out. The commitment to establish the run is clear, but they didn’t have much success off the left side of the line on the first two runs.

As mentioned by Greg Bedard last night, on the first pass attempt of the second possession there was just Dobson running a route. Everyone else was blocking. Yes, they’re trying to establish some confidence but yikes.

Cleaner blocking in the run game on the second possession, with nice lead/edge blocks from Hooman and Develin on Ridley’s five yard run.

Edelman fly sweep! Teams are going to figure out how to defend this play pretty quick as almost every NFL team is running them this year it seems.

The WR slip screens haven’t been working well this year so far, and I’d include the RB screens as well. With the heavier and less experienced line this probably shouldn’t be a surprise. But they just can’t seem to get that one block that springs them for a big gain.

Still scratching my head how we’re in the second quarter and we’ve seen about as much Hooman and Develin as Dobson/Amendola/LaFell. For a team that lacked playmakers last year they’re still seemingly avoiding their playmakers.

Still, what a rocket on third-and-15 to Edelman to pick up a much-needed first down. This was one of my Three GIFs plays.

Brady stood in there tough and took the hit to deliver a perfect touchdown lob to Edelman. Great play that he clearly audibled into.

The Pats were stopped short on 3rd-and-1 in the second quarter. The hole was there for a second, but Connolly couldn’t quite make his reach block and that was enough to delay Ridley from squirting through. Harrison Smith also filled and tackled like a force of nature. He’s a good player.

And now it’s the Brady and Edelman show. I expected to see a little more balance this year on offense, that’s for sure. Most puzzling though is how little Vereen was involved in the game plan. He needs to get the ball in space more often.

Really solid run blocking on the last play of the third quarter where Vereen picked up 12 yards. Sustained blocks, good movement and vision from Vereen. More of that please.

Cannon got stunned by the initial punch by the DT and that’s how Brady was sacked in the fourth quarter. It did seem like there was time for him to unload it, but it appeared he was staring down Edelman who was bracketed. See below:

Lastly, All-22 is a much better way to get a good look at the offensive line and I really liked what I saw from Bryan Stork upon further review. Sustains his blocks, shows good strength. Would not be surprised if he starts to see more time.