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Patriots vs. Dolphins All-22 Thoughts – Defense Edition

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Finally got to take a look at the All-22 after it posted a day late on Game Rewind and I started with the defense. Not a whole lot was revealed but some things were certainly reinforced.

First, a lot of the focus on the “new” 34 defense has focused on Chandler Jones but other than keeping him from pass drops I didn’t see a ton different than what he was doing last year schematically. He certainly did not have a great game, but I disagree with those who think he was being asked to play the Richard Seymour two-gap role.

34 or 43 or 25 doesn’t really tell you much anyway, it’s more important to see which guys are covering which gaps and I didn’t see Chandler two-gapping much at all, now he’s just being asked to face the tackle consistently like he would be in a run of the mill 43. I went back and looked at last year’s game in Miami to compare and the schematic changes as far as he was concerned were not monumental. It seems they wanted to avoid dropping him into coverage, at least in this one.

I think there hasn’t been enough commentary on WHY the Pats went with the front that they did, and where the real changes happened were with Ninkovich, Hightower, Mayo and Collins.

Collins playing strongside inside linebacker is a tough fit. He’s great in space, but coming downhill to make tackles does not seem to be his specialty and it’s one of the big risks of letting Spikes go. Essentially Collins is the anti-Spikes on the field in both the positive and negative ways. He needs to be better getting off blocks as well. Mayo isn’t much better coming downhill through traffic.

What we’re not seeing from this odd front is “building the wall” as they used to put it, to let the LBs run free. The nose is two-gapping, but the linebackers and defensive ends are keeping single gap responsibility with the help of the strong safety. 

Might be too early to say this for sure, but it would seem there’s an effort to get Hightower out there more than Ninkovich. And I really thought Hightower had a good game outside of a few bad plays. As much as we’ve all come to love Ninkovich it’s not that hard to believe that Hightower has the higher ceiling. But who knows, things could change up and have Ninkovich not coming off the field. Certainly could happen with Adrian Peterson on tap.

Vellano is overmatched and the sooner he’s replaced by any of the other DL the better. I think a four-man rotation of Wilfork-Siliga-Jones-Easley is fine for inside. 

Again I liked what I saw out of Easley. Good explosion and had some drive even when double teamed. There weren’t many third-and-longs in this one, but once the defense starts tackling on first and second down, then I think we’ll really see some special stuff from Easley.

Wilfork had some really solid plays and I continue to be amazed by how quickly he’s still getting off the ball. With some experience and a better rotation this season, he should be effective for a full 60 minutes.

As I’ve said a few times in the last few days, the mistakes of missed tackles just added up. Multiple times they had plays sniffed out in the backfield only to let the running back slip away and gain at least four yards. Wrap up, make those tackles, and it’s a totally different game. This kind of performance is not entirely shocking given all the elements in this one – weather, conditioning, lack of tackling/full pads in practice now, first game of the year against a divisional opponent.

My biggest concerns are Collins and Mayo on the inside and getting Vellano out of there. Otherwise it’s just about making the plays that they’re already in position to make.

Balancing act: Recent losses have seen Patriots run away from successful second-half formula – WEEI | Christopher Price

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Balancing act: Recent losses have seen Patriots run away from successful second-half formula – WEEI | Christopher Price

Interesting read from Chris Price and it’s been hard not to notice how the Pats often abandon the run when in a tight game late. I guess part of it is leaning on your best player to make plays through the air, but when defenses can tee off on the pass rush and the OL isn’t playing well, it’s a recipe for not a lot of offense.

Patriots Week 2 Kickoff: Minnesota Vikings

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Last Meeting: It’s been four long years since the Pats last saw the Vikings on Halloween 2010. The Patriots won 28-18, knocking Brett Favre from the game in the process. Adrian Peterson had just 92 yards on 25 carries, something the Patriots will hope to repeat this weekend.

Early Outlook: The Vikings won on the road in St. Louis last weekend and with two explosive playmakers in Adrian Peterson and Cordarrelle Patterson, but with old friend Matt Cassel at the helm they have their limitations.

Notes: It’s hard to get the stink of the Miami game off and the challenges that the Vikings present are the perfect opportunity to bounce back, but their tackling will be critical.

The Vikings had major success handing the ball off to Patterson, where his speed is on display. It will be on edge players Hightower and Ninkovich to keep him contained.

Mike Zimmer had success against the Pats as the defensive coordinator of the Bengals last year. Doesn’t look like they do anything too exotic which helps in preparation for playing them. I expect him to try to bring pressure up the middle at Brady, something that was a little easier when he had Geno Atkins though the Vikings front seven is still pretty good.

Everson Griffen should be a good challenge at defensive end, but Brian Robison might be the bigger problem.

Sharrif Floyd was one of my favorite players coming out a couple years ago, he was the pre-Easley Easley and he also went to Florida.

Cassel’s arm doesn’t scare me, but his ability to run does. This game should be won in the trenches, not downfield. Though Norv Turner’s offense relies on downfield shots, the back end will have to be ready.

Siliga and Wilfork look like the best combo at DT in this one. Try to prevent the Vikings from running it up the gut every play, which I’m sure they’ll be tempted to do after the Miami tape.

With fairer conditions I think the Pats can pull back on the heavy rotations on both sides of the ball. Would prefer to see them build some continuity with one group.

How about Solder-Cannon-Wendell-Connolly-Vollmer for the whole game and see how it goes?

It was reinforced for me last week that BB will only have Revis follow a receiver if he thinks shutting that one guy down is key. He’ll certainly pick his spots, but a good defense balances man and zone, and with the Vikings’ threats on the ground I think the CBs stay on their respective sides this week as they did in Miami.

This game seems out of the Pats’ comfort zone defensively as they’ve evolved to be more of a pass-stopping defense. Thus it’s a good test and good experience to balance their game.

It sounds simple but if they just tackle they should be fine. They are the more talented team.

Why does it seem like everyone is panicking about the loss? Yes they played bad but last time I checked one loss is one loss even if it’s in the division and it’s week one with plenty of time to iron out things before it’s time to get serious, so why the noise about one loss?

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It’s just what a large segment of the fan base does. I’ve tried to get used to it but I gave up trying to talk people off the ledge every single week, even after wins that might not have been perfect enough.

There’s also an element now that the bottom is going to fall out on Brady at some point in the not-too-distant future, and when it’s the first game and there are all kind of stats you can drum up to make it out to be one of Brady’s worst games ever, it only throws gas on that fire.

It’s also impossible for a lot of fans to grasp the fine line between winning and losing in football. That was as sloppy of a game as you’ll ever see out of a BB-coached team, and what hurt them the most (tackling/penalties/failure to get off blocks) are things that can be easily cleaned up and quickly sway how good a team can look.

The big thing for me is that every year is a season-long process for how Bill Belichick grooms his team for the playoffs. Early in the year there are a number of guys rotating in and getting chances and the schemes are extremely simple.

Slowly the personnel gets narrowed down (often by injuries) and the schemes and gameplans become more complex, but the Patriots never jump right into ‘here’s what the 2014 Patriots are’ right off the bat.

But talk show hosts and writers need things to talk about and the “stay-the-course, it’s just the first game of a long season” angle is boring.

“The Patriots are doomed! They’re playing the wrong scheme! They’ll never block anyone ever again!” are the loudest voices in the room and the hardest to ignore, but that’s what I try to do.