Greg Bedard’s Week 5 Decisive Moments in the NFL | The MMQB with Peter King

Said it yesterday that this was the turning point in the game, glad to see Bedard broke it down for us. Great stuff, except for the part with the Patriots defense being unprepared. Derp…

After reviewing the coaches’ film from NFL Game Rewind, it’s still difficult to tell what coverage the Patriots were supposed to be playing—that’s how unprepared they were at the snap. It appears that all of the Patriots’ defensive backs were out of position: cornerbacks Aqib Talib (31), Alfonso Dennard (37), Kyle Arrington (25) and safeties Devin McCourty (32) and Steve Gregory (28). Dennard was in the middle of the field at the snap but recovered nicely. There are three explanations for the play. Either the Patriots were in quarters coverage (the three cornerbacks and McCourty split the deep part of the field into quarters) with Gregory playing a robber or lurker position (he’s a free player looking to read and rob the quarterback in the middle of the field); the Patriots were playing two-deep safeties with man coverage underneath; or the Patriots were playing man free with a robber (man coverage underneath one deep safety).