PatsPropaganda

In some ways the Patriots’ moves on defense this season have made my life a lot easier because of how mix-and-match they’ve gone. Yes we could keep track of every defensive front combination they’re using but that loses the forest for the trees.

The big picture view is that the Patriots defense is finally about generating pass rush with athleticism. For all the talk of how much of step backward the Pats would be taking without Revis and Browner, I think they “additions/progression” of Easley, Sheard and Malcolm Butler will actually make this a better overall defense by the end of the year.

The top photo is a third down that came against the Jaguars, but very well sums up the personnel and disguise the Patriots are using now in passing situations. Chandler Jones
is the one with his hand down shaded over the center. Some combination of Sheard, Collins, Hightower, Ninkovich and maybe Chung are blitzing, but through three games we’ve seen just about all of the drop into coverage as well.

As I wrote in yesterday’s Posits, Easley is almost too fast off the ball sometimes. This isn’t entirely different than Jamie Collins
’ rookie year where he needed to learn to be patient because his world class athleticism would allow him to make plays that he let come to him. 

I’m not sure what the answer is with Easley other than experience and knowing when he needs to be in the backfield asap without opening up a crease in the running game.

Maybe this is too bold of a statement but I don’t see any universe where I’d rather have Darrelle Revis over Malcolm Butler
. Butler isn’t as good as Revis yet, but don’t tell him that. The sky is the limit for Butler who is constantly around the ball. He still overplays some throws at times, but how many potential interceptions could he have this season already? Six? Seven?

Jabaal Sheard has been everything we thought he could be for this defense. He allows them to pull back on Ninkovich and Chandler Jones a bit, but through three games he’s been better than both of them and played more snaps than both of them against the Jags. He’s got two sacks but has drawn four penalties.

Coverage-wise the Pats are slowly getting a bit more complex, but remain a base man defense team. Against the Jags we saw some significant steps in disguising coverages, one that almost led to a Butler interception.

Overall, it all goes back to great coverage can only help a pass rush so much, but if you had to choose between the two, you have to pick pass rush every time and it’s clear that that’s what the Patriots have done this season.

Yes, we’ve seen some all LB packages at times over the years, but it’s never been as dedicated as this. And it’s not like you can just run on them when they go light because they’re all big and tough and able to hold up against offensive linemen.

What we’re seeing right now is a defense starting to hit its prime, just as we saw in 2003, where there was the perfect mix of experience and youth with talent at all levels.

Compare the personnel now to 2010 and there is no comparison. It’s an easy talking point to say things like Tom Brady has to carry this team, but that’s really not the case anymore. Brady has overcome a full turnover on defense in 2008-2009 and now they have a number of high-round picks who are incredibly talented.

It’s time for this defense to enter the conversation as one of the most talented groups in the NFL.