An Independent Patriots Blog
WEEI.com: In short span of time, Dion Lewis has made himself into integral part of Patriots offense
Really not sure who I’ve got the bigger new crush on – Lewis or Malcolm Butler. Just so many fun players to root for once again, while there was a sizable void at least on defense from 2009-2011.
MassLive.com: New England Patriots offensive line rotation is clicking early in 2015 season
Lot of interesting comments from offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo. Was wondering to myself where the line is between the OL being in competition to find the best five and just managing everyone to not only mitigate injury risk but also insure if/when guys do get injured. After this article it feels more like the latter and it will only get more interesting when Stork and Wendell are back in the fold.
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.
The New England Patriots are off to one of their more impressive starts of recent memory, pounding the Jags and moving to 3-0 as they enter their early bye week of the 2015 season.
The Pats’ often look a little choppy early in the year but this season they’ve come out of the gate picking up right where they left off winning the Super Bowl last season. Now the comparisons to 2007′s 16-0 squad are starting to pour in and I think it’s another case where we need to Ignore the Noise.
A lot can happen over the next four months and I don’t need to tell anyone how the NFL season is as much about attrition as it is about talent. Yes, the Pats have looked like the AFC favorite through three games, but there’s just such a long way to go and so much can happen.
Honestly, 16-0 was exhausting for the the 2007 team and had they broken the pressure with a loss, like one they should’ve lost in Baltimore, it might’ve had them a little fresher once they got to the Super Bowl. Put it this way, we’ve been there, done that with 16-0 and I don’t really have much interest in doing it again. Let’s just worry about homefield advantage in the playoffs and the rest will take care of itself.
On to the Posits…
First, congratulations to Tom Brady on TD pass number 400. I haven’t missed a single game since 2005 so I’ve seen the vast majority of his TDs and I feel lucky as a fan to root for a player who has been so dominant. Now if we can only understand what Danny Amendola was thinking giving the ball away to a random fan. And to think he almost looked ready to launch it into the 300s after he initially scored.
I just don’t know what else to write about Dion Lewis, has there ever been a player who’s kicked around the league and then suddenly looks like the best third down back in football? He’s incredibly slippery and almost always makes the first defender miss. Not to mention he always gets at least two more yards than he should. Such a fun player to watch and if he can stay healthy for all 16 games he’ll be the perfect addition to the Gronk/Edelman aspect of the offense.
One of my bigger concerns (and it wasn’t even a major one yet) was the run defense and I thought they looked a lot better yesterday against the Jags. Simply put, guys were getting off blocks and winning one-on-ones. Encouraging to see them make progress in this area.
Thank Hoodie they benched Bradley Fletcher (it was much deserved), but they also gave Tarrell Brown the day off which meant Logan Ryan saw a lot of snaps and rookie Justin Coleman made his debut. Ryan continued to look up and down as he has throughout his career but Coleman stepped right in and didn’t look out of place in is first action of his career. I’d expect to see him get some time in the slot over Ryan after the bye.
A lot of the lower end guys on the depth chart saw action yesterday and none impressed me more than Jordan Richards who was active and physical in his first extended snaps on defense. I always laugh at those who think the Patriots had a guy rated too high on their board. The simple fact is that a thinking defense like the Patriots’ needs thinking players and sometimes when you merge the two you see a player who is much better than he was in college where itâs more about physical talent.
Dominique Easley was once again flying off the ball but watching live I felt he was almost more effective against the run, though he had his moments against the pass. A strange problem is that sometimes Easley is so fast off the ball it creates creases in the running game and leads to big runs. But can you really tell a guy to not get into the backfield so fast?
Easley has been incorporated in a very useful way, generating disruption on early downs. The Pats used to get killed when teams tried to pass on 1st and 2nd down because their linemen were two gapping and got no pressure. Now they put Easley in there and he offsets that problem. Meanwhile on third down they’re now going with all linebackers to rush the passer. Only thing I wonder is why it took Belichick this long to go pass-rush happy. It should pay dividends.
The picture is a lot clearer to me now as far as the run game goes. The short passing game with Lewis and the slot receivers is now the early-down running game equivalent.
LeGarrette Blount is instead the hammer to bring in once the lead is established. But I don’t think we’ll see a lot of Blount early in games unless the Pats really think the opposition’s run defense stinks.
Malcolm Butler had one bad play yesterday but otherwise continues to look like a top flight NFL cornerback. I kind of enjoy that he keeps making one inconsequential mistake per game that will keep the pressure on him. The job he’s done stepping in as a starter has been remarkable and far above what even the most positive Patriots fans might’ve expected.
Big question right now is what happens to David Andrews once Bryan Stork returns and I’m trying not to spend too much time worrying about it. But I’m very curious to see if Andrews can play some guard after working there a bit this summer. If he can make that switch the Pats suddenly have four very, very good young interior offensive linemen, a spot they badly needed depth in recent seasons.
Brady has never completed 70% of his passes in any season. Since his game balls have been micro-analyzed at halftime of the AFC title game, he has completed 73.6%.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/brady-has-never-completed-70-of-his-passes-in-any/
