There’s nothing more fun that taking an All-22 look at a Bill Belichick defense against Peyton Manning. The Patriots did what they often have done against Manning – make him look mortal with a mix of disguise and pressure.
There wasn’t anything overly exotic or new, but there were some new faces stepping to the forefront in roles we’ve never seen them in before. That bodes well for the versatility of this defense going forward.
Here’s what I saw on the All-22 rewatch…
Jamie Collins was a standout on the first possession for the Broncos, a three-and-out. He came downhill with a strong fill against the run on second down, then ran the crosser stride-for-stride with Emmanuel Sanders and tackled him short of the first down.
The mix-and-match was apparent from the first three plays, most surprising was Browner going inside on Julius Thomas. I didn’t think we would see that but the Patriots declared it was part of the game plan immediately.
On the second possession Vince Wilfork set the tone, exploding into the backfield and blowing up the run. Wilfork is always an X-factor when he has games like this. He looked explosive here.
Brandon Browner threw an arm back and broke up Manning’s third down pass to Demaryius Thomas. That’s what 6’4" corners can do. Pats fans used to having 5’8" corners might be surprised.
The third possession got moving with a crosser to Sanders. Hightower probably would’ve laid him out but got pulled a bit out of position jamming another guy. Pressure could’ve been better.
Really blown away by how involved Chung was in this game. In my gameplan I wondered if he’d take a back seat to Harmon for more coverage ability. Instead Chung was saw plenty of man coverage against a variety of receivers. He’s gotten plenty of attention this week for it.
Seems like this coverage scheme (here in Cover 3) was a big part of the gameplan. You have 2 LBs and 2 DBs forming a four-man zone area, waiting for the crossers to come. It worked well and forced a lot of checkdowns.
Jamie Collins continued to show up in the run game on this drive. He’s getting better at managing his speed to get around tackle but not overpursue. If he keeps improving vs. the run look out.
I thought Arrington would return to prominence in this one to cover Welker, and not only did he, but Chung did too. One of the advantages of having guys who got plenty of reps in practice vs. Welker is they are comfortable covering him.
Still didn’t think Browner’s PI penalty was overt but that’s the NFL today.
Yet Chung getting spun around on the touchdown play because he was held so badly goes unnoticed.
Nink’s interception has gotten plenty of love in the analysis this week and really he almost had one the play before if he had widened out a little more.
Collins hasn’t gotten enough credit on the Nink interception. It was his pressure that forced the throw a bit. It was really the first pressure Manning saw in the game up to this point. That’s something that I wish had been better so far.
On the next possession Manning went to Demaryius on a crosser from the slot as he was manned up by Browner – again, something we haven’t really seen Browner do. But Browner ran with him and made the tackle.
Stopping the run from the nickel defense was so so huge in this one. Everything was clicking on defense (and the Broncos still made some plays, credit to them).
The Pats threatened Double A pressure by Hightower and Collins a lot more than they actually sent it. Here in the second quarter they sent both and it forced a hurried throw that fell incomplete. The defensive gameplan was simple and complex at the same time. The initial looks were almost always the same, but the coverages and blitzers were constantly rotating.
Good coverage by Malcolm Butler, running stride for stride with Emmanual Sanders on third-and-20. Never thought he’d be such a big part in this game.
It’s amazing how hard it is to get pressure on Manning (and Brady too). A defender has to win at the LOS immediately to have any chance, otherwise the ball is already out.
Continue to be impressed with Jamie Collins. If last year’s playoff game against the Colts was his coming out party, this was nearly as impressive. He’s all over the place.
Pressure started to cause problems for Manning at the end of the second half,culminating with Ayers fourth-down sack. Hightower is quite a load coming up the middle for a running back to block.
Ayers sack was part Wilfork walking the left guard into the backfield and good coverage to take away the quick throw. Overall I thought Ayers was okay. Hasn’t blown me away with anything special but was generally solid in the first half and I’ll take that.
SECOND HALF
Check out this look on the first Broncos offensive possession of the second half – now Nink and Ayers are showing interior pressure.
Just a perfect throw and catch on Julius Thomas’ touchdown. Browner might’ve been able to defend it due to his size but Chung was screwed from the moment he lined up on an island with the big tight end.
Even McCourty looked shaken up after hitting Welker on the Browner interception. Welker really should’ve caught it and gotten down.
There was no consistency to who New England was matching up with. The interior guys (Chung/Arrington/Hightower/Collins) all were switched around. I’m kind of left wondering why we only save this stuff for Peyton Manning.
There were some big passing plays on first down, culminating with a 41-yarder to Demaryius Thomas in the fourth quarter, which was really somewhat lucky as Manning just threw is up and it managed to find Thomas through a crowd.
As if this one didn’t already have enough good stuff, here comes a four-down stand inside the ten yard line. Things like this only build a defense’s confidence.
For as bad as this defense has looked at times this year, it was amazing to see them put it all together in this one. Guys were setting the edge, getting off blocks and tackling. When you do those simple things it’s amazing how much better a defense can look.
