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Belichick Breakdown: Key plays from Patriots win over Vikings
Must-watch as always!
BB takes a look at Ryan Allen’s first quarter punt, or as I called it at the time, “the best Patriots play of the last three quarters”. Then the McCourty interception which felt like the moment the season actually started.
He also breaks down the pass coverage on one of Hightower’s sacks – something I was really impressed with after reviewing the All-22 tape.
AFC Defensive Player Of The Week for Chandler Jones. First of many honors for the 2014 Pats D
https://www.patspropaganda.com/lolpats-afc-defensive-player-of-the-week-for/
Chandler Jones @Chan95Jones named AFC defensive player of the week
— shalise manza young (@shalisemyoung) September 17, 2014
https://www.patspropaganda.com/chandler-jones-chan95jones-named-afc-defensive/
Last meeting: In 2011, the Patriots gave up 504 yards of offense yet still won 31-19. Wes Welker had 9 catches for 158 yards as the Pats moved to 3-1, en route to a season that would see them lose to the Giants in the Super Bowl. This was prime territory for a pass defense that couldn’t stop a nose bleed. Put it this way – Sergio Brown was the 5th leading tackler on the day.
Early Outlook: The Raiders are 0-2 after losses to the Jets and Texans. It’s the Patriots home opener, and with the Pats offense on the verge of breaking out, the Raiders should have their hands full. It will be hard to not to be overconfident heading into this one.
Notes: Old friend Justin Tuck is back, not that he’s the same player he once was, but it will be interesting seeing how he does against our new-look interior OL.
LB Miles Burris is the lowest ranked defender on the Raiders by PFF, and Andy Benoit of MMQB called him a “liability”. Expect the Pats to attack the weak link.
On paper the Raiders have some big names like Tuck, Carlos Rogers, Antonio Smith and Lamarr Woodley but all are in the red for PFF’s ratings.
PFF has Derek Carr under pressure 33 of 78 dropbacks.
I’d bet BB will be content to rush four. Between Ninkovich, Hightower and Chandler, they should generate pressure. And seven in coverage will likely force Carr into a couple interceptions.
The whole Tony Sparano of it all is slightly concerning because you know, he dropped that whole Wildcat bomb on us in 2008, but really the defense is fine to handle that gimmick now.
Happy it’s the home opener because I think that will help the Pats not look past the Raiders. Every NFL team is dangerous if you don’t take them seriously. Remember losing to the Cardinals in 2012?
Pats are on national TV back-to-back after this one against two pretty good teams. They really need to get the penalties fixed and the offense on track in this one.
If the Pats take more penalties than the Raiders in this one I will be concerned.
FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Week 2 DVOA Ratings
Patriots up to 9th overall from 20th last week. Offense at 24, defense at 4th, special teams at 8th. Still won’t put much emphasis on these numbers until the quarter pole.
Perhaps slightly more exciting is the Patriots currently boast the best pass defense DVOA in the NFL. Of course we all know who they’ve faced and how skewed these numbers are at this point, but nice to look at nonetheless.
We’ll see what happens down the road though, after this weekend there are nothing even close to easy games the rest of the way.
Not much doing on the first possession – a three and out. The commitment to establish the run is clear, but they didn’t have much success off the left side of the line on the first two runs.
As mentioned by Greg Bedard last night, on the first pass attempt of the second possession there was just Dobson running a route. Everyone else was blocking. Yes, they’re trying to establish some confidence but yikes.
Cleaner blocking in the run game on the second possession, with nice lead/edge blocks from Hooman and Develin on Ridley’s five yard run.
Edelman fly sweep! Teams are going to figure out how to defend this play pretty quick as almost every NFL team is running them this year it seems.
The WR slip screens haven’t been working well this year so far, and I’d include the RB screens as well. With the heavier and less experienced line this probably shouldn’t be a surprise. But they just can’t seem to get that one block that springs them for a big gain.
Still scratching my head how we’re in the second quarter and we’ve seen about as much Hooman and Develin as Dobson/Amendola/LaFell. For a team that lacked playmakers last year they’re still seemingly avoiding their playmakers.
Still, what a rocket on third-and-15 to Edelman to pick up a much-needed first down. This was one of my Three GIFs plays.
Brady stood in there tough and took the hit to deliver a perfect touchdown lob to Edelman. Great play that he clearly audibled into.
The Pats were stopped short on 3rd-and-1 in the second quarter. The hole was there for a second, but Connolly couldn’t quite make his reach block and that was enough to delay Ridley from squirting through. Harrison Smith also filled and tackled like a force of nature. He’s a good player.
And now it’s the Brady and Edelman show. I expected to see a little more balance this year on offense, that’s for sure. Most puzzling though is how little Vereen was involved in the game plan. He needs to get the ball in space more often.
Really solid run blocking on the last play of the third quarter where Vereen picked up 12 yards. Sustained blocks, good movement and vision from Vereen. More of that please.
Cannon got stunned by the initial punch by the DT and that’s how Brady was sacked in the fourth quarter. It did seem like there was time for him to unload it, but it appeared he was staring down Edelman who was bracketed. See below:
Lastly, All-22 is a much better way to get a good look at the offensive line and I really liked what I saw from Bryan Stork upon further review. Sustains his blocks, shows good strength. Would not be surprised if he starts to see more time.
Patriots Offensive Line Height/Weight Comparison: 2012/13 vs. 2014
Say what we will about the new-look offensive line, but when laid out like this it’s clear how much bigger the Pats interior is now. We’re talking a combined five inches and 44 pounds more than the starting OL and swing tackle backup of the last two seasons.
I wonder if this relates back to the struggles we’ve seen in recent playoff losses where the interior OL struggles with guys like Justin Tuck and Terrence Knighton. Will this increase in size make a difference?
Two games into the season and it would seem like they are committed to trying to make it work.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/patriots-offensive-line-heightweight-comparison/