Stat check: New England Patriots’ third-down offense dips – ESPN Boston
The biggest problem:
Third-down offense
This week: 28th (35 of 105, 33.3 percent)
Last week: 18th (34 of 93, 36.6 percent)
Last season: 1st (110 of 226, 48.7 percent)
New England Patriots’ Alfonzo Dennard (via AP Images)
https://www.patspropaganda.com/nflhuskerspics-new-england-patriots-alfonzo/
Give the Jets credit for shutting down Tom Brady, exploiting Patriots weaknesses – Going Deep – Boston.com
Decisive moments of Week 7 in the NFL | The MMQB with Peter King
Decisive moments of Week 7 in the NFL | The MMQB with Peter King
[T]he Patriots are normally so disciplined up front against an athletic passer like Smith that they can contain the run by staying in their pass-rush lanes to prevent a big hole from opening up. On this play, because of depth issues, the Patriots wound up with two rookies—tackle Chris Jones (94, playing for the injured Vince Wilfork) and end Michael Buchanan (99)—playing on the same side. In this situation players are normally coached not to rush past the quarterback on the outside, and not to get out of your lane on the inside. Here, Jones got shoved inside by left guard Brian Winters (67), and Buchanan was ridden outside by left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson (60). That left a huge hole for Smith to run through. Then in the secondary, cornerback Marquice Cole (23) and rookie safety Duron Harmon (30) were slow to react to prevent Smith from gaining the first down. Smith ended up breaking a Cole tackle and surging forward for a first down. Two plays later he scored a touchdown on a nearly identical breakdown when three second-level defenders failed to make the tackle.
Did you have these questions after last week’s game vs. the Saints? Did anyone think Brady was declining after last week’s win over the Saints? This is the way it goes week to week. I understand you have such passion that when you follow these teams, you want immediate answers. But the answer for Brady’s performance is this: He didn’t play well against the Jets on Oct. 20, 2013. But one week ago, on Oct. 13, 2013, Brady led a magical comeback that had everyone saying ‘This guy has a lot left in the tank.’ This is the NFL. This is how it goes. And this is why you say it over and over again, but sometimes it’s not believed – FOOTBALL IS A TEAM SPORT. When the offense doesn’t play well, you hope the defense does. Or vice versa. Or special teams forces a turnover. Logan Ryan made a great play on that INT return for a TD. Gronkowski’s return, I felt, was extremely positive. I was nervous after that first play when he got a helmet right to that forearm. For him to come back and play like he did, you have to feel good about where he is going to be when the seaosn progresses. Tom Brady didn’t play well yesterday. He can play better. What you need to ask yourself is this: Do you think he will play better? I do.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/did-you-have-these-questions-after-last-weeks/