This was one of the quickest film reviews I’ve ever done, as the Patriots defense was on the field for just 52 plays, forcing eight Rams punts and coming up with two takeaways. As I mentioned in the Posits this week, the defense has been settling into their personnel and it seems to be helping keep everyone on the same page.
Specifically I wanted to take a look at the third downs where the Patriots had remarkable success, allowing just one conversion on 12 third downs. And yes, it’s also worth taking a look at the 66-yard pass they gave up at the end of the game that ruined any potential records they might’ve broken.
By going through each one we get a better picture for the kinds of coverage the Pats played — Rush three, drop eight in third and longs — and what their pass rush packages looked like.
Here’s how the third downs broke down, along with that one long ugly pass…
1. 7-0, 3rd & 11, 1st quarter
Coverage – Cover 1 Man, Van Noy on RB. Rushers – 4 (50, 98, 95, 54)
Ninkovich powers over the right tackle, misses the sack but disrupts the whole play.
2. 7-0, 3rd & 9, 1st quarter
Coverage – Cover 3 Zone, 54 zone drop. Rushers – 4 (53, 50, 98, 95)
Flowers not only beats the center/guard, but opens a free lane for Ninkovich. Pass complete but well short, and a big QB hit.
3. 7-0, 3rd & 7, 2nd quarter
Coverage – Cover 1 Man. Rushers – 5 (53, 54, 93, 98, 95)
Good chaos in front of Goff, but he managed it well. Pass should’ve been caught, but is instead intercepted.
4. 14-0, 3rd & 20, 2nd quarter
Coverage – Cover 2 Zone. Rushers – 3 (50, 98, 95)
Pats drop eight into zone coverage, Goff takes checkdown, tackled well short.
5. 14-0, 3rd & 5, 2nd quarter
Coverage – Cover 3 Zone, Rushers – 4 (95, 98, 93, 53)
Another drop by the Rams that should’ve been caught for a conversion.
6. 17-0, 3rd & 15, 3rd quarter
Coverage – Cover 4 Zone, Rushers – 3 (95, 98, 50)
Goff takes the checkdown against another eight-man zone coverage and it comes up well short.
7. 17-0, 3rd & 9, 3rd quarter
Coverage – Cover 1 Man, Van Noy on RB, Rushers – 4 (95, 54, 98, 50)
Nice stunt by Hightower clears a lane for Long. Goff just gets pass off, short of first down as Long drills him.
8. 23-3, 3rd & 13, 3rd quarter
Coverage – Cover 3 Zone. Rushers – 4 (58, 50, 98, 93)
Flowers hits Goff again just as he throws incomplete.
9. 26-3, 3rd & 8, 4th quarter
Coverage – Cover 1 Man, Van Noy on RB, Rushers – 4 (50, 54, 98, 95)
Long’s isolated on LT, spin move gets him to the sack without being touched.
10. 26-3, 3rd & 1, 4th quarter
Coverage – Cover 1 Man, RUN!
Rams get their first third-down conversion of the day running behind their right tackle. Sheard gets a little too agressive and can’t cut back to make the play.
11. 26-3, 3rd & 10, 4th quarter
Coverage – Cover 1 Man, Van Noy on RB, Rushers – 4 (93, 90, 54, 95)
Plenty of time for Goff, not a great throw, even worse non-catch. Not surprising.
12. 26-3, 3rd &17, 4th quarter
Coverage – Cover 2 Zone, Rushers – 3 (93, 98, 95)
Goff takes the checkdown against right zone defenders, setting up a 4th and 11…
The 66-yard 4th Down Bomb
I believe this was Cover 4, which would make the bomb Butler’s fault. He thought Britt was cutting out at the first down marker, but instead he took it upfield and kept going. This is an example where conservative coverage would’ve saved the day. The rule for Butler, whether it was Cover 3 or 4 would be to stay on top of the WR no matter what.
What Have We Learned?
When it was Collins/Hightower, most often it was Collins covering TEs, Hightower on RBs, but now Hightower is doing far less coverage, especially in man-to-man, where he’s going to blitz or drop to a zone. Kyle Van Noy is now being used on third downs primarily to cover running backs, though he will blitz when they’re in zone.
This game wasn’t much of a departure from a strategic point of view that what we’ve been seeing — their effectiveness was a combination of a) playing well together, b) blown blocking assignments, and c) the Rams QB/WRs not being on the same page. While it wasn’t an overwhelming effort by the defense, it was certainly another game of positive progression.
They picked their spots on other downs with some slot blitzes, the hallmark of any gameplan where they think they need to make the QB feel their rush. But this wasn’t a departure from their usual philosophy, it was just more effective.
What’s clear for the Ravens is that they’ll need to get Joe Flacco off the spot, so I’d expect more of the same against the Ravens. This one will be a far better litmus test.