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adam butler

Film Review: It All Goes Right for Pats D vs. Phins

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I am pretty sure this was my favorite defensive football film watch of all-time. Simply put it was the second time in four weeks that the Patriots defense executed across the board. The pressure was consistent even with four, they were tough on first down, they got takeaways. I’m not sure what more you can ask from a defense and that’s almost a little scary.

It really puts a spotlight on how inexcusable the two performances on the road were, but those are done and the Pats need to figure out how to live up to the performances against Houston and Miami every week. Here’s a bunch of rapid-fire thoughts as I digest the brief and spectacular film review.

— The defense was just totally in sync as it was vs the Texans. It’s beautiful to watch as the coverage perfectly matches the receivers and the pocket breaks apart forcing an uncomfortable throw. Again and again, we’re reminded that when defenses simply get off blocks and make tackles they can look monumentally better. That was the case in this one.

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Patriots Training Camp Battle Preview: Defensive End

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The Patriots’ defensive end group suffered heavy departures and attrition in 2017. Chris Long and Jabaal Sheard, key passing-down contibutors for the Super Bowl 52 squad, left via free agency. When Rob Ninkovich retired just a week into training camp it was the biggest blow of all.

Outside his four-game suspension to start 2016 and Ninkovich started every game since mid-way through the 2010 season. You don’t simply replace that kind of reliability, not to mention clutch plays that the “Jet Killer” Ninkovich made on a regular basis.

Third-round pick Derek Rivers tore his ACL in training camp, another critical blow at a ravaged position. Cassius Marsh played 267 defensive snaps, then asked out. It was just too much.

The Patriots were then forced to lean completely on Trey Flowers, while using rookies Dietrich Wise and Adam Butler, Bills practice squadder Eric Lee, and later James Harrison, the strongest edge-setter of them all, as replacements.

2017’s defensive ends were a shell of what they had been since the early 2010’s, before Ninkovich and Chandler Jones started a run of having two strong starters at the top and an array of pass rushers behind them. Though in 2013 and 2014 it was pretty much just Ninkovich and Jones who miraculously played almost every snap and never got hurt.

Will things be better this year? It sure looks like it.

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Pats Posits: Mini Camp Week

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Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski will be back on the practice field at Gillette Stadium this week as the Patriots host their three-day mandatory minicamp.

After choosing to spend their optional OTA days training on their own, the critical eyes will be closely monitoring the two Patriot stars for any signs of rust. Yes, as Tom Brady winds down his career on his own terms he’ll be increasingly under the microscope, especially as he crosses 41 this summer.

At least the “Where in the World is Tom Brady” storylines will be dead for this week. (Instead, we’ll get a Brady-missed-a-pass and Gronk-had-a-drop WHAT DOES IT MEAN!?!?!-athon)

My actual football thoughts in the Posits.

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Film Review: Pats vs. Falcons – Defense (Until it Got Too Foggy) Edition

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The Patriots defense turned in their best performance of the season against the Falcons, a total team effort where they were fundamentally sound from top to bottom. Things got a little too foggy to breakdown the entire game, but from a half-plus of review I got a pretty good sense of how well they played and how they were able to shutdown a Falcons offense that had shredded them for much of the Super Bowl.

Here’s what stood out…

— Van Noy continues to make really good progress and his development is a big reason why the defense is playing so much better, especially against the run. The 3rd-and-4 on the Falcons’ second possession was a perfect example as Van Noy splits a double team in space to make a solo tackle for a three yard loss on a toss sweep. It was an excellent play, a great example of the kind of things that weren’t happening earlier in the season.

— After converting the following fourth down via a Matt Ryan scramble the Falcons put together a nice little drive that ended with a Cassius Marsh blocked field goal. On the last third-and-10 the coverage was excellent. Ryan had nowhere to go and the pass rush flushed him out of the pocket. He thought about scrambling again, but McCourty peeled off his middle field help coverage to prevent it. Just an overall really solid team defense play in a key spot, the kind of stuff we haven’t really seen enough of.

— On Marsh’s block he again demonstrated a strength — getting skinny and getting through gaps to make plays. It’s shown up a few times on defensive plays and now it set up what might’ve been a season-changing special teams play. After this the Patriots just played with even more confidence.

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Pats Posits: The New England Football Machine Rolls On

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After showing brief glimpses that they were a good team through the first six games of the season, the 2017 New England Patriots finally turned in their first consistent performance in a 23-7 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Yes, rumors of the Patriots demise have once again been exaggerated.

Simply put, it all worked against the Falcons. The four-headed running back monster finally showed how well it could power the offense, and most importantly, close games out. The much-maligned defense turned in one of their most impressive performances in recent memory, and they did it without Stephon Gilmore. It was a total team, total game win, the first of its kind this season and it was incredibly refreshing.

I’ve been saying there was a good defense inside there somewhere, and against the Falcons we saw what they were capable of. This is where the bar is, and it’s now set pretty high. Way above the worst defense in the league, but maybe not quite the all out domination we saw on Sunday night through the fog.

It looks like the 2017 Pats finally realized the season had started and that’s bad news for an NFL loaded with parity.

Here’s what I think in the Posits.

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Film Review: Three Terrible Third Downs From the First Drive

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The Patriots defense was supposed to have turned a corner after winning in Tampa Bay. Instead they came out ten days later and had one hell of an ugly drive to start the game against the Jets. Yes, they partially righted the ship and came through on the final drive so it wasn’t as bad as we’ve seen this season, but it’s hard to play much worse on third down than they did on that opening drive.

With any more drives like this one the Patriots betting odds for the next game will drop like a rock facing last year’s MVP Matt Ryan. Third down is where games are won or lost and in this contest, especially out of the gate, the Patriots were out of sync and overthinking.

Let’s take a look at three of the third down conversions on that opening drive and try to figure out what was going on out there.

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Two Key Plays: Patriots Defense at the end of the first half

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The Patriots’ third down defense is off to a strong start in 2017. After losing three key pass rushers this last offseason, the youngsters consisting of Trey Flowers, Adam Butler, Dietrich Wise and Cassius Marsh have shown consistent disruption getting after the quarterback early on.

After two games, the Patriots defense is tied for 10th on third down at a rate of 34.8 percent. Historically this is even better than the 2015 (37.3, ) and 2016 (36.9), defenses that finished ranked 10th and 7th respectively. Yes, it’s just two games, but it’s a good start and nice to see an injection of youth and promise at a critical area. One of need especially this year.

Let’s take a look at a two-down sequence to see how the third, and fourth-down defense allowed the Patriots to pull away toward victory.

As you can see below, the situation is that it’s the end of the first half and the Saints are just outside the redzone, down by two scores. Whether or not the game stays close depends on the Saints getting points here before getting the ball to start the second half. It’s a third and three, favorable distance for an offense, who can run or pass.

The Patriots appear to be in man defense, and with Elandon Roberts still in the game, they still have a pretty good run-defending linebacker behind a light front. Still, they’re clearing expecting pass.

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