Hoping to get to a second All-22 breakdown today, this time of the offense, but in my stat review this week it seems like the Patriots defense is settling in as we hit the halfway point of the season.
I think the remarkable thing is how Belichick’s defenses always tend to exhibit similar characteristics and this one seemed to have “get it” pretty quick. Last year was somewhat the exception because of the quality of CB1. Nothing against the very solid job Malcolm Butler has done this year, but when you can have Revis eliminate a top threat it really has a major effect across the defense.
But this year the Patriots are playing some very good football, but it’s characterized as always by “bend don’t break”, which is considered a negative by a lot of Patriots fans, but I’m here to tell you, more teams should subscribe to it because it works.
The big key is the tackling by the Patriots secondary. You might beat them for a play but you’re not going to run and make it an even bigger play. They’ll tackle you where you catch it and then force you to keep executing to get into the end zone.
You might even break a run through their defensive line, but again, the secondary won’t let you get much further than that.
But what stands out most to me (and it’s related to tackling) is the yards-per-drive which is lower than it’s been since 2007.
Now all you “yeah but they haven’t played anybody good” people can settle down. You can only play who’s on your schedule and just because you aren’t playing Aaron Rodgers and Derek Carr (?) every week doesn’t minimize what your defense has done well.
All I’m saying is the trends are pointing in the right direction. And as I continue to say, this team will go as far as Chandler Jones takes it. I hate to oversimplify it but it’s just about that simple. Hightower and Collins are great players, but stopping the good quarterbacks in the playoffs will be about Chandler winning his one-on-one matchups.