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5 Most Interesting Pending Patriots Free Agents

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I like to blog like Bill Belichick would, by focusing only on the immediate obstacle in front of the Patriots, but since we’re coming off a bye week I’m going to break with Bill a bit here and take a look at some pending free agents.

The offseason is always a fascinating slow burn, and like most years, the Patriots have a number of key players who are scheduled to hit free agency. Their departures could open significant holes on the roster. Or re-signing them could signal the direction the team plans to take in 2018 and beyond.

It’s also worth pointing out these players now because a strong second half of the season would significantly upgrade the contracts they can receive this spring.

Here are the five more interesting players/positions to me…

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Three Plays That Defined Patriots Defense vs. Chargers

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After yesterday’s Garoppolo spookstravaganza on Patshow I’m moving back to some analysis of the players on the team who have actually played a down this season. I know the trade will continue to dominate the conversation for much of the next week and a half, but it’s time to refocus on the second half of the season.

The Patriots sit at 6-2, and while we can talk about their flaws, the reality is the sports betting odds are still very much in their favor to make a strong playoff run this post season.

I thought the defense did a solid job against the Chargers, although there were just a couple notable breakdowns with Melvin Gordon‘s 87-yard touchdown run leading the way. They continue to make strides and while they certainly have some weak links in certain situations, they’ve continually bounced back and made the key spots necessary to help the Patriots on their four-game win streak.

Here are three plays that defined the defensive effort against the Chargers.

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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: Pats vs. Jets Defense Edition

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One of my favorite parts of the week is when I get to sit down and watch the All-22 of the Patriots defense. It’s a soundless, emotionless journey into football land. I know the result, I know the post-mortem talking points and I can just sit back and take it all in for what it actually was.

After watching the Pats’ defensive performance against the Jets I feel actually better than I’ve felt all season long about the unit. Of course it was not perfect, but it was starting to look and feel like the usual Patriots defense. You know what that means… Bend Don’t Break.

Still cliches aside, the progress was really keyed by an excellent performance against the run, led by Malcom Brown and aided by a resurgent Alan Branch. When those two players are on, the Pats are dominating the line of scrimmage and that has a positive trickle down effect on the rest of the defense.

Yes, there were still plenty of mistakes, often by the rookies and new guys, but what we saw was that the defense could forget the last plays, the last drives and refocus on the current drive.

All in all I do think things are headed in the right direction. You need to look no further than the run defense jumping from 27th to 23rd in DVOA. There’s still a ways to go, but I do believe the defense should be primed to play well against the Falcons, who will surely have all their attention this week.

Here’s what else stood out from the film review.

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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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Pats Posits: The Luxury of a Maddening Victory

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Doesn’t it feel like this is the year that NFL parity finally kicked in? Yes, the Patriots are 4-2 and we think we have plenty to complain about, but when you look around the league it’s hard to make any sense of it all. There were conference-altering injuries like Aaron Rodgers breaking his collarbone. There was the final undefeated team falling. And there was yet another week where some teams are up, some teams are down and no one knows who’s really good or bad.

Simply put, ironing out firm Super Bowl favorites at this point is near impossible. Every team has flaws and no one is safe from huge injuries. So before you jump off the bridge about the Patriots’ defense, just take a deep breath and realize that despite their flaws, there aren’t any flawless teams and well, we still have Tom Brady. You know, the winningest quarterback of all time in all regards now.

I still give the Pats a puncher’s chance against anyone, especially this year and that counts for a lot.

Here are the Posits on what was once again a maddening victory, which are quickly becoming the hallmark of the 2017 Pats.

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Film Review: Patriots vs. Texans Defense Edition

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The defense is getting a ton of attention this week because, as you’ve probably heard, they rank last or close to last in most statistical categories three games into the season. Even my favorite ranking, Football Outsiders’ DVOA has them 32nd overall.

Sometimes I feel like complaining about the defense is just what fans do every year. They led the league in points against last season but many still stuck to the narrative that they were overrated, hadn’t played any good quarterbacks, etc. For whatever reason, no matter where they rank people tend to freak out about the D. Maybe it’s because they remember the 2000s defense, when football was different and defenses could really dominate, or maybe it’s just because they’re used to seeing Tom Brady dominate and they expect the same out of the other side of the ball.

Whatever the reasoning, it’s important to really look at each sequence, especially when we’re just three games into the season. I thought Mike Reiss did a nice job breaking down the difference between how the Pats D did vs. broken plays/scrambles vs. regular drop backs:

Scramble/loose plays: 13

Normal: 24

Watson was 7-of-11 for 117 yards on scramble/loose plays in which the pocket was sometimes re-established as he rolled out. That included one interception on the game-ending Hail Mary, as well as two sacks. In the normal passing game, Watson still made plays, but the results were indeed much more uneven.

Let’s dive into the All-22 film review to get a better sense of what’s going on with the Pats’ defense.

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