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Film Review: Patriots vs. Texans Defense Edition 2018

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After years of focusing heavily on the Patriots’ defense it’s easy to see after the first game how new defensive coordinator Brian Flores has simplified things. They still did plenty of rotation of players, but this was as polished a defensive game as we’ve seen from a Pats team that often gets off to slow starts.

The defense was flying to the ball and looked well in-sync between coverage and pass rush. Most impressive, an array of front seven players who all won one-on-one battles. It is that Flores is sending all kinds of new pressure that Matt Patricia wasn’t, it’s that players like Trey Flowers, Keionta Davis, Dietrich Wise, Adam Butler and Adrian Clayborn are executing a coordinated and suffocating attack on the pocket.

Up front the base moved more toward a six-man front that echoes a 4-3 under. Kyle Van Noy was consistently on the defensive left side, standing. Hightower would line up to the tight end side (taking the TE in coverage on pass plays) and Bentley would line up across the running back, who he’d have in coverage. This meant that Trey Flowers was able to move back to right side after playing the Ninkovich role on the left. That role appears to be going away.

That was the run stopping front, I’m not sure they played a single meaningful snap of a seven-man front, fka “base”.

The other nickel package against the pass was a 4-2 front and they rotated all four linebackers through, with Hightower and Bentley being the top pairing, but Van Noy and Roberts also got rotational time. The nickel back ends rotated between Jonathan Jones in the slot and Duron Harmon, who saw some time near the line of scrimmage, somewhat of a rarity for him.

The coordination between Chung, McCourty, Gilmore and Rowe was outstanding. They gave up a few plays, but overall they were really sharp, especially in contrast to last year’s opening debacle.

Here’s a bunch more notes on a really impressive first defensive outing…

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What Will 2018 Pats Unveil Sunday?

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-q7OC4su4Y

With the roster set and the first week of the regular season upon us, it’s time to find out who the 2018 Patriots are. Or at least get the first chapter of what will be a long book, with ups and downs. But this one counts and that means it’s time to see how the team has evolved for the new season.

Some pieces are obvious. Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and James White will make the offense go. Dont’a Hightower and Stephon Gilmore will be the playmakers for the defense. But who else will need to chip in? What are the options and what will they ride on both sides of the ball?

Let’s break out the crystal football and predict what we’re going to see from the Pats on Sunday.

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20 Questions About 2018 Patriots

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We’re a mere 10 days away from the opening of Patriots training camp, one of the most exciting times of the football season, when hope springs eternal, no one has gotten severely injured yet and every team has a shot at the Super Bowl. For the Patriots it’s another bonus chance getting to watch Bill Belichick and Tom Brady add to their unprecedented run.

These seasons are fleeting, we’re already on borrowed time, so it’s best to savor every moment.

The 2018 Patriots should be a big switch from the 2017 team. Just as the 2015 team was decimated by injuries and the 2016 team bounced back, this will be another opportunity for the team to put a bunch of injuries and a disappointing ending behind them.

There will be new faces, returning faces and hopefully, unexpected faces emerging. As we continue to count down, here are 20 questions that are facing this edition of the Pats.

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Can Flores Fix First Down D?

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If there’s a wheelhouse that fans and detractors of the New England Patriots’ defense love, it’s the “be more aggressive” angle and Mike Reiss nails it today taking a closer look at new de facto defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ presence at minicamp.

Quotes like this one from Dont’a Hightower are enough to give some fans a picture all-out Cover 0 blitzes coming on every down.

“Matty P and Flo are somewhat the same, but a little different at the same time. With the playcalling we’ve gotten so far, I definitely feel like we’re going to be more aggressive. Things are a little bit more simple, but it’s still a little bit different, and guys are learning bits and pieces of the defense. But so far, so good.”

The one thing I was never quite sure about with Matt Patricia was where Belichick ended and he began. The defense certainly evolved from the mid-2000’s, especially around 2012 where the switch to a mostly man-to-man defense took hold. Instead of off-the-line corners like Asante Samuel and Ellis Hobbs, who were quick and could pattern read, they actively pursued press man corners like Aqib Talib, Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner.

But for the last 17 years, the Patriots have primarily been a conservative defense, mostly content to play coverage, tackle well and wait for the other team to flame out. They’ll pick their spots with blitzes, sometimes, like 2014 with the Collins/Hightower Double A-Gap blitz, they’ll even make it a featured item.

Exploiting and winning one-on-one matchups up front is more what it’s about, rather than sending five or six rushers every single passing play. We have come to know, and hate, it as the Bend Don’t Break. That has always felt like Belichick more than the defensive coordinator.

Will Flores change this general philosophy? I’m not all that convinced, but what’s clear is that for a number of reasons, the 2017 Patriots defense was the one of the bendiest and break-iest under Belichick. Some adjustments must be made.

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Tweets of Note from Patriots 2nd OTA Week

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After a quiet week, unless you like playing Where in the World is Tom Brady, the Patriots were back in action for the media on Thursday. These brief glimpses in on the team only give us a taste of the excitement to come in less than two months at training camp.

Per the usual disclaimers, don’t get too worked up about anyone playing anywhere at this point. Sometimes it’s just a temporary look at how players fit surrounded by starters than it is necessarily them actually being considered as a starter. This is still a teaching phase.

Here are the tweets of note that keep us going through the May-Jun post-draft void.

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20 Sans-Brady OTA Pats Posits

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The doldrums of the offseason will be a bit alleviated this week as the Patriots host (optional) off-season team activities. Tom Brady has followed through on his commitment to spend more time with his family this offseason and won’t report until the mandatory mini-camp next month.

Of course, there will be plenty of interesting things to pick up for those who are paying attention to the football part of the thing. But expect most of the chatter and debate to continue to revolve around Brady’s absence and what it all means.

Aside from Brady (and Gronk) not being in attendance, are 20 things that will be interesting to me:

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Pats Should Focus on Front Seven Like 2012 Draft

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With yesterday’s allocation of a fourth-round compensatory pick, the Patriots now have their draft capital set:

  • 1.31
  • 2.43 (via SF)
  • 2.63
  • 3.95
  • 4.136
  • 6.208

The Patriots have had their struggles high in the draft lately. Only Malcom Brown (2015), Dont’a Hightower (2012) and Nate Solder (2011) remain as first- or second-round players since 2011 who are still on the team and important pieces. Otherwise there have been extensive misses and even those that they did hit on were traded away. Throw in the missing Deflategate pick and there’s no question, the Patriots need to hit on some talent in this spring’s draft.

The ideal model? When they traded up twice in 2012’s first round to add Dont’a Hightower and Chandler Jones. The impact of those two picks was immediately felt in the 2012 season and set the stage for what would become a Super Bowl-winning defense in 2014. That’s the kind of infusion up front the Pats need once again.

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