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Pats Posits: Notes on the Patriots-Vikings Rewatch

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The New England Patriots bounced back on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings to even their record at 1-1. It was still an ugly affair – with the Pats getting called for a whopping 15 penalties for 163 yards.

The general NFL sentiment and betting expectations were not favorable to the Patriots after their opening weekend loss, but with big games just around the corner, including a Monday Night Football matchup in Kansas City on the horizon, the Pats look to be coming into form. You can read more on the best NFL news here.

It’s always better to take a second, emotion-less look at the game before going to the All-22 film. I finished this game feeling a great sense of “what if”.

What happens when this offense cuts their excessive penalties? They will be tough to stop. And the defense looks like they are starting to find their stride and that’s a good thing – the season is about to get very real, very soon.

Here are my observations on the rewatch.

Hard for the penalties not to be the first thing that jumped out immediately. So many positive plays and momentum were killed by flags. Just unprecedented and I’m not sure why the Patriots are the worst team in the NFL right now in penalties. They just have to be better and the results should really make a huge difference.

Packages:

Standard

  • Ninkovich-Wilfork-Siliga-Chandler
  • Hightower-Mayo-Skinner

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  • Wilfork-Siliga-Chris Jones

Nickel/Dime Combos

  • Easley/Jones inside, Easley only in dime.

Easley over center, best spot for him to use his quickness/disruption. Really like combining him and Chris Jones inside, that’s the pass rush interior front I’ve been waiting for a long time.

Start of second quarter – did they send McCourty on a blitz? Seemed like there were a few DB blitzes in this one. Not usually a big tenet of the defense.

Second drive went to double nose with Wilfork/Siliga two-gapping inside and letting Ninkovich/Chandler deal with the edges. This might not be the best interior pass rush package, but it’s probably the most balanced and effective early down package unless it’s one of the better passing offenses. Then I think you work Chris Jones and Easley more into the early down rotation.

With Fleming as blocking TE, Cannon/Devey at G, the Pats were essentially running a 5 tackle offensive line. Hopefully that kind of size can make a difference.

After first drive the Pats started dropping Ninkovich and Hightower (edges) into short zones that would allow them to come downhill and nail any crossing routes.

Third-and-three with time winding down in the second quarter, the Pats send the blitz but Cassel gets it off. Worth taking a closer look at this one on A22. They were spinning the dial a bit on defense.

Tackling and getting off blocks were so much better than last week. That made such a difference and allowed them to overcome the penalties.

Stephen Gostkowski is such an unsung story. To replace Vinatieri as seamlessly as he did is pretty impressive. Now he’s reached that level we had with Vinatieri where you pretty much expect to make every kick and an occasional miss is forgivable.

The defense really settled in during the second half, likely because Minnesota was in a hole. Their physicality and aggressiveness really stood out.

Logan Ryan is such a smooth corner, even when he allows a catch he seems to be right there and immediately makes the tackle. His interception was just the perfect undercut of the route.

Offense still looked sloppy and couldn’t get out of their own way. They’re going to put it all together, probably this weekend, and when they do expect a 2007-ish explosion.

Despite that, Tom Brady was really starting to step into his throws with great accuracy. Second-and-10 pass to Edelman in the third quarter showed how much arm Brady has left. Those are the throws that indicate to me that he’s feeling comfortable with the protection. He wasn’t stepping into them last week.

The thought of Brandon Bolden being the lead back for a full game scares me. I would love to see James White start to eat into Bolden’s limited carries. The rookie just needs to work on pass protection I’m sure, that’s the hardest thing for a rookie RB.

The only sack of the game is mostly on Cannon. I thought Brady had enough time to get the ball out, but the coverage was solid. Cannon was stunned by a good initial punch and that allowed the DL to get by him.

Not enough push from Devey and Stork on Brady’s failed 4th quarter sneak attempt. Good to get Stork’s feet wet though.

Great athletic play by Easley on his interception. He might not’ve gotten any sacks but he’s a handful inside. As he learns to be a better pass rusher in the pros, his production will only go up. He knows how to use his hands that’s for sure.

Not to oversimplify anything, but just eliminate the penalties and I think we’ll be amazed by how good this Patriots team can be. Hard to have any momentum on offense with that many penalties. And I really can’t wait to see this defense go up against a quality passing offense.

I’ll take a look at the All-22 tomorrow to take a closer look at coverages and schemes.

Snap Judgement: Patriots show life in gifted Vikings victory

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The 2014 Patriots have one in the win column and now seem on track to get their season going. Getting Oakland for their home opener is almost as big a gift as the win over the Vikings was.

Don’t get me wrong, defensively the Patriots had as solid a game as we’ve seen around here in a while. Still, it was a formula that the Pats have won a lot of games with – takeaways. 

Four interceptions, five punts and one blocked field goal should have this defense feeling good. But how much is a by-product of no Adrian Peterson and Matt Cassel at quarterback?

We’ll find out for sure after Alex Smith and Andy Dalton, and that’s just the start of it. There are a lot of high-powered offenses coming down the pike.

Schematically, I really liked what the Pats did on defense. They settled into two different main groupings – a 25 hybrid with WIlfork and Siliga, and a pass rush front featuring Easley and Jones.

They got solid play out of both groupings. They tackled better. The playmakers made plays, with McCourty providing the spark.

The pass rush seemed fairly disruptive, with Chandler and Hightower leading the way. Hightower looked comfortable dropping into a short zone then laying the lumber when a receiver caught an underneath route.

Just amazed at how Wilfork has come back. The presence of Easley and Jones allows them to take Wilfork off the field. This is vital.

I didn’t come away feeling nearly as positive about the offense. They showed flashes and the blocking was certainly better, but they were far from dominant or even consistent.

They wanted to establish the run and they did. That opened up the passing game a bit.

But considering the help they got from the defense, the offense is still a work in progress. Dobson had a nice catch to open the game and then it slipped into Edelman/Gronk only.

Really liked how Ridley ran, he was just exploding out of the backfield.

Overall I think we’re just scratching the surface of this edition of the Pats. Hightower and Chandler are elevating their play in their third seasons and becoming the core playmakers of the defense.

Say what you will about the offensive line transition, but they are bigger inside than they’ve ever been now. The question is whether this size can translate to protection against the better pass rushing interiors?

Looking forward to going back and taking a closer look tomorrow but this was a strong first win of the season.

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Thanks to nrgenergy for the tickets and ball, psyched to work with them following the @Patriots all season, with something big in the works for Patriots-Broncos!

I will be having giveaways of swag like this all season long as well!

Stay tuned!

https://www.patspropaganda.com/thanks-to-nrgenergy-for-the-tickets-and-ball/

The Best of the Week in PatsPropaganda

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What. A. Week. I try to keep this just to a Patriots football blog as much as possible, but it was hard to avoid the Ray Rice/Adrian Peterson of it all this week.

The best thing to do is just focus on the game and the team that I love and try to ignore the noise, but the NFL really needs to get it together, from the Commissioner and owners all the way down to all the players.

Moving on, here’s the best stuff of the week, including plenty of analysis from yours truly. And just to throw it out there, if you’re thinking of attending the Pats-Broncos game we’ve got something very special in the works so lock down your plans asap!

PatsPropaganda – Vikings Gameplan 

Greg Bedard: Patriots Defense Has Problems

PatsPropaganda – All-22 Reviews: Offense. Defense.

PatsPropaganda – Three GIFs that defined the Patriots loss to Dolphins.

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New England Patriots Gameplan: Week 2 at Minnesota Vikings

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We’re finally on to Week 2, putting the ugly season-opening loss to Miami behind us! The Minnesota Vikings provide just the right kind of tough challenges the Patriots need to face to prove they’re not the team that laid a major egg on the road in Miami last week.

Here’s our game plan!

Offensive Strategy

The Patriots offense was disjointed but effective in the first half against Miami. But it was too reminiscent of last year’s offense that was completely reliant on Edelman and Vereen. Amendola and LaFell were mostly invisible and Brady got locked onto Gronk a little too much. It’s understandable he’d want to get Gronk involved early and often to get back up to game speed, but Gronk’s progress back to normal isn’t going to happen over night. 

The important pieces are Kenbrell Thompkins and hopefully Aaron Dobson. Thompkins flashed a lot of potential this offseason once again, but wasn’t much of a factor against the Dolphins. If Dobson can return and Thompkins can start to make some significant plays, the Pats offense can stop being so one-dimensional with Edelman/Vereen.

This week the Pats have to spread the ball around and when the playmakers have the ball in their hands they have to make plays. 

Defensive Strategy

(Update 9/12 afternoon – Adrian Peterson is no longer playing due to his indictment for reckless or negligent injury to a child). Not having to face the best running back in the game is helpful for the Pats run defense, it’s just a shame why he won’t be playing regardless. 

Cordarrelle Patterson now becomes the primary focus for the Pats’ defense.

The trio of Alfonzo Dennard, Devin McCourty and Darrelle Revis will have their work cut out for them, especially when coming down to contain the inevitable end-arounds the Vikes will run.

Upfront the Pats might want to lean on Wilfork and Siliga in the middle. A return to the double nose 4-3 makes the most sense to me (see below), especially if Jamie Collins is limited or out.

The rotation between Chung and Harmon at safety is one interesting area to watch. Chung is effective in the box but now without Peterson it might make sense to load the back end. The deep pass defense has been an issue in recent years. We assume they’ve been fixed with Revis in the fold, but now it’s time to prove it.

Points of Emphasis

1. Tackle: How different last week’s outcome could’ve been if the Pats had missed just a few less tackles. It might’ve been just a six-point game as Brady got the ball back, setting up a chance to win the game on the final drive, something he’s certainly capable of. It’s little surprise that tackling was so sloppy with the new rules in training camp, but it’s no excuse, they have to be better. Simply wrapping up and making the plays they’re in position to make will make a world of difference this week for the defense.

2. Do Your Job: Too many mistakes were made last week with guys trying to compensate for mistakes and it could be easy to get rattled after the results were so ugly. Players on both sides of the ball must play within the system and within themselves and not try to do too much. Focusing on this kind of thinking is what can get the team back on track playing clean and complimentary football. 

3. Back to the Double Nose: With Jamie Collins limited on Thursday and missing practice on Friday, there’s  chance the Pats could be short a linebacker this weekend. There are worse games he could miss. I think the best combo upfront would be Wilfork and Siliga inside, with Chandler and Ninkovich at defensive end, returning to the “double nose” defense of the past couple seasons.

If Chris Jones can get back that would be a big boost. Darius Fleming could be thrust into the fire at SLB if Collins is out, but sliding Hightower to MLB and Mayo to WLB might maximize both their effectiveness in the run game.

4. Block: Belichick said Mike Zimmer might just zerox his gameplan from last season when his Bengals defense held the Patriots to just 1-for-13 on third down. The Bengals had back-to-back third down sacks on the Pats first two possessions of the game and that set the tone. Per PFF, they blitzed 14 of 42 snaps, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you have Geno Atkins (which the Vikings do not) it certainly helps. 

There’s no question the Pats protection struggled last week and even when they did get everyone blocked it looked far from smooth. Maybe it was the rotation, maybe it was just early-season jitters, but the Patriots offense has to get it together this week.

5. Win: As always, all that matters is getting that first win of the season. Even with a second loss it’s not time to panic, but this Patriots team needs to find themselves sooner than later. There wasn’t a lot to feel good about after last week’s second half, but there’s a huge opportunity to right the ship this week. Mike Zimmer’s defense had their way with the Pats last year. Overcoming these elements on the road will plant a lot of confidence in the 2014 Pats and put them on track for the kind of season we all expect out of them.

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[T]he Patriots have the personnel and experience to tweak things for the better. The starting four-man line should be Rob Ninkovich and Jones at end, with Wilfork at nosetackle and Chris Jones at three-technique. Siliga can spell Wilfork, and Easley has vast pass-rushing potential sharing time with Jones. The Patriots and Belichick, the general manager, are taking a big risk counting so heavily on the 32-year-old Wilfork. If they lose him, it will look like the end of last season when teams piled up yards against the Patriots.

New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers share problems on defense | The MMQB with Peter King

Nodding…

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