An Independent Patriots Blog
My favorite kind of film to review is when the defense plays awesome and there are few plays, most of which are really good. Obviously, the performance by the Patriots defense in Super Bowl 53 certainly fits the bill.
Just look at this:
Let’s dive in as we take a look at the performance in an emotionless vacuum.
[Read more…] about Patriots Super Bowl Film Review: Defense Edition
The Patriots’ latest win over the Jets had its share of weird plays and penalties. As I pondered how much angst I had toward then performance, I wasn’t sure how to divvy up the blame. After watching the film, I think there’s quite a few to just chalk up to weird situations, bad bounces and calls.
What was apparent right out of the gate was the Jets were going to mix what has hurt the Patriots defense most over the past few seasons — bunch sets, crossers… anything to get the linebackers in coverage. It’s nothing new, but it was often effective.
The offense had some self-inflicted stumbles but showed some big play ability, which is a necessity in today’s NFL. With the offensive line opening up big running lanes for Sony Michel everything seemed to be clicking. There’s no secret, when their ground game is going the Patriots offense is very hard to stop.
Here’s some more quick-hit thoughts as I banged through the All 22 film.
Is it really already week 12? Yes, we’re after Thanksgiving, when the “real” football starts and the push to the playoffs begins. After a week off the Patriots are back in contention for a bye, a vitally important piece of the Super Bowl run equation. There are just six games left, with three of the next four on the road. That’s where we’ll learn the most about who these Patriots really are.
They kick things off with the 3-7 Jets who will be without rookie quarterback Sam Darnold. The Jets have been hit hard with injuries this year, with running back Bilal Powell ending up on IR. Losing your best running back and young quarterback when you’re in rebuild mode is never a good thing and the Jets have lost four in a row and have put up just 26 total points in their last three games.
Still, no matter how bad the Jets appear on paper they always seem to play their asses off against the Patriots. Last October they put up 400 yards on the Patriots and lost by just a touchdown and that was a team that won just five games. The season finale was a meaningless affair just as this year’s finale will likely be.
But for now the Pats have a lot to prove on the road, and the Jets have the 2nd-best third-down defense in the league. That hits the Pats where they’ve struggled most. Tom Brady and the offense will get a good test. Defensively there aren’t any excuses. They’ve played down to the competition on the road and to do it again this week after getting a break will be unacceptable and another sign that the Pats are sputtering when they usually don’t sputter.
Let’s dive into both sides of the ball and come up with a gameplan that will get the post-Thanksgiving train rolling!
[Read more…] about Patriots Gameplan: Week 12 at New York Jets
Upon further review, the defense’s performance against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers’ offense was a classic kind of win. Did they give up a few long scoring drives? Yup, three to be exact. But they kept the ground game under control, didn’t allow any big scoring plays and withstood the storm until the second half when they grabbed a turnover, forced a timely three-and-out and set the stage for the Patriots’ offense to pull away.
This is always how it seems to go when the Pats face classic QBs like Rodgers, Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco and Ben Roethlisberger to name a few.
Despite the Jaguars and Lions hiccups, this has been a defense reborn and they getting better every week. It’s impressive and exciting to watch. Especially the Trey Flowers part of it.
No doubt there are still improvements to be made but this is a solid defense no matter how you slice it. Here’s how the Pats D strangled out the Pack.
[Read more…] about Patriots Film Review: Defense Strangles out Pack
I was surprised that watching the All-22 of the Patriots loss to the Lions made me feel a lot better about the Patriots chances of turning the season around from the 1-2 start. This is almost always the case, because you get a sense of how close the Pats were on many plays that went against them.
It’s small consolation, but it’s a clear illustration that all is not lost and that a 23-10 loss isn’t the worst thing to ever happen to a football team even if it was the second week in a row the Pats didn’t really show up.
I had to take this one in as a total experience, not a specific play by play, drive by drive breakdown but I came away with some general thoughts that were much different than what I came away with as I depressingly crawled into bed close to midnight on Sunday.
The first good takeaway is the Ja’whaun Bentley is a keeper. Yes, he had mistakes that took away from his overall impressive play, but this is the kind of player the Patriots defense needs badly and he should only continue to improve. His reaction speed is so impressive, better I dare say than any other linebacker on the roster. Watching his interception and he sticks with his receiver like glue and effortlessly makes the pick.
I don’t know where the Patriots defense is headed, but I’m pretty positive that Bentley is going to be a building block.
The other good guy I’ll mention is Dietrich Wise, who appears to still be viewed mostly as a pass rusher at this point, but he brings great energy and is one of the only consistently disruptive players up front. Bentley and Wise are the future on defense.
It’s been a long week in Patriots Nation. The team got blasted on the field. Another book came out and drudged up more things from 2017, a recurring occurrence now. Even the low-risk Josh Gordon acquisition was met with controversy. Sometimes it can be exhausting being an even-keeled Patriots fan man blogger and this was one of those exhausting weeks. But with a win in Detroit over Matt Patricia the Pats can get everything back on track and shut up a lot of the noise once again.
Despite a first-game shitshow, the Lions are going to put up a good fight. Like the Patriots, they’ve shown some holes but they’ve also had their share of nice plays, especially against the 49ers in a tight three-point loss.
While I know we will see a far better Patriots squad I also don’t expect it to be perfect. There’s still too much to work through, especially dealing with potential absences of Trey Flowers and Patrick Chung. Under any circumstances, a Pats defense without those two would be severely affected and that could be even more exacerbated if everyone plays as sloppy as they did in Jacksonville.
What do they have to do to get the all-important win and return home to face the Dolphins? Here’s the gameplan.
[Read more…] about Patriots Gamplan: Week 3 at Detroit Lions
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.