trey flowers

Film Review: Three Terrible Third Downs From the First Drive

October 17, 2017 by Mike Dussault

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.

Film Review: Patriots vs. Saints Defense Edition

September 20, 2017 by Mike Dussault

This morning I took a look at the overall defensive performance via the coaches film for the Patriots defense vs. the Saints after yesterday breaking down two specific plays that really allowed the offense to pull away at the end of the first half.

Overall I think this was a vastly improved performance by the Patriots defense. They mixed and matched coverages as well how many rushers they sent after the quarterback and the gameplan was pretty effective. If you can hold Drew Brees to 13 points through three quarters, you’re doing something right.

There were a few big plays again, but as I said in the gameplan, this isn’t the week to panic about those. Yes, the opener against the Chiefs was bad, but big plays via Drew Brees is something you just kind of have to live with. The biggest difference? Not giving up long scores. The big plays hurt, but they weren’t fatal. That’s the bend don’t break.

Here’s a bunch of rapid fire thoughts on the film review…

(photo via NFL Gamepass)

Two Key Plays: Patriots Defense at the end of the first half

September 19, 2017 by Mike Dussault

The Patriots’ third down defense is off to a strong start in 2017. After losing three key pass rushers this last offseason, the youngsters consisting of Trey Flowers, Adam Butler, Dietrich Wise and Cassius Marsh have shown consistent disruption getting after the quarterback early on.

After two games, the Patriots defense is tied for 10th on third down at a rate of 34.8 percent. Historically this is even better than the 2015 (37.3, ) and 2016 (36.9), defenses that finished ranked 10th and 7th respectively. Yes, it’s just two games, but it’s a good start and nice to see an injection of youth and promise at a critical area. One of need especially this year.

Let’s take a look at a two-down sequence to see how the third, and fourth-down defense allowed the Patriots to pull away toward victory.

As you can see below, the situation is that it’s the end of the first half and the Saints are just outside the redzone, down by two scores. Whether or not the game stays close depends on the Saints getting points here before getting the ball to start the second half. It’s a third and three, favorable distance for an offense, who can run or pass.

The Patriots appear to be in man defense, and with Elandon Roberts still in the game, they still have a pretty good run-defending linebacker behind a light front. Still, they’re clearing expecting pass.

Patriots-Chiefs Film Review: Defense Edition

September 10, 2017 by Mike Dussault

Plowed my way through the first defensive review of the All 22 film and as always it put things into perspective when watching without the emotion of the broadcast. Of course there were bad plays and busted coverages, but there was also plenty to feel positive about.

In a lot of ways it did remind me of the 2014 Chiefs loss in that players just weren’t getting off blocks and making plays. That kind of performance is often common the first few weeks of the season, with one ugly game almost always popping up — remember losing to the Cardinals at home in 2012?

But the poor performance would’ve been so much different if not for a few blown coverages and I fully expect there to be fewer blown coverages the rest of this season than there were in Week One.

Here are my observations on the big defensive picture.

What Losing Derek Rivers Means

August 18, 2017 by Mike Dussault

If there’s one thing you hate to see in August it’s season-ending injuries.

Unfortunately Derek Rivers’ situation took a turn for the worse on Friday.

The Patriots are optimistic that Derek Rivers avoided a significant injury, but tests aren’t done yet. Still, the early word is positive.

— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) August 16, 2017

From @MikeReiss & I: the Patriots fear their top draft pick DE Derek Rivers has suffered a season-ending knee injury, per league sources.

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) August 18, 2017

So yeah, I was already a little concerned about the defensive front seven as you might’ve read here or here and if Rivers is gone for all of 2017 it certainly doesn’t help matters.

In recent days I was excited to hear about Rivers’ emergence at camp. He was far better the second time I took a glance at his Jacksonville game. I felt like he could be a key contributor on third down and really help fill the vacated roles of Chris Long and Jabaal Sheard.

Patriots Positional Preview: Defensive Ends

July 5, 2017 by Mike Dussault

With the 4th of July in the rearview mirror, it will be just a few short weeks until training camp is upon us and Patriots football is back. These are the hardest days of the offseason, the final days, when all the football people are on vacation and there’s a vacuum of information.

Still, we’re so close we can all taste it.

Today we dive into another excerpt from my Season Preview (available here for just $5!), focusing on one of the most interesting positional groups on the roster — the defensive ends. While most of the team returns intact, this group is one that has undergone some significant transition.

Trey Flowers emerged as a breakout star in 2016 but after him there are a lot of question marks. How much does Rob Ninkovich have left in the tank? Can Kony Ealy assimilate? What about rookies Derek Rivers and Deatrich Wise?

With the departure of Jabaal Sheard and Chris Long, some of these new players will be playing significant roles and how they perform could decide whether the defense takes a step forward or back.

Here’s my breakdown of the edge players, whether you want to call them defensive ends or outside linebackers.

Breaking Down Trey Flowers’ Clutch Super Bowl Dominance

February 8, 2017 by Mike Dussault

Everyone’s favorite storyline involving the New England Patriots’ defense headed into the Super Bowl was that they hadn’t played anyone and would be exposed by Matt Ryan and the potent Falcons offense. Ryan certainly made his share of plays, but after giving up a third quarter touchdown that made it 28-3, the Patriots defense went into shutdown mode, cementing their place alongside the four other Super Bowl-winning Patriots’ defenses that came through in the clutch.

2016 breakout star Trey Flowers had a lot to do with it.

Most surprising was that a defense that had just 34 sacks in 16 games this season, just a little over two per game, the Pats defense had five sacks and 12 QB hits on just 23 pass dropbacks by Ryan. Trey Flowers led the way with 2.5 sacks and a staggering five quarterback hits.

Where was this kind of pass rush all season? Let’s take a closer look at how Flowers’ performance in Super Bowl 51.