Blessing in disguise
Versatility, schemes key to Pats’ front 7
FOXBORO — The Patriots don’t have a defensive end problem. Opposing quarterbacks do. There’s been far too much speculation during the past month over the Pats’ perceived lack of depth at defensive end when, in reality, their positions are nothing but labels on a depth chart. Their actual usage will be a consistent exercise in disguise as Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia scheme up an assortment of ways to attack quarterbacks.
Patricia, the rocket scientist, put his front seven in the lab throughout training camp, and their creative blitzes will finally be unveiled tomorrow night in the regular-season opener against the Chiefs.
“It’s something we believe in,” Dont’a Hightower said. “It’s something Bill believes in. It’s fun. It’s something that opposing quarterbacks are going to have to figure out, whether a guy is a linebacker or defensive end, or if he is a corner or a safety, or a safety lining up as a defensive end. It helps and it’s fun because a lot of guys are able to do a lot of different things.
“With being versatile, guys can rush. Guys can cover, can drop. We go against Tom (Brady) every day. If we can keep him on his toes and keep him guessing, then we’re doing something right. We take pride in that, and it’s something we’ve got to continue to build on.”
The Patriots’ traditional defensive ends include Trey Flowers and rookie Deatrich Wise, thanks to offseason departures by Chris Long and Jabaal Sheard, Rob Ninkovich’s retirement, Derek Rivers’ torn ACL and Kony Ealy’s inability to impress the coaching staff. On the surface, they look thin.
But consider the Patriots’ variety of fronts. They’ve particularly liked a fiveman front that includes a linebacker or two on the edges. That way, it can be difficult for the offense to decipher how many players are rushing and dropping. Hightower, Kyle Van Noy and Harvey Langi can all play on the end, and they’ll add Shea McClellin to that group if he returns from injured reserve.
Flowers’ versatility helps as well. He had 9.5 sacks last season, with all but two coming from an interior rushing position, so he can line up like a defensive tackle or kick outside and drop into a zone if necessary.
“It’s definitely something that we can use to our advantage,” Flowers said. “(Quarterbacks) don’t know if they’re dropping in coverage or if they’re coming. If we can slow down a quarterback’s read or an offensive lineman’s read as far as the protection, some guys can come free.”
The Pats are also loaded at defensive tackle with Alan Branch, Malcom Brown, Lawrence Guy, Adam Butler and Vincent Valentine. Guy and Butler are capable of playing on the edge, too. Heck, even that group has spent time in practice dropping into coverage.
And then there are the interior looks from the second level. Hightower has been a tenacious blitzer from the inside linebacker position, and Van Noy, David Harris and Elandon Roberts will also play in the second level.
If Hightower is blitzing from the middle, he is technically a defensive tackle as far as the Patriots’ responsibilities are concerned, and that can throw off an offensive line’s protection plan. It can also freeze a quarterback’s reads on a passing play, which will be effective if the quarterback can’t diagnose a zone drop from another lineman or linebacker. The Patriots didn’t show anything like that to the Texans this summer, but they completely rattled Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles with those disguises during a couple of joint practices.
“When we’re standing up, moving around, mixing, guys don’t know if I’m a Dlineman or a linebacker,” Hightower said. “Me lining up over the center or over the guard, that messes up their whole protection. Instead of lining up four down (linemen), it could be something as simple as that to mess up their count. Matty P and (defensive line coach Brendan Daly) do a great job of game planning what we want to do. They do a good job of giving us the tools to put us in the right ways to affect a quarterback and the philosophy of the quarterback.”
Belichick’s defensive scheme has annually adapted to its strengths. This year, the Patriots have a veteran group with a ton of positional versatility, and they’re smart enough to mix in stunts and games with the linemen — think of Flowers’ fourth-quarter sack in Super Bowl LI as an example — to further throw off the offense’s blocking patterns.
If those coordinations work in harmony, the pass rush will flourish, traditional positions be damned.
“We take a lot of pride in that in the front seven,” Hightower said.