Scrambled legs
After Watson, ‘D’ needs to improve vs. Cam
Malcolm Butler aptly described Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson as an “upand-coming Cam Newton” following the Patriots’ 36-33 thriller at Gillette Stadium Sunday.
Well then, the Patriots better figure out how to slow down elusive quarterbacks in a hurry because the real-life Cam Newton is coming to town this weekend, though the Panthers signal-caller has been more tentative in the pocket over the past year.
Watson often ran or escaped as a matter of selfpreservation on Sunday. The Patriots did manage to sack him twice, hit him eight more times and pressured him on seven additional occasions. Those 17 disruptions, which included the Pats’ season high in hits and pressures, were their most in three games.
They rightly took advantage of the Texans’ horrendous offensive line, but it should have been better. There were five plays — which seems low in hindsight — when Watson should have been sacked but broke free from the Patriots’ pursuit.
Newton may not be as slippery as Watson, but he is absolutely stronger. Backfield tackling and defensive discipline will be a high priority this week in practice, similar to the fallout from the Pats’ loss to the Bills early last season when they had to recover from a missed-tackle epidemic. Like Watson, Newton isn’t the most accurate passer, but he can thrive in chaos so the Patriots can’t allow these extended plays.
The worst example clearly occurred late in the fourth quarter when the Texans nearly put the game on ice. Malcom Brown and Adam Butler each missed a chance to sack Watson, and Kyle Van Noy and Lawrence Guy collided with each other while trying to converge on the quarterback. As Watson scrambled right, Elandon Roberts and Trey Flowers, who were each in zone coverage, chose to flee their zones and chase Watson, who easily dumped the ball off to D’Onta Foreman for 31 yards.
The episode was a mix of elite athleticism by Watson, a failure to tackle by Brown, Adam Butler, Van Noy and Guy and a lack of assignment discipline by Roberts and Flowers. On the latter point, Roberts is a work in progress in coverage and Flowers isn’t used to zone drops and probably just wanted to take a shot at a guy who evaded him all day.
The Patriots opened the game by strictly trying to maintain gap control to contain Watson’s running lanes, though Flowers still sacked him on the Texans’ first passing play. The pressure intensified in the second quarter, but so did Watson’s wizardry. Watson’s first evaded sack occurred after Roberts’ quick pressure and Wise’s pursuit, as the quarterback backpedaled 23 yards behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a pass to Ryan Griffin for no gain. The videogame style retreat probably wasn’t met warmly in the Texans’ film room yesterday, but it worked. Ditto for Watson’s ability to backpedal quicker than Guy could pursue before he uncorked a back-footed throw across his body and the field to Griffin for 35 yards in the third quarter.
Wise also should have capped that drive with a 6-yard sack, but Watson magically unloaded the ball as he crumbled to the ground for a 4-yard gain to Tyler Ervin, which turned a would-be 50-yard field goal into a 40-yarder.
Flowers and Adam Butler were also culprits of missed sacks later in the game, but those weren’t the only issues as the defense surrendered 26 points. Van Noy lost edge containment when Lamar Miller bounced a run outside for 12 yards, which is another element the Panthers and future opponents will continue to test until the Pats become consistently stronger on the edge.
Adam Butler also got pancaked on a second-quarter block that Watson recognized and exploited with a 6-yard run for a third-and-5 conversion. And on a later third-and-1, Watson split Brown and Guy for a 7-yard gain against a three-man rush that got no help from the linebackers. Then on a fourthquarter third-and-2, the Texans called a simple quarterback draw with the expectation their line would win enough battles to free up a hole for Watson, who squeaked through the Guy-Roberts gap for 7 yards.
Watson deserves loads of credit for making these plays out of nothing, especially when his first read isn’t open. But the Patriots can’t let it turn into a trend, not this week against Newton or in two scheduled meetings with Tyrod Taylor.
There were definitely some positives, as the pass rush showed promise and the containment was better in the opening 20 minutes. And maybe the Pats will actually gain some relief against Newton, whose run attempts have decreased the past season-plus.
But when the pocket breaks down and Newton isn’t left with many other options, the Patriots have to prove they can finish the job better than they did against Watson.