Mobile QBs a problem
Pats to deal with Bills’ Taylor
FOXBORO — The Patriots defense continues to ride a pretty impressive streak. Sunday’s slaying of the Dolphins marked the seventh straight game the Pats held their opponents to 17 points or less.
Better still, the average during that stretch has been 13.1 points per game. It doesn’t get much better.
Basically, defensive coordinator Matt Patricia’s unit has gone from historically bad in the early going to pretty darn good as it heads down the home stretch of the regular season. The Patriots have held down some good quarterbacks along the way in the Falcons’ Matt Ryan, the Chargers’ Philip Rivers and the Raiders’ Derek Carr, while also shutting down lower-tier guys like the Broncos’ Brock Osweiler and the Dolphins’ Matt Moore.
Now comes Buffalo Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor. Will he threaten the streak?
Let’s just say he should provide a challenge. No, he doesn’t lead a powerhouse offense, and he’s not one of the premier signal-callers in the league, but he’ll give the Pats defense a workout because he fits the mold of a quarterback who’s given them trouble in the past. He’s mobile, capable of making plays on the fly with his arm and legs.
That kind of athleticism caused some stress this season alone.
Carolina’s Cam Newton (22-of-29, 316 yards, three touchdowns, 44 rushing yards) beat the Pats in Week 4 with that ability to either throw or run while rolling out. Houston Texans rookie Deshaun Watson (22-of-33, 301 yards, two TDs, 41 rushing yards), another quarterback who was tough to contain, almost beat them, and Tampa Bay’s Jameis Winston (334 passing yards), given his ability to keep plays alive with his feet, nearly pulled off an upset in the game that started the Pats’ streak.
Coach Bill Belichick understands the difficulties of going up against Taylor. He called defending Taylor a “huge challenge” for his defense.
“You’ve got to defend him on every play, and in the running game, that always takes one less guy away from the running game when you have a player like him who you have to concern yourselves that he’ll keep the ball or bootleg it or that type of play,” Belichick said. “Schematically, it takes away a player that you would normally have to defend the running game. It’s just one less guy, so his presence, not only when he has the ball but even when he doesn’t have the ball, it affects you. He’s a hard guy to handle, a very good football player.”
Taylor is third in the league in rushing for quarterbacks (66 attempts, 302 yards, three touchdowns) behind Seattle’s Russell Wilson and Newton. In the bigger picture, it’s going to be important for the defense to get a handle on this brand of quarterback, not just Sunday but down the road. Potential AFC playoff opponents Tennessee and Jacksonville have mobile quarterbacks in Marcus Mariota and Blake Bortles.
If the Patriots advance to the Super Bowl, several potential opponents from the NFC have quarterbacks who fit that mold, whether it’s Philadelphia’s Carson Wentz, Wilson or Newton.
But, as Belichick would say, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The focus this week is on Taylor. He’s the top priority at the moment.
Taylor only has beaten the Patriots once in four tries, with the lone victory coming when Jacoby Brissett started last season at quarterback for the Pats. But Taylor has had several decent outings and been competitive in those games.
Patriots defensive captain and safety Devin McCourty describes Taylor as a patient quarterback. He’s not necessarily quick to flee the pocket, even with his wheels.
“He doesn’t have to get out of the pocket to be effective. He’ll stay in the pocket to make throws,” McCourty said. “But if the rush gets there, he has an incredible ability to make guys miss and move around. Any time you have a guy like that, all the guys who are out for a pass know that. They don’t stop on a route if they’re covered. They know there’s a good chance the quarterback is going to make a guy or two miss and buy some extra time. So overall, that makes it even tougher. There’s been times we’ve had great rushes, but he’s that good. It’s like tackling LeSean McCoy one-onone. It’s tough to bring him down.”
The goal is to keep Taylor in the pocket and keep him contained. It didn’t work out with Newton this year, and it didn’t work much better against Watson. The Patriots just barely won that game.
“It helps we’ve seen some of them,” linebacker Elandon Roberts said of the mobile quarterbacks. “But this week, this is a different offense. He’s got some great tools with him.”