BREAKING DOWN

Los Angeles offense a familiar foe for Belichick and company

The Patriots defense is coming of two of its best outings of the year, shutting down a pair of the NFL’s better offenses in the Cardinals and Chargers in consecutive weeks.

Can the unit hit the trifecta with the Rams?

Jared Goff is currently the 7th-leading passer in the NFL in terms of total yards, with the No. 3 offense heading into Thursday night’s matchup with the Patriots.

The good news? Sean McVay’s offense is no mystery to Bill Belichick, even with McVay making a few tweaks since the 13-3 loss to the Patriots in Super Bowl LIII two years ago.

Goff struggled mightily in that game. He finished 19-of-38 for 229 yards, with no touchdowns and an interception. He was sacked four times, while his fourth-quarter interception all but sealed the deal.

While quite a bit of the personnel has changed from that low-scoring affair, it will be interesting to see if Belichick pulls out his Super Bowl game plan for the defense, or has something else in store, given some of the adjustments McVay has made with his offense.

Here’s how the Patriots defense can keep McVay’s offense at bay:

1. Stop the run

This will be the starting point for Bill Belichick’s unit. Whether it’s Darrell Henderson, or Cam Akers, the Patriots can’t allow the running game to get untracked. If their outside zone scheme gets going, it could be a long day.

Currently, the Rams have the 9th-best rushing unit in the league, gaining 124.2 yards per game. Along ng with Goff’s 17 passing to touchdowns, the Rams also have 18 rushing scores, for a nice balance. “The running ng game, you can see it’s definitely a priority for them,” said linebacker Ja’Whaun haun Bentley. “They got a lott lot o of things to stop, and we’ll be ready for it.” The running game sets their play-action in motion, so the Patriots s will be intent on making them one-dimensional. McVay employs a lot of jet ann and pre-snap motion to try and keep defenses guessing. It’s something the Patriots need to ignore. Beyond that, it comes down to defeating their outside zone runs. During the Super Bowl, the Pats neutralized that with a six-man defensive line that controlled the edges. Since then, McVay has put in a few counters, utilizing more two-tight ends sets to try to diversify the run game.

2. Blitz-krieg Blitz-k

Pressure is the optimal goal. Whether dialing up a ton of blitzes, including the Cover-0, or u using the stunts that were so effective Sunday against the Chargers, getting to Goff is paramount. Earlier this season, the Dolphins used use the Patriots’ Super Bowl scheme, and Brian Flores blitzed Goff like crazy. Whether it was a simple blitz, or sending the house, it was effective because it completely flummoxed Goff. He thre threw two picks, and lost two fumbles in the 28-17 loss.

Now, with the Rams doing some self-scouting after that game during their the bye week, Goff has improved from being less than 50 percent in terms of play-success rate, and completion percentage against the blitz. But not to the point where teams should abandon using it. Case in point: the Rams have a losing record this season when Goff has been blitzed more than 20 times. And again, during the Super Bowl, he was 3-for-12 with an interception when pressured.

3. Cancel Kupp

Wideout Cooper Kupp missed Super Bowl LIII, and will most certainly be a priority since he’s LA’s leading receiver in both catches and yards. The Rams also have Robert Woods, who’s caught 5 touchdown passes, but Kupp is the straw that stirs the drink.

It’ll be interesting how the Patriots attack Kupp, if they go straight man-to-man with Stephon Gilmore, or mix it up, as they did against the Chargers and Keenan Allen on Sunday. Gilmore only took on Allen on third down or obvious passing situations.

During the Super Bowl, Belichick threw in more zone coverages which was, in effect, a curveball, since they hadn’t shown that on film. And it threw Goff for a loop, making him more hesitant in his reads.

Maybe Belichick will dial up something completely new, although that would be tough on a short week.

Whatever the plan, Kupp is a priority.