Defense hoping to derail Vegas
Containing Waller is top priority
Here are the Patriots’ keys to taming Jon Gruden’s Raiders offense.
Take out Waller
Darren Waller was a one-man wrecking ball Monday night. The Raiders tight end roughed up Saints defenders to the tune of 12 catches for 103 yards and a touchdown. Even though quarterback Derek Carr spread the ball around with 11 different players catching a pass, Waller was still his main man. He’s the player that makes the offense go. Against the Saints, he had a career-high 16 targets.
Jon Gruden lines up Waller in tight, out wide, in the slot, and in the backfield, just to take advantage of his unique skillset.
During the week, Bill Belichick had high praise for the 6-foot-6, 255-pound matchup nightmare, who is one of the fastest tight ends in the league. Knowing how much damage Waller can inflict, Belichick will certainly target him. He always manages to take away an opponent’s biggest threat.
Who draws Waller? Joejuan Williams has been groomed to be a tight end eraser. He’s 6-foot-4 with long arms. He did a good job on Miami’s Mike Gesicki (1 catch on 3 targets) in the season opener. That’s one option. Belichick might employ Williams, and with safety help, bracket the tight end. Or, he could put cornerback Stephon Gilmore, his best defender, on him. It wouldn’t be all that unusual for Gilmore to move away from the boundary and handle a tight end. On occasion, he has been
matched up against KC’s Travis Kelce.
Whatever option Belichick chooses, the objective is clear. The Patriots need to eliminate the Raiders tight end.
Better first-down defense
The Patriots weren’t good at stopping the run, or shutting down the pass during the early downs against the Seahawks.
Specifically, with Russell Wilson & Co. making huge gains on early downs, it was always third and short, or they never reached third down.
That can’t happen against the Raiders. “They do a good job of being in short third downs,” Patriots defensive back Jon Jones said of the Raiders, “so being good on early downs is going to be big for us this week.”
In the case of the Raiders, doing better on first down means stopping the run, and keeping running back Josh Jacobs in check. Jacobs was Damien Harris’ teammate at Alabama, they were both drafted in 2019, and already Jacobs has accrued the most rushing yards of any Raider back in history after 15 games (1,311).
Against the Seahawks, the defensive line got pushed around, and the Patriots weren’t especially good at tackling. To do a better job on first down, they’re going to have to contain Jacobs, do a much better job getting him to the ground.
Said Jones: “He’s talented. He’s a physical running back, explosive, quick. We’re going to have our work cut out for us, but we’re up for it.”
Neutralize speed
While taking out Waller is the primary goal, he’s not the only concern. To effectively stall the Raiders offense, the Patriots secondary,
which was lit up by Russell Wilson, also needs to combat the speed of Derek Carr’s receiving corps.
Between first round pick Henry Ruggs III, Nelson Agholor and Zay Jones, this team can get receivers downfield in a hurry. The Patriots do catch a break because Ruggs, who has been clocked at 4.27 in the 40-yard-dash, was ruled out Friday with an injury. Agholor (4.42) and Jones (4.46) are blazers, too.
Patriots safety Adrian Phillips, who used to play in the AFC West with the Chargers, said the Raiders have basically taken a page from
the Chiefs book, putting together a collection of speedsters.
“They’re stretching the field,” said Phillips. “Waller, Ruggs, Agholor, Zay Jones ... they’re all running full speed downfield and stressing you out and if they’re not there, then they go to Jacobs for a checkdown and it’s just a lot of space ... It can stress you out a lot, and fortunately for us, we’ve got a lot of speed on defense.”
Slot corner Jon Jones is the Patriots best speed defender. He has taken on, and taken out Kansas City’s Tyreek Hill, who can fly.