PATRIOTS DEFENSE MUST PLAY BETTER IN CLUTCH SITUATIONS
Wanted: A big-play defense.
For the longest time, the Patriots were the poster boys for having a defense that made big stops at the most critical times in games.
It was the calling card of their bend-but-don’t break unit.
In recent times, the clutch element has been missing in action, even going back to Tom Brady’s final year.
With all the money spent in free agency to land reinforcements, with top guns like Matt Judon brought in to make plays, the expectation was for that game-changing defense to return to Foxboro.
One game into the 2021 season, however, and the big stops are so far MIA for the Patriots.
Allowing 17 points against Miami might seem like a good effort, but that game was a microcosm of the issue currently plaguing Bill Belichick’s defense.
Key third-down stops weren’t there. The Patriots defense didn’t deliver in those got-to-have-it moments.
The Dolphins marched down the field on their very first possession. They engineered a 10-play scoring drive with little resistance from the Patriots. That gave the Fins a 7-0 lead right out of the gate. They also scored right before the half, moving the ball into field goal range to tie the score at intermission. Then they doubled down, using a familiar Patriots tactic, scoring on the first series after halftime, using nine plays to get into the end zone and regain the lead.
But then the true dagger was delivered: the Dolphins ran out the clock, killing the final 3:24, moving the chains for two more first downs. And that was after a penalty had them starting 1st-and-14 from their own 5-yard-line.
“Honestly, that’s kind of what the league is. I mean it’s the situations that you have to play your best ball in,” Patriots defensive coach Jerod Mayo said during a video conference Tuesday. “It’s not the long stretches. It’s those critical situations that can really tilt the game one way or another, and we just didn’t play well in those situations on Sunday.’’
In that light, the Patriots defense flopped Week 1. Situationally, they didn’t deliver.
The good news is it’s only one game, and an incredibly small sample size. The Patriots 2021 defense might still right the ship, regain its clutchness, and get to the point where they specialize in making timely stops.
But given what transpired last Sunday, it’s also something to monitor.
“We practice those situations all the time. We talk about those situations all the time,” said Mayo, “but at the end of the day, you have to go out there, and perform, and get it done.’’
If this is going to be a great defense, one that rises in the big moments, we’ll know soon enough which way it’s headed with the Saints and Bucs on tap.
Sunday’s game with the Jets will also provide a few more clues.
As the saying goes, there’s no time like the present to start establishing that kind of reputation and dominance during the pivotal points in games. The Jets could provide opportunities for the defense to make big plays that can swing a game.
Mayo maintains that it’s a process. He said the goal is for the Patriots to have constant improvement over the next few months and be clicking on all cylinders down the stretch.
If Stephon Gilmore comes off the PUP list and returns Week 7 in October, his addition will help with those key situations and push the ceiling for the defense even higher.
“I would definitely say the team’s going to look a lot different in October and November than we do in September,” said Mayo. “We’re definitely still trying to find our way, still trying to figure out what we are as a defense, who fits where best. We’re still in that process now, and like I said, we’ll look a lot different in November than we do now.”
While it’s true, Belichick typically uses September as an extension of training camp to see what he has, figuring out roles and where everyone fits best. He might not have the luxury of a slow build this time around.
The defense might have to get better quicker, or else the hole might be too big for them to crawl out of.
Bottom line: The Patriots are going to need a defense that rises up during crucial situations in order to truly contend. It needs to be a collective difference-maker.
That’s always been part of their success.
Super Bowl XLIX against Seattle, with Malcolm Butler’s pick in the end zone, and
Dont’a Hightower stopping
Marshawn Lynch just short of the goal line with a onearmed grab, is a prime example. So were all the defensive plays made in Super Bowl LI to come back from 28-3 against Atlanta, with Hightower’s strip-sack of Matt Ryan chief among them.
Patriots Hall of Famer
Rodney Harrison, an analyst with NBC sports, thought the front seven looked slow, and not very energetic against the Dolphins. He didn’t see guys flying around and making plays.
But he’s not ready to bury them after one game. Speaking with Harrison Friday, he agreed with Mayo’s assess
ment, and thinks it might take a bit of time for all the new pieces to gel, and feel comfortable.
“I just think as they become more comfortable in the defense, as they continue to get to know one another, they’re going to trust each other. They’re going to trust that whoever’s holding the edge, is going to hold the edge,” said Harrison. “Right now, you just don’t see a lot of great chemistry on the defensive side of the ball, and that’s what I was looking at.”
He saw a team that lacked the type of aggressiveness needed to make big plays, or just plays in general.
If guys are worried about being in the right place, and doing the right thing, they lose some of that aggressiveness. And that seemed to be the case Sunday against the Dolphins.
“You can do your job, but you still have to have that reckless abandon out there,” said Harrison. “That’s when you see the excitement of defenders doing their job, celebrating, making plays, celebrating their teammates making plays … that’s what you want to see on a consistent basis.”
Several members of the defense also didn’t seem too concerned they wouldn’t be able to get on course, and become the type of defense everyone forecast at the outset.
Hightower said last month he thought the Patriots had the “right pieces” in place and makings for a special defense. But he also acknowledged it would take time to develop a comfort level and camaraderie given all the new players.
We’ll know more after the Jets game, the first road tilt this season.
“I feel like we learn about ourselves every game, home or away, win or loss,” defensive end Deatrich Wise said Thursday. “Everything that we face or encounter, we definitely learn about our character, how we handle every situation,” said Wise. “This is just another opportunity to learn who we are, with a road game, in a hostile environment.”
One that got away
Belichick has a pretty good record when it comes to letting players go he believes would no longer be of use in New England.
Darrelle Revis, Butler, Dion Lewis, Logan Mankins all fall into that category, just to name a few.
But, there have been some misreads along the way as well.
Brady is the most glaring one, of course. But there have been others.
Arizona defensive end Chandler Jones certainly fits in the category. He’s enjoyed a very good career after leaving New England.
Jones has been a sack machine for the Cardinals, as he leads the NFL in sacks (102) since entering the league in 2012. Since leaving the Patriots, he’s had four straight years with doubledigit sacks. He didn’t achieve that pinnacle last year as he suffered a season-ending biceps injury in Week 5.
Against Tennessee last week, Jones added 5 more sacks to his resume en route to earning the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Interestingly, Jones, who is set to earn $15.5 million this season, had requested a trade from the Cardinals earlier in the year, and did not attend any offseason work.
Jones told reporters that he has turned his full attention to football while letting any negotiations on a new deal go on without his direct involvement behind the scenes.
“I think I play best when I don’t go in thinking about the deal … I’m just playing football, honestly,” Jones said, via the team’s website. “I’m letting my agent take care of all of that. It is the last year of my contract and I let that take care of itself.”
Jimmy G’s conundrum
How does Jimmy Garoppolo feel about rookie Trey Lance taking snaps away from him during the team’s Week 1 win?
Outwardly, he’s saying all the right things, but he can’t be happy with that development.
Jimmy G was removed on one first-quarter drive against the Lions, and Lance immediately threw a touchdown pass.
During the game, which was televised by FOX, commentator Mark Sanchez suggested it wasn’t easy for Garoppolo to go over and embrace Lance on the sideline.
“He’s not wrong,” Garoppolo said of Sanchez’s comment, via Jake Montero of KNBR. “Nah, it is what it is type of situation. It’s one of those we had a good drive, marched down there. Kyle (Shanahan) called the package and he’s the head coach. Whatever he calls, goes. Just one of those things that you can only control what you can control. And I’m out there with my boys, making the best of it, having a good time. At the end of the day we’re playing football, trying to get a win. Whatever it takes. It is what it is, you know?”
Faulk dealing with family tragedy
Sending heartfelt condolences to former Patriots running back Kevin Faulk and his family.
Faulk’s 19-year-old daughter Kevione passed away early last week. That kind of news is devastating for any parent.
Kevione was a student at LSU where she was also a student worker with the football team, working closely with her father.
The Patriots Hall of Famer, a member of three Super Bowl winning teams, is currently LSU’s running backs coach. He had played at LSU in the mid-1990s, becoming the school’s all-time leading rusher.