A Mixture of Old and New, Patriots Defense Coming Together
 Brandon Browner brings a tough, physical edge to New England's defense. (USA TODAY Images) |
In the warm afterglow of the New England Patriots big win over the Denver Broncos on Sunday night in Foxboro one thing has begun to emerge. The New England defense is starting to assert itself and will prove to be a tough matchup moving forward.
The Patriots defense really stepped up in a big way against Denver, unleashing a number of new, different looks from the defense that confused Broncos QB Peyton Manning. They disrupted his timing, were physical with his receivers and contested everything thrown their way. The result? Denver had their second lowest output of the season (21 points), only the sixth time in Manning’s 3rd year, they’ve been held that low. Which, coincidentally is the second time, (both times at Foxboro) the Patriots have done this.
One item that hasn’t been mentioned much this week was a much improved run defense. Last year in Foxboro, Denver ran for 280 yards. This time they ran for 43 as Vince Wilfork and company stuffed Ronnie Hillman and made the Broncos one-dimensional.
It was a combination of old and new, and an aggressive approach that bolstered the team to big win and with the players that Belichick the much-maligned GM brought in paying dividends.
Bill Belichick made a couple of moves early in the spring to bolster the Pats secondary bringing in Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner and that duo is beginning to provide the team with arguably the best cornerback tandem in the conference if not the entire league.
Just prior to the trade deadline, the team made what was considered a minor depth move bringing in OLB/DE Akeem Ayers in a trade with the Tennessee Titans but he’s already played more in two games than he did all season with the Titans. Ayers has been productive as well, with a sack in each of his first two games as he’s quickly assimilating himself in the defense.
Another under the radar move was bringing in LB Jonathan Casillas from the Tampa Bay Bucs to add depth to the linebacking core, especially in sub-packages and on special teams. After just two practices, Casillas made three STs tackles in the win over Denver and should see an uptick in defensive snaps as he becomes more versed in the team’s defense.
Setting the tone early: On Sunday the Patriots immediately set the tone when on the first defensive series and with the Patriots in nickel, the Broncos attempted to establish the run. They ran Hillman right up the middle and Wilfork rag-dolled LG Orlando Franklin, tossing him back in the backfield on his rear end.
Hillman was stuffed for a short gain, and soon the Broncos would be abandoning the run as they wouldn’t have the huge gaps to run into this time around. It was a big win for the Pats defense, as they played in subs all game long.
Different Looks, Same Result: This time around against the Broncos, the Patriots matched up in the secondary utilizing a number of different looks but in the end, the results were the same, they sent Manning home with a loss, something they’ve been able to do 11 times in 16 games.
More impressively were the Patriots third down numbers, holding Denver to just 3 of 11 on third down and 0-4 on fourth down. Belichick went against the grain and didn’t just use the matchups that were expected.
Moving both Revis and Browner around, the matchups confused Manning and frequently threw off his timing. Browner was initially lined up on TE Julius Thomas, the big (6’4, 220) CB loves to play physical and made Denver’s big TE invisible in the first half. But he also switched gears and covered WR Demaryius Thomas at times and even lined up inside as the “money” LB/S hybrid for a few snaps.
Revis and Browner’s play allowed the Patriots to contest everything down low, jamming the receivers at the line of scrimmage, disrupting their timing and daring Manning to throw deep. But it wasn’t all just man coverage as the Patriots mixed in some zone as well as man coverage and in the endless chess match, had Manning reacting to them, setting the tone.
The play of safeties Devin McCourty and Pat Chung can’t be overlooked. Chung is playing his best football this season. Utilizing his strengths, Belichick has him playing a more in-the-box role and Chung has excelled in run support. But his coverage on TEs Jacob Tamme and Thomas was very good, an encouraging sign moving forward.
McCourty continues to play at a very high level as the center fielder for the defense. His bone jarring hit on Wes Welker knocked him out of the game, which resulted in Browner’s interception and return to the Broncos 10 yard line where, one play later Brady hit Brandon LaFell for a touchdown to put New England up 37-14.
Creative Pressure Scheme Works: Perhaps the biggest development though and something we’re bound to see more of as the season moves forward was the movement along the defensive line. Countless times, the Patriots showed pressure as LBs Jamie Collins and Dont’a Hightower lined up as if to blitz up the middle in the Double-A gap.
This is something that has been a staple of Rex Ryan’s defenses in New York and was something that the Bengals did to the Patriots very effectively in 2013. The offensive line has to account for the threat of the blitz and can force the QB to audible.
Sometimes either Collins or Hightower would come with a rush, most others they dropped back into coverage. When one or the other did come on pressure, Belichick would alternate dropping either Rob Ninkovich or Ayers into coverage.
Manning never knew which was coming and it led directly to the Patriots first turnover. On the Broncos first scoring drive, Manning adjusted to the Patriots pressing the receivers at the line by running a drag route with Emmanuel Sanders that jump started the offense. Sanders crossed the defense with Revis in chase mode which resulted in a 17 yard gain. Only on this instance, the defense had a counter for this.
 Rob Ninkovich continues to play his best in big games. (USA TODAY Images) |
With Hightower showing blitz, Ninkovich dropped into coverage and slid toward the middle where Manning didn’t see him. The crossing route and subsequent pass to Thomas was easily picked off by Ninkovich and returned to the Denver 34. That set up the Patriots first touchdown, a Brady pass to Julian Edelman that gave New England a 13-7 lead.
Ninkovich and Ayers both played big parts in the victory, the communication was outstanding, especially considering how short a time, Ayers has had to learn the defense. Both did a decent job of providing just enough pressure to force Manning to throw the ball when he wasn’t ready to.
Ayers had the team’s only sack, on a second quarter fourth down play as Denver went for a 4th and 6 after Brandon McManus doinked an earlier field goal attempt off the upright. The Patriots rushed only three, dropping eight into coverage and Ayers looped to the inside on a stunt where unblocked was able to drop Manning for the sack.
Once Chandler Jones returns, the team will have the option of playing Ayers as more of a linebacker role or keeping fresh legs by substituting him back and forth with Jones and Ninkovich.
Moving Forward: The Patriots defense is just now starting to round into form, Belichick likes to say that you don’t really know what kind of team you have until around Thanksgiving. Adjusting to the loss of Jerod Mayo and Jones has been difficult but it is an inevitable truth that injuries do and will occur during a season.
Browner missed the first month of the season and was slow in getting back into game shape. Now, fresh and feisty along with Revis, he is a wild-card that Belichick can move all over the field in matchups that favor the defense. With such good depth at corner, the team still has Kyle Arrington, Malcolm Butler, Logan Ryan and Alfonzo Dennard who can mix and match with anyone along with Revis.
During the bye week, the team will self-scout as they always do and then prepare for the Indianapolis Colts. With Andrew Luck and the #1 scoring offense of Indy, the team will have another big test, this time on the road. Expect a similar game plan as Belichick looks to slow down another high-flying offense. But things are trending upward for the Patriots defense.
Contrast this with what is going on Denver, they spent $109 million dollars on their defense to put them over the top and put New England firmly in the rear mirror. Well the Broncos are a disconcerting 1-2 on the road, the only win a victory over the Jets where the game was still in doubt with a minute to go.
They were treating Sunday as a playoff game and wanted to take the Patriots out of the equation for the #1 in the AFC. But New England put a 43 spot on the defense in essentially only three quarters of play.
The second half of the season is shaping up to be a very interesting one as nothing has been settled yet, but is at least for now going thru New England in the AFC.
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