After watching the first half of the Patriots-Redskins preseason game, some observations about New England’s defensive approach (with one special teams nugget):
Nickel disappointments. One area that stood out is how the nickel package (5 defensive backs) couldn’t consistently get off the field. On the Redskins first drive, the nickel was on the field on second-and-18 and third-and-4, but couldn’t prevent a first down. The nickel was also the primary defense on the Redskins’ drive at the end of the first half, a 51-yard march in just 1:57 that culminated in a field goal. While there were signs of life with the pass rush at times, the Patriots couldn’t consistently synch up their rush with coverage. Based on this film, opposing coaches might determine this as the best approach against the Patriots – get them in nickel personnel by spreading the field.
A split between the 4-3 and 3-4. The Patriots played a 4-3 on the first two drives, before switching to a 3-4 for the next two. The four-man line had Ty Warren, Richard Seymour and Jarvis Green in a three-man rotation at end, with Vince Wilfork and Mike Wright working as the tackles. In a bit of a surprise, Gary Guyton was the third linebacker (not Pierre Woods) along with Jerod Mayo and Adalius Thomas. There seems to be more slanting and shooting gaps when the Patriots go to the four-man line, specifically with the tackles. The team had more success in the 3-4 (two three-and-outs), although part of that was because of a dropped pass by an open receiver on third-and-3.
The 73-yard busted play to tight end Chris Cooley. The Patriots were playing a 4-3, with their top line in the game, but with second-string linebackers Tedy Bruschi and Paris Lenon on the field. While it’s difficult to assess where the breakdown occurred, it looked like Bruschi took a step toward running back Clinton Portis in the flat (Lenon was already in that area), which allowed Cooley to slip behind him for the initial part of the gain (some poor tackling helped contribute to the second chunk of yardage). I couldn’t see the safeties on the TV tape, and perhaps they were part of the breakdown.
Matthew Slater’s penalty overshadowed an otherwise impressive special teams performance. For the second week in a row, Matthew Slater was called for fair-catch interference on a punt. While the penalty drew attention to him in a negative way, he continues to make plays on special teams (team-high 3 tackles in the game). Most impressive might have been his crunching block on the opening kickoff that helped spring Laurence Maroney for some initial yardage on a 35-yard gain.
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Very disappointed in the secondary.... Thought they would be a lot better, but they looked awful again... The pass rush still sucks as well... I just don't know if they can win a SB with that D.... We shall see.
Mike, during the 73-yard pass play, it looked like Tedy wasn't supposed to fall back that deep into coverage and that perhaps a back should have been there. I might be way off on that, but it sure looked like he was expecting to have someone behind him. Given his experience and intelligence and the less-than-impressive performance by the secondary, isn't it likely that someone else other than Tedy missed an assignment?
I was at the game in Landover. One thing that jumped out at me about the Slater penalty was that the returner signaled fair catch, and then at the last minute sprinted laterally towards the sideline to avoid the ball. It looked to me like THAT was the point where Slater collided with the returner.
Mike - Does this seem like a fair interpretation of the rule to you? Slater outside the halo, then colliding with the returner as he suddenly sprints laterally away from the punt?
Hey Mike, I didn't see the game. Who played in the nickel defense? As far as Guyton starting instead of Woods in the 4-3, in your opinion, was it to increase his position flexibility or has he outperformed Woods this preseason?
Yeah, who was in the nickel? And can Guyton play outside?
Mike,
1.) The Nickel did look bad, but maybe with an experience veteran like Shawn Springs in there it might work better.
Springs, Wilhite, Bodden, Meriweather, and Sanders is better than having a rookie (Butler) in there. The weakest link always gets picked on and I would rather take my chances with Wilhite than Butler.
2.) No matter what the Pats set-up in they still stopped the run. I prefer 3-4 over 4-3. We need more people in coverage than protecting against the run. The D-line looks to be a "Brickwall, that makes the runners fall".
3.) I'm positive Bruschi blew that play. If you look down field you would notice that all the other recivers were covered and covered well. Cooley was the only guy open on that play.
4.) Even after Chung muffed the first punt, what he did at the end of the game was enough to atone. He looked like Brandon Jacobs when he took that guy for a ride.
Agree with DaveShac about the Slater penalty. It also looked to me like that's what happened to him in the Cinci game, but even more glaringly.
Though it may still have been Bruschi's fault (getting the coverage call wrong), it DID look like he thought he was handing Cooley off to a safety.
If only we could bring back Johnny Lynch. He wouldn't break down in coverage like this Butler guy.
I thought (though I am no Mike Reiss =P) that Guyton played well. He seemed to fall into coverage well and looked pretty explosive on the pass rush, especially on the bone-crushing sack of Colt Brennan in the 3rd quarter. Again, I am no expert. Any thoughts?
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