Cincinnati Bengals
The Patriots were able to shut down the Bengals running attack by using dime packages with a rotation of lineman that included Vince Wilfork. They matched receivers to cornerbacks (Owens - McCourty, Ochocinco - Butler, Shipley - Wilhite, Gresham - Sanders). Meriweather did not play in the base 3-4. Chung excelled all over the field. Mayo and Banta-Cain rarely left the field.
Sub package: 58 of 78
3-4 defense: 17 of 78
Short yardage: 3 of 78
Defensive Third Downs (1st down allowed): 8/15 = 53%
Closer Look at Defensive Wizardy
@ New York Jets
Used the 3-4 base to shut down the run. Ron Brace got first start at LDE, Gerard Warren slid over the RDE. Lots of rotation along the defensive line, Wilfork played all positions. Kyle Love saw time as the backup NT. Also used a heavy nickel with Wilfork to discourage running on subpackages (a recurring problem). Jermaine Cunningham saw time at ROLB.
Pure Pass Rush package had Cunningham, Pryor, Banta-Cain as down lineman. Coverage was abused by Jets. Pressure was decent.
Base: 45 of 68
Sub: 22 of 68
Short-yardage: 1 of 68
Defensive Third Downs (1st down allowed): 6/13 = 46%
Building Block for Base Defense
Buffalo Bills
Darius Butler was replaced for a majority of the game by Kyle Arrington who did okay. Butler got in for a couple snaps but had a mistackle and gave up a long gain. Jermaine Cunningham continues to grow, starting at ROLB, and seeing time at LOLB. Jarrad Page played some snaps at Safety, looked fast but made some mistakes. Game plan seemed fairly basic, with some more of the 3-3-5 that we hadn’t seen since preseason.
Sub: 38 of 56
Base: 18 of 56
Short-yardage: 0 of 56
Defensive Third Downs (1st down allowed): 5/10 = 50%
@ Miami Dolphins
This was a fairly straightforward game plan using base 3-4, and a 4-man rush nickel package. Brandon Marshall was effectively shutdown through an ever-changing variety of coverages. Brandon Deaderick showed good stuff in limited time at RE. Still broken plays and busted coverages, a multitude of 3rd down conversions. Still lots of room for improvement, but there are definite signs of good things to come.
Defensive Third Downs (1st down allowed): 10/15 = 66%
Baltimore Ravens
The Patriots were in their base 34 defense for 75% of the snaps (only other time the 34 was used a majority of the time was against the Jets). Gerard Warren moved to NT, with rookie Brandon Deaderick starting at LDE and Wilfork at RDE. The defense was solid against the run, holding Ray Rice in check. Tully Banta-Cain was limited to DPR while Jermaine Cunningham continued to have his role expanded. Dane Fletcher made an appearance late in the game in a 3-3-5 nickel package. Crable had some pass rush.
Base: 58 of 77
Sub: 18 of 77
Short-yardage: 1 of 77
Defensive Third Downs (1st down allowed):5/16 = 31%
Base Defense Big Part of Success
San Diego Chargers
The 3-4 defense was again solid vs the run. But the subpackages in the second half gave up alot of yards and almost cost them the game in the fourth quarter. Clutch special teams come through again causing a false start penalty that backed the field goal attempt to tie five yards.
Sub: 50 of 71
Base: 18 of 71
Short-yardage: 3 of 71
Defensive Third Downs (1st down allowed): 7/15 = 46%
Minnesota Vikings
The Patriots played a great majority of their base 3-4 defense and it was again effective in shutting down a pretty good run game. A huge goal line stand on fourth down was a key play, made by Brace, Ninkovich and Spikes. There were some penalties on third down but it was one of their better defensive performances.
Base: 44 of 73
Sub: 26 of 73
Short-yardage: 3 of 73
Defensive Third Downs (1st down allowed):4/11 = 36%
Patriots stayed at home in base
Cleveland Browns
The Patriots opened with Wilfork-Pryor-Wright as their 34 down lineman, an interesting decision considering Pryor and Wright are not known as run stuffers and Peyton Hillis was a runner who needed to be stuffed. The predictable result was Hillis running all over the Pats and opening up the rest of the Browns offense. There weren’t many solid performances on defense other than maybe Jonathan Wilhite who had a good 3rd down tackle and pass defended.
Base: 47 of 62
Sub: 5 of 62
Short-yardage: 10 of 62
Defensive Third Downs (1st down allowed): 7/13 = 53%
Pittsburgh Steelers
Surprisingly the Patriots played a great majority of sub defense against the Steelers, but were still able to shut down the Steeler ground attack. The pass rushing package featured Crable-Wright-Warren-Banta Cain. Sergio Brown continued to see more time even with Patrick Chung back in the fold. Chung played a lot of nickel corner, with Jonathan Wilhite getting a reduced role.
Sub: 61 of 78
Base: 15 of 78
Short-yardage: 2 of 78
Defensive Third Downs (1st down allowed): 5/12 = 41%
Looking closer at the defensive plan
Sub defense rose up to challenge
Indianapolis Colts
The Patriots employed a nickel package for most of the game that had Cunningham - Wilfork - Wright - Banta-Cain up front. They only went to the 3-4 in obvious run downs and did a great job stopping the run. Without Wilhite they were forced to use Patrick Chung as the nickelback and he was exploited. The Pats got just enough pressure to force Peyton Manning into some bad throws, the most glaring of which was Cunningham getting a hand on Manning that forced him into throwing the game sealing interception to James Sanders. Pass defense was again shredded in the fourth quarter and remains the one truly glaring weakness on this team.
Sub: 55 of 72
Base: 15 of 72
Short-yardage: 2 of 72
Defensive Third Downs (1st down allowed): 11/14 = 78%
Patriots strayed from base defense
Detroit Lions
The Patriots weren’t afraid of Detroit’s ground game and played mostly in subpackages. Lack of pressure and inability to bring the QB down when they got to him haunted the defense all day. Again turnovers were the difference as Devin McCourty’s first interception turned the game around. Not everyone showed up for this game on the defensive side of the ball which had to be expected somewhat given it came between the Colts and Jets. They did enough to win, but it certainly exhibited the same problems we’ve seen all season.
Sub: 62 of 77
Base: 13 of 77
Short-yardage: 2 of 77
Defensive Third Downs (1st down allowed): 7/14 = 50%
New York Jets
The Pats played far more subpackages in the rematch and while they gave up some yards on the ground they shut down the passing attack. Some new wrinkles: Darius Butler at nickelback (Chung had been filling in for Wilhite there), Dane Fletcher seeing time as an OLB in the 34 base. Jarrad Page getting significant reps. The Patriots used a lot of presnap movement that seemed to confuse Sanchez, or at least make him think. Brandon Spikes saw extensive time, even in some passing situations (had an INT).
Defensive Third Downs (1st down allowed): 3/12 = 25%
Chicago Bears
In heavy snow and weather the Patriots had a fair mix of defenses. Once a lead was established there was far less 34. Most interesting was the lessened role of Brandon Meriweather who saw time in only a dime package. Devin McCourty’s injury forced Darius Butler to LCB and Pat Chung in to Nickel CB. New addition Eric Moore got a shot at the revolving LDPR position and played better than Crable had. Jarrad Page continues to see more and more time.
Defensive Third Downs (1st down allowed): 3/8 = 37%
Green Bay Packers
Due to injuries on the defensive line the Pats didn’t have a lot of versatility so the game plan was pretty straight forward 34, nickel, dime packages. Runs against their subpackages killed them. Pressure on QB was good, but some coverage lapses killed them. Sloppy game by a skeleton crew. Hard to take too much from it. Defense was on field for whopping 80 snaps. Atrocious on 3rd downs.
Defensive Third Downs (1st down allowed): 11/19 = 57%
Buffalo Bills
The Pats were shorthanded on the defensive line and used the chance to play new guys Eric Moore (OLB) and Landon Cohen extensively. After getting gashed early in the run game they went to more 3-4 and shut it down. Overall an excellent game of bend don’t break.
Defensive Third Downs (1st down allowed): 3/10 = 30%
Miami Dolphins
A healthy mix of 3-4 and sub packages led the Pats to one of their most dominating defensive efforts of the season. Again Landon Cohen and Eric Moore saw extensive time, Moore has been making plays ever since he came to New England.
Defensive Third Downs (1st down allowed): 4/13 = 30%
