The Pats haven’t seen the Falcons since Sunday Night Football in Week Four of 2013. Here were my post-game takeaways back when I was writing for Bleacher Report.
Schematically, at least for the Falcons’ defense, there’s isn’t a ton to take away. This is even more true when you consider the Pats leading receiver was Kenbrell Thompkins with six catches, 127 yards and a touchdown. Julian Edelman wasn’t far behind seven catches for 118 yards.
The Pats rolled Stevan Ridley, LeGarrette Blount and Brandon Bolden as their running backs, none of whom are anywhere close to the receiving threats Dion Lewis and James White are. The Falcons’ defensive coordinator was Mike Nolan back then, so the Seattle-esque defensive scheme had not been installed.
However, Matt Ryan and Julio Jones were still the straws stirring the drink back then so it’s worth taking a look at how the Pats defended them.
It’s important to realize where 2013 fell in Patriots defensive philosophical history. After trading for Aqib Talib in mid-2012, the Pats continued to evolve into more of a man coverage defense after spending previous years in more zone looks. Talib gave them the ability to put one cornerback on the opponents best receiver and that’s just what they did in this game.
Talib was largely effective, holding Jones to six catches on 13 targets for 103 yards with a fumble. That yardage included a long of 49 yards. As I wrote in my initial impressions of the Falcons it’s near impossible to totally shut Jones down. Even in Atlanta’s losses he still had some of his best yardage games.
The tradeoff was that Tony Gonzalez went off for 12 catches for 149 yards and two touchdowns. Back then the Pats were ill-equipped to cover tight ends. Patrick Chung was in Philly. Jamie Collins was a rookie. The Pats had to use Jerod Mayo and Dont’a Hightower in coverage and both we ineffective.
The first drive of the game Atlanta set the tone, running the no huddle for 13 plays, going 75 yards but having to settle for a field goal. Classic BDB there from the Pats. The Patriots stuck with their nickel personnel, with Talib on Jones, and played a lot of Cover 2 Man, giving them over the top help on both sides of the field.
What is clear throughout the game is how willing Ryan is to throw it up Jones in any situation. The Patriots secondary must be vigilant against these big plays. The Falcons only hit on one of them, but in a close game all it could take is one.
The other key play they seemed to love for Jones are the slants, but the Pats were largely effective taking those away as well.
The Falcons were able to put together two 13-play drives in the first half, but they only resulted in three points. The Pats defense got a stop on 4th-and-2 from their own six-yard-line. If this how the Super Bowl starts to unfold, the Pats must weather the storm.
The problem is that in the second half the Falcons started moving the ball in bigger chunks, with two scoring drives of seven plays each that both took under two minutes. One of those drives did include a 38-yard pass interference penalty though.
-
Malcolm Go Tee
$20.00 – $25.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page -
Pink Stripes Tee
$20.00 – $25.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Takeaways
The Pats didn’t play much 2-Man this season, sticking instead to Cover 1 Man and Cover 2 Zone schemes primarily. In 2013, the Falcons had less capable threats in their backfield, enabling the Pats to keep two deep. The Falcons also had more capable deep threats aside from Jones in Harry Douglas and Roddy White, so Cover 2 made sense.
Now, with better threats at running back and less deep speed from Mohammad Sanu and Tyler Gabriel, it would make more sense to keep more players closer to the line of scrimmage. Can Malcolm Butler slow Jones down the same way that Talib did? Or might they mix it up and use Logan Ryan with help this time around? Tough to predict, but there’s no question the Falcons’ running backs will require a ton of attention both in the running and passing game.
Should the Falcons use the no huddle this time as extensively as they did in 2013? That’s a big x-factor for the Patriots’ defense, but their personnel is versatile enough to stay on the field for any type of attack Atlanta might throw at them.
[…] ball, but each ball carrier will be quickly tackled. This forces continued execution and, just like we saw in 2013, even 13-play drives are a fail against New England if they end in field […]