Despite the offseason speculation about the possibility of the elusive undefeated season, your 2017 New England Patriots currently sit at 2-2 after Graham Gano sent a 48-yard field goal through the uprights as time expired to give the Carolina Panthers the win last Sunday.
After the offseason addition of Stephon Gilmore, the Patriots defense was heralded by many as even better than the 2016 unit that led the NFL in points per game allowed. Despite this, the 2017 iteration of the Patriots defense is ranked dead last in the NFL in points per game, giving up 34 points on average, 18.4 more points allowed than their 2016 predecessors. They also rank last in the NFL in total yards allowed (1585) and passing yards allowed (1296), and have given up the most points through four games (128) in team history.
On Sunday, the Patriots allowed the Panthers offense, ranked 29th coming into Week 4, to put up 444 yards, which is worrisome enough, but the worst part of that stat is that it actually improved their season average, which now rests at 456.8 yards per game, also last in the league.
The silver lining to the Patriots defensive issues is that the majority of the breakdowns appear to rooted in communication issues in the secondary, with the primary culprit being the aforementioned Stephon Gilmore, who signed a five-year, 65 million dollar deal with the Patriots just months ago, 40 million of which was guaranteed.
So far in 2017, Gilmore has given up 9 catches on 13 targets for 243 yards, 2 TD’s, and one INT, and is averaging 27 yards allowed per catch, an astounding number for any cornerback, yet alone a player of Gilmore’s stature. To compare, Malcolm Butler, who by his standards is having a relatively disappointing season thus far, is allowing just 9.1 yards per catch. Gilmore was also flagged for two illegal hands to the face penalties, which both came on 3rd downs and allowed Carolina’s offense to stay on the field (Carolina would proceed to score 9 points on these two drives, including the game-winning field goal by Gano). The penalties are of a lesser concern, especially seeing as both calls were pretty borderline, but they did make his already abysmal day look even worse.
Two specific plays in which the communications issues were highlighted both occurred on the Panthers final drive of the first half, with the score 13-10 New England. With 1:14 left on the clock, and Carolina staring at a crucial 3rd and 9 on their own 43, and the Patriots still in possession of all three timeouts, Gilmore loses his man (Kelvin Benjamin, #13), instead opting to go with the crosser Russell Shepard (#19), despite the fact Eric Rowe was already in coverage on Shepard. This mix-up gave left Benjamin wide open, and he would end up rumbling all the way down to the Patriot 14 before Duron Harmon was able to come over and make the stop, putting Carolina in prime position to get into the end zone right before the half.
Via NFL Game Rewind
Just one play after Benjamin’s 43 yard catch, another breakdown in coverage ensues, and it appears that once again the fault lies at the feet of Gilmore. You can see Gilmore hesitating at the line of scrimmage prior to the snap, gesticulating to McCourty behind him, questioning what man he’s supposed to take. Rowe, who had come over from the right side as Devin Funchess (#17) motioned over, can be seen talking with McCourty, who appears to tell him to match up with Ed Dickson (#84), the tight end on the left side of the formation, assuming Gilmore would follow Funchess. On the snap, McCourty goes with Shepard across the middle, and Rowe immediately bolts for Dickson, but Gilmore drops into coverage on Dickson as well, leaving Funchess completely uncovered. Rowe is unable to realize Gilmore’s mistake before its too late, and Newton hits Funchess for a wide open touchdown to give Carolina the lead right before the half.
Via NFL Game Rewind
To his credit, Gilmore took ownership of his mistakes after the game, saying “I’ve got to get better at the communication part. It’s my fault on the communication… It’s frustrating when it’s communication, when it’s not really ability. I have to get better at the communication part… I gotta see it how my teammates see it. I gotta get better.” Butler also added, “We’re beating ourselves. We lost the game ourselves. It was nothing Carolina was doing. Basically, we beat ourselves.” As I mentioned earlier, hearing this sort of thing does provide a small semblance of a silver lining for Patriots fan, and hopefully enough motivation to hold off on hitting the panic button and calling for Gilmore to be benched in the long term or Matt Patricia to be fired.
The issues, while glaring, are fixable, and with as much talent on the defensive side of the ball as the Patriots possess, combined with their elite coaching, the defense should be fine in the long run, but that does not mean we should expect to see immediate progress out of the unit, especially on a short week this week. The Patriots efforts to rectify their defensive struggles might take weeks, but I can’t see a way in which the problems aren’t solved by Thanksgiving.
As hard as it is to remain patient right now, Patriots Nation must try to remain so, and it helps to know that the last time the Patriots started 2-2 (in 2014), they ended up winning the Super Bowl, despite having far bigger issues than this team does. In fact, two out of the previous four times the Belichick/Brady Patriots have started 2-2, they have won the Super Bowl (the other time being 2003), and never failed to make at least the Divisional Round. I know the bar is set far higher than the Divisional Round for this franchise, but with time, the Patriots can overcome these defensive issues, and a return trip to the Super Bowl is by no means out of the question. The road is now a little more difficult, but certainly not impossible.