Film Review: Patriots vs Colts

The Patriots rolled to a second impressive win in a row, beating the Colts with their second 38 burger in a row. With Julian Edelman back, Josh Gordon immediately working his way in and Sony Michel‘s continued improvement, the chatter about a lack of weapons has quieted down. Which could only mean one thing, it’s time to complain again about the defense.

After watching the All-22 I continue to really like what I’m seeing from the Patriots defense and despite some holes in the win over the Colts, they are playing as simple and fast as I can remember them. The tackling is locked down. The edge is being set. The extra yardage and busted coverages are slowly disappearing. It all looks impressive and was on good display for most of Thursday night.

The Patriots should have earned a ton of confidence after the last two wins have wiped out the bad taste of back-to-back road losses. Still, there will always be questions about the defense because this league is designed for offenses to succeed. The question is whether or not the defense makes the key plays down the stretch and that will most likely be the case against the Chiefs this weekend.

Here’s a bunch on what else stood out from the film review.

— Most remarkable to me about Tom Brady is how good he looks late in plays, when he has to move and find open players. Most 41-year-olds would only get worse as the play waited to develop but Brady looks exactly like he did ten years ago, buying time and moving out of the pocket.

— Thinking about how we never got much of anything out of Joey Galloway or Chad Johnson and it makes me feel even better about Josh Gordon’s prospects to flourish in this offense. That Brady would throw that downfield ball to him in coverage on the touchdown was a remarkable show of early confidence.

— Sony Michel has taken some giant steps in the last two games and his powerful and explosive running against the Colts sure looked like that of a guy worth of a first-round pick. This is just what the Patriots offense needs to make it truly deadly. They can only depend on Brady-White-Edelman-Gronk so much. With Michel finishing drives off himself it will only take additional wear and tear off of the key foursome.

— With Edelman back it was so obviously better for Hogan and Dorsett. When they don’t have to be relied upon, both players can contribute key explosive plays. Throw in the Patterson gadget stuff and the Pats offense can just burn you in so many ways.

— James White is just so good at what he does and has developed into the perfect fit for the Pats’ offense. With a guy like Michel, it’s the perfect balance and lets White flourish.

— Jonathan Jones has developed into an underrated feature of this defense. He played almost 80 percent of the snaps and had five tackles with an interception. Between him and Jason McCourty the Patriots defensive backfield looks totally in sync. We’re not seeing ugly busted coverages or blown tackles. Even if they give up catches the runner is almost immediately tackled. This kind of good fundamental play will win far more than it loses. Tackling against the Chiefs will be pretty much everything.

— Hightower’s role has been reduced a bit but it’s better to make sure he’s leading the way on early downs, then they can sprinkle him in on passing downs. He played 67 percent of the snaps, while Van Noy played 88 percent. That’s the reality of the NFL when you don’t have great speed. Roberts played just under 50 percent and is still in a run-stopping role. He’s been better this year and looks more aware in coverage. Hightower’s presence might help him the more than anyone else.