PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Potential Defensive Adjustments vs. Saints

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I try not to look at any kind of stats until Week 4. It’s just too small a sample size and too easy to overreact, and that’s certainly the case this morning as I took a peak at my stats site of choice FootballOutsiders.com.

The Patriots defense? Ranked 32nd in overall defense, 30th against the pass and 32nd against the run. Nowhere to go but up, right!? I like Football Outsiders because it’s not based on one random analysts grades but by efficiency in the context of the situation. It gives us a good sense of how the team executed. And clearly the Patriots didn’t execute well at all.

By historical comparison, and again, this is just for shits and giggles at this point, here’s how those numbers stack up.

Of course things will get better, but it won’t exactly be handed to the Patriots, especially with a tough matchup against a great quarterback at his homefield this weekend. Here’s a few thoughts on some personnel switches that might help improve things and be better suited to handling Drew Brees and the Saints diverse attack.

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Scouting Report: Saints

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Wednesday’s time to turn the page to the Saints, who lost to the Vikings 29-19 on Sunday.

The headlines; Brandin Cooks returns to New Orleans, Belichick and Brady return to the site of the memorable 2009 blow out that was featured prominently in Belichick’s A Football Life and, oh yeah, the 0-1 Pats really need a win, never an easy task when facing Drew Brees.

Their last meeting in 2013 in Foxboro Brady threw a last-second game-winning touchdown toss to Kenbrell Thompkins.

On paper this one looks like it could be a shootout, so hold on folks, let’s take a quick look at the Saints!

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Patriots Film Review: 3rd & 12 with White & Lewis

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One of the packages that I thought could help offset the loss of Julian Edelman was the use of both James White and Dion Lewis coming out of the backfield. While the Patriots did employ this package against the Chiefs it wasn’t all that effective, but it really should’ve been.

In today’s film study I pulled a third quarter play to take a bit of a closer look at why the offense seemed to get off track without Amendola. At this point the Patriots are up 17-14 with just under 10 minutes left in the third. This is a third-and-12, the kind of tough down Edelman lived to convert. In this situation the Patriots didn’t have much to work with, but the direction of the offense should be obvious going forward.

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Film Breakdown: Kareem Hunt 78-yard Touchdown

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I broke down this play today on Patshow because I think it encapsulates a lot of what went wrong for the defense against the Chiefs.

At this point, it’s early in the fourth quarter and, gasp, the Patriots are WINNING! I know this fact has taken a back seat to the “Pats got blown out” hot takes, but fix the problems on first down and take away the fourth-quarter big plays and this is a game the Patriots likely win.

Let’s take a look how it broke down as we get Up Close and Personnel.

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Patshow Ep. #105: Chiefs Recap, Saints Preview

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Join me and Nick Stevens for Episode number 105 of Patshow, our new Facebook Live venture powered by the mad geniuses at MediaBoss. In this episode we let Fitzy puppet breakdown what we were all feeling during the Chiefs debacle, take a look at some of the best social media to come out of the game and break down one of the key defensive failures during the game. All that and plenty more Pats talk on Patshow!

 

Patriots Should Embrace Palate-Cleansing Loss

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I usually avoid most of the hot take media, especially in days after losses. No one knows how to overreact quite like Patriots fans and pundits, but after a couple days to sit on the game and review it, I feel like this loss was a nice hit of the reset button that should re-focus the 2017 team on 2017. You can even check the NFL odds by BetOnline to see that yes, the Patriots are still favored in New Orleans against the Saints.

The Patriots aren’t going anywhere. I know it. Vegas knows it. And most of you probably know it too. But for those of you still running around screaming that the Patriot sky is falling, here are some things to keep in mind.

Let’s break down what’s actually worrisome and what we can just chalk up to September being an extension of the preseason.

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How Did Patriots Use Their Running Backs vs. Chiefs?

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While the Patriots played about as bad as one could have possibly imagined Thursday night, the sky is indeed not falling in New England, contrary to popular belief. Sure, the defense looked abysmal (at best), and the offense sputtered throughout the majority of the second half, but the 2017 Patriots are still a team loaded with talent that every team in the NFL should fear, and in an otherwise disappointing effort, the weapons out of the backfield showed a mere glimmer of how hard this Patriots offense will be to stop once it hits full gear.

The trio of Mike Gillislee, James White, and Rex Burkhead were a few of the lone bright spots Thursday night, with Gillislee as the unquestioned star of the show in his Patriots debut, racking up 45 yards on 15 attempts, finding the end zone on three occasions, and dominating the touches in the red zone. White also contributed 68 yards on 13 touches, and Burkhead gained 23 yards on his four touches.

Having three running backs of the caliber of this trio is an incredible thing, and I think we saw just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what these three are capable of.

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