Always tough to focus on one specific area when the defense turns in a solid performance like this one, so we’re stick to a general overall review of the All-22 film for all the things that we might missed.
Schematically the Pats stuck with what they’ve been doing this year, mostly Cover-1 Man coverage with Patrick Chung in the box, morphing to more Cover-2 as the lead increased and they continued some use of the four-safety package designed specifically to put physicality in the seams of the defense.
Right now the Patriots defense looks locked in with what they are doing and there’s excellent balance on most downs between the rush and the coverage.
Most impressive has been the emergence of a dominant run defense that has been ignited by Alan Branch and Malcolm Brown. Both players were winning at the line of scrimmage and making plays in the backfield on multiple occasions.
Brown has really improved through his first eight games. He’s really a unique defensive tackle, with an incredibly low center of gravity and surprising quickness that has him slipping blocks and getting to running backs.
Once again Dominique Easley and Geneo Grissom are the pass rushing tackles, although we did see a bit of Grissom at defensive end near the end of the game.
Ninkovich had some trouble at the start of the one long meaningful drive the Redskins put together, but he was generally solid otherwise. Seems like he had a bit more coverage responsibility in this one, as the Pats were dropping one of their edge players into the flat pretty consistently. Easley has a relatively quiet day I thought.
With no Jamie Collins, Jonathan Freeny stepped into play a majority of the snaps, and as the game progressed the Pats started pulling Dont’a Hightower and giving Jerod Mayo and Jonathan Bostic more of a look. Clearly Freeny is the best backup right now as he’s the only one who doesn’t look tentative. Mayo just lacks any pop to his game right now and I’m losing hope that he’ll get it back at all this season. Bostic was similar, looking a little unsure of where he’s going. Of course, he just got here, so that might not be due to his previous injuries like it is with Mayo.
A lot of people want to talk about trading for a corner but I have to say Butler/Ryan/Coleman have been as good as any corner group we’ve had not including last year. Even when they give up plays they are usually right there and usually make the tackle immediately. All are physical and good tacklers and that makes them perfect fits in this defense. Coleman had an unnecessary penalty at the end that cost them the touchdown, but for an undrafted rookie who got here way late, he’s been very solid.
Butler played perhaps his best game. Now I know it was DeSean Jackson’s first game back, but Butler gave up nothing to him, while also being physical against the run. Butler will get a much harder challenge this week against Odell Beckham Jr. Meanwhile Ryan continued to play the best ball of his career with another interception. He always just seems to be in the right place and yes, he might give up some catches, but they’re almost all contested.
A big part of the great secondary play has to be McCourty/Chung/Harmon/Richards, who all seem to have carved out their roles and are executing them at a high level. Though I did think McCourty missed a couple plays he usually makes.
Things seemed a little more relaxed and rotational this week, probably due to the quick and commanding lead right out of the gate. Still, the defense looks strong at all levels and once Jabaal Sheard gets back, he should really help them hit a new level. His return this week would be huge.