Preview Sneak: Patriots Defensive Overview

We continue with a collection of excerpts from this year’s Patriots Season Preview book with a look at the strides the defensive took in 2016 and how their 2017 offseason will shape the unit this fall.

Outside of replacing Logan Ryan with Stephon Gilmore, there wasn’t much turnover on a defense that led the league in points-per-game, arguably Bill Belichick’s most important defensive stat.

Still, the defense didn’t garner much respect during the season. They were seen as a unit that feasted on bad quarterbacks and offenses. Maybe there was some truth to that, but you can only play who is on your schedule, and the number of poor offenses that litter the NFL landscape isn’t the Patriots problem. They took care of business while other defenses had their ups and downs even against some of those bad offenses.

What mattered most for this defense was how they finished. Dont’a Hightower’s game-changing strip sack in the Super Bowl opened the door for a Patriots comeback, and when it was all on the line, with the Falcons inside field goal range for a game-sealing kick, the defense pushed them back, forced a punt and league MVP Matt Ryan never saw the ball again.

When you line up the last four Patriots teams that went to the Super Bowl it’s the defenses that were the story. Yes, Tom Brady went into berserker mode in Super Bowl 51, but without Hightower, who also had a game-saving goal line tackle in Super Bowl 49, and Malcolm Butler‘s interception, we’d still be lamenting the defenses of Super Bowl 42 and 46, who couldn’t make that one last big play to help win the game.

Hopefully 2017’s defense has the same kind of big plays on the big stage ability.

Here’s the introduction to the defensive player previews.

2016 Defensive Stats

Overall DVOA – 16th
Yards-per-Game – 8th (326.4)
Passing DVOA – 23rd
Points-per-Game – 1st (15.6)
Running DVOA – 4th
Third Down – 36.9% (7th)

The Patriots defense will return mostly intact in 2017 after the squad led the NFL in points-against, allowing just 15.6 points-per-game. The one significant change is with cornerback Stephon Gilmore who steps in to replace Logan Ryan. While the team seemed to skew toward more zone coverage later in the season in 2016, with Gilmore in the mix they are more than capable of playing man defense across the board and might be even better suited for it.

The veteran safety trio of Devin McCourty, Patrick Chung and Duron Harmon all return, giving the Pats excellent stability and versatility on the back end. The secondary is as loaded as it’s ever been under Belichick, even if there are some questions how they’ll replace the snaps Ryan took in the slot.

Up front the team said goodbye to veteran pass rushers Jabaal Sheard and Chris Long, replacing them with Kony Ealy, Lawrence Guy and some combination of rookies Derek Rivers and Dietrich Wise. But the breakout player of 2016 was Trey Flowers who delivered in the Super Bowl with a star-making performance.

Those edge players will compliment the returning interior duo of Alan Branch and Malcolm Brown who both went wire-to-wire in 2016. The Patriots boasted their best run defense under Belichick and much of that was due to the stellar and unselfish play of the two men in the middle, who were effectively backed up by rookie Vincent Valentine.

The captain Dont’a Hightower is back as well, re-signing with the team after taking his time in free agency. Hightower missed some time again in 2016, but once again delivered a Super Bowl-saving clutch play, his second in three seasons, all but cementing his place as the next Patriots linebacker to carry the torch once held by the likes of Tedy Bruschi, Willie McGinest and others.

On paper the biggest question facing the Patriots’ defense is can the new faces elevate the pass rush in the front seven. The secondary is experienced and stacked, but to truly hit that next level the guys up front must be disruptive and Flowers can’t do it all by himself. Ealy, Guy and Rivers are three to watch.