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kyle van noy

Film Review: Pats vs. Dolphins Defense Edition

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The Patriots defense continued their streak of solid play against the Dolphins, only allowing 10 points and showing more of their renowned Bend-Don’t-Break style. There isn’t a lot of flash or sizzle with this defense, instead it’s mostly role players doing their jobs, tackling well and getting off the field in critical situations.

The team is on a seven-game win streak and they haven’t given up more than 20 points in a game since losing to the Panthers back in Week 4. As we’re well aware, points are what matters most but how good is this Patriots defense really? It’s been fairly smooth sailing as the offense has broken 30 points the last three weeks and has been generally in control for most of the seven games they’ve won in a row.

I still have my questions, not that I’m skeptical, but because I like to see the true character of a defense revealed and that only comes in pressure-packed situations, which they’ve mostly been able to avoid of late. That’s helped them get their feet under them, and the next few weeks should provide some more interesting challenges, especially facing the mobile Tyrod Taylor on the road this weekend and then the vaunted Steeler offense in two weeks after a rematch with the Dolphins in Miami (which I am very much not looking forward to).

Here’s 10 hits on 10 players who stood out to me against the Dolphins, players that will be critical to the defense for a Super Bowl run.

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Pats Posits: Injury Attrition and Wins Continue

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The Patriots rolled over the Miami Dolphins as most expected, but it wasn’t quite as enjoyable as it should’ve been with some sloppy play and worse, injuries marring the contest. It’s a constant refrain here on the blog — all that really matter at this point are injuries and Sunday’s game against Miami had a significant number of casualties. Nate Ebner, Trey Flowers, LaAdrian Waddle and Kyle Van Noy were among those to leave and not return.

So yes, a win is a win, but at this point the injury scoreboard is almost more important and there the Pats got beat pretty good.

Still, the beat rolls on as Dion Lewis and Brandin Cooks continue their sensational seasons sparking the new-look Patriots offense despite the litany of injuries. The defense continued their hot streak of not giving up many points, giving up just 10 themselves while the botched snap by Ted Karras gave the Dolphins their other touchdown. The defense has now moved into 11th place allowing 20 points-per-game, just a shade above the 18.6 that the Patriots have averaged under Bill Belichick.

With the Steelers needing a last-second field goal to knock off the struggling Packers, the Patriots remain atop the AFC favorites. While initial reports on Trey Flowers and Kyle Van Noy sound like these weren’t season-enders, the bumps and bruises continue to add up. Will they be enough to alter the destiny of this Pats team? We’ll see a pretty good test next weekend in Buffalo as the Bills look like they’ve gotten back on track with a win over the fading Chiefs.

Here are all the Posits on the Dolphins win.

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Patriots Film Review: Defense vs. Broncos Edition

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The Patriots’ defense has finally settled in and is back to playing their good old bend-don’t-break style of defense. This isn’t the ’85 Bears, but they’re doing what well-coached defenses do — playing within the system, limiting big plays and getting stops in the red zone. As maddening as it can be to watch, we should all know by now that it’s a winning formula.

Despite their improvements I still have my concerns about the defense. The last two games have pretty much unfolded perfectly for them so I can’t get too high on them at this point, but improvement is improvement and there’s no question the product on the field has looked far superior to what we were seeing early in the season.

The truth is against the Broncos the defense turned in one red zone stop and they were already up 14-3. That’s the context of this game, which is important.

So yes, it’s okay to feel better about the defense, but there’s still a ways to go and some good offenses to stop.

Here’s what stood out in reviewing the All-22 game film.

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Three Plays That Defined Patriots Defense vs. Chargers

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After yesterday’s Garoppolo spookstravaganza on Patshow I’m moving back to some analysis of the players on the team who have actually played a down this season. I know the trade will continue to dominate the conversation for much of the next week and a half, but it’s time to refocus on the second half of the season.

The Patriots sit at 6-2, and while we can talk about their flaws, the reality is the sports betting odds are still very much in their favor to make a strong playoff run this post season.

I thought the defense did a solid job against the Chargers, although there were just a couple notable breakdowns with Melvin Gordon‘s 87-yard touchdown run leading the way. They continue to make strides and while they certainly have some weak links in certain situations, they’ve continually bounced back and made the key spots necessary to help the Patriots on their four-game win streak.

Here are three plays that defined the defensive effort against the Chargers.

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Film Review: Pats vs. Falcons – Defense (Until it Got Too Foggy) Edition

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The Patriots defense turned in their best performance of the season against the Falcons, a total team effort where they were fundamentally sound from top to bottom. Things got a little too foggy to breakdown the entire game, but from a half-plus of review I got a pretty good sense of how well they played and how they were able to shutdown a Falcons offense that had shredded them for much of the Super Bowl.

Here’s what stood out…

— Van Noy continues to make really good progress and his development is a big reason why the defense is playing so much better, especially against the run. The 3rd-and-4 on the Falcons’ second possession was a perfect example as Van Noy splits a double team in space to make a solo tackle for a three yard loss on a toss sweep. It was an excellent play, a great example of the kind of things that weren’t happening earlier in the season.

— After converting the following fourth down via a Matt Ryan scramble the Falcons put together a nice little drive that ended with a Cassius Marsh blocked field goal. On the last third-and-10 the coverage was excellent. Ryan had nowhere to go and the pass rush flushed him out of the pocket. He thought about scrambling again, but McCourty peeled off his middle field help coverage to prevent it. Just an overall really solid team defense play in a key spot, the kind of stuff we haven’t really seen enough of.

— On Marsh’s block he again demonstrated a strength — getting skinny and getting through gaps to make plays. It’s shown up a few times on defensive plays and now it set up what might’ve been a season-changing special teams play. After this the Patriots just played with even more confidence.

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Pats Posits: The New England Football Machine Rolls On

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After showing brief glimpses that they were a good team through the first six games of the season, the 2017 New England Patriots finally turned in their first consistent performance in a 23-7 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Yes, rumors of the Patriots demise have once again been exaggerated.

Simply put, it all worked against the Falcons. The four-headed running back monster finally showed how well it could power the offense, and most importantly, close games out. The much-maligned defense turned in one of their most impressive performances in recent memory, and they did it without Stephon Gilmore. It was a total team, total game win, the first of its kind this season and it was incredibly refreshing.

I’ve been saying there was a good defense inside there somewhere, and against the Falcons we saw what they were capable of. This is where the bar is, and it’s now set pretty high. Way above the worst defense in the league, but maybe not quite the all out domination we saw on Sunday night through the fog.

It looks like the 2017 Pats finally realized the season had started and that’s bad news for an NFL loaded with parity.

Here’s what I think in the Posits.

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5 Patriots Concerns

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It’s hard to know at the beginning of the year what problems are real and which can be chalked up to September being more of an extension of the preseason. The Patriots experiment a bit, sit guys for even a minor ailment and are just trying to figure out what they have more than anything.

Of course, that never stops the overreactions but that’s what happens when people have been waiting seven months for football and then a shitty Patriots team gets lit up by some random team who won’t make the playoffs. It’s the same thing almost every year and there’s difficulty knowing what the real weaknesses of the team are.

But here we are five games into the season and the 2017 edition, like all teams have flaws, even if the 2017 betting odds for the next Patriots game don’t quite reflect it.

Here’s a quick hit list of the things that concern me with these Pats and what the real issues they’ll have to overcome are.

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