Patriots Take 2: Dolphins defense made life tough for Patriots – Going Deep – Boston.com
And here’s Frenz’s great review with pretty GIFs and diagrams.
An Independent Patriots Blog
Patriots Take 2: Dolphins defense made life tough for Patriots – Going Deep – Boston.com
And here’s Frenz’s great review with pretty GIFs and diagrams.
Wednesday morning means the film reviews are starting to pour in. Let’s start it off with one of my favorite ones from Nick Underhill.
Film breakdown of Patriots win over the Browns – Sports – The Boston Globe
Sad but true:
Add it all up — backups subbing for Pro Bowlers, defensive backs struggling through injuries and having too many communication errors, and the front four not getting to the passer — and you have a defense that has allowed 414 yards and 28.6 points over their last five games.
Lots of great stuff here in Doug Kyed’s film review as well…
Grading the Patriots vs. Browns: New England survives without Rob Gronkowski | masslive.com
Nick Underhill’s film review has elevated to one of the must-reads of this season. His thorough analysis has been welcome replacement for Greg A. Bedard’s fabulous work of the last couple seasons.
Too much interesting stuff in here to pick out just one nugget, so read it all!
Patriots were fortunate to hold on in Texas – Sports – The Boston Globe
It’s not getting much mention yet this week, but the Pats o-line is certainly starting to string together a good stretch of games. Especially the interior guys, who were inconsistent early this season.
Center Ryan Wendell and right guard Dan Connolly had a little trouble at times, but the offensive line was excellent overall in pass protection, allowing only one sack in 42 passing plays. We counted 16 Houston blitzes, and Watt seemed to twist or stunt on every single play. But the five offensive linemen worked well together, correctly handled their assignments, and kept Tom Brady clean for most of the game. Nate Solder had a really nice bounce-back game after allowing two sacks to the Broncos’ Von Miller. Logan Mankins had another nice game, but did miss a block that would’ve sprung Vereen for a big gain on a screen pass.
Grading the Patriots vs. Texans: Halftime adjustments key New England win | masslive.com
The All-22 film reviews are pouring in this morning. Good stuff from all the beat guys and I try to pick out nuggets that stood out to me in my own watching of it. Here’s one from Nick Underhill…
One negative about the switch to more 3-4 looks: Rob Ninkovich and Chandler Jones are often forced to drop into coverage. Ninkovich dropped back into coveage 10 times Sunday, while Chandler Jones dropped back five times. If it’s about getting the best 11 men on the field and putting them in a position to succeed, a 4-3 look with Chandler Jones and Ninkovich as the ends and either Jamie Collins or Dane Fletcher essentially taking the place of one of the defensive linemen may be a stronger front.
Football Outsiders has updated their playoff odds rankings and here’s how things look for the Patriots: To Make Playoffs: 99.8% (Jets 96.6%) To Win AFC East: 81.8% (Jets 17.8%) #1 AFC Seed: 70.7% (Jets 10.2%, for #2 Seed 7.7%) #5 AFC Seed: 15.0% (Jets 18.2%) Given the odds right now, here’s how the playoffs would […]