If you know anything about me, you probably know that I’m a Patriots homer. I think all Patriots fans are to some degree, though, and rightfully so. Back to the point. I never feel necessarily nervous when it comes to the Patriots on either side of the ball because, well, there’s never any need to be when you have Bill Belichick running the show. But, I’m not going to lie, this particular defense makes me feel rather uneasy, and ever since the very beginning of that Week 1 fiasco, I’ve felt nothing but uncomfortable watching them play.
I know, I know, it’s early, and I do realize that. I’m also not blind to the fact that there are problems on the defensive side of things in Foxboro; while curable, they’re still a thing that shouldn’t go unnoticed. The real issues are coming in the passing game, which is less than ideal, considering the quarterbacks they’ve faced and will continue to face as the season goes along. The league has so many elusive, slippery, playmaking quarterbacks and the Patriots need to start adjusting to that.
They kicked off the season by facing Alex Smith, who walked all over New England on their own turf. Then they matched up Drew Brees who didn’t have a quiet day, and then the rook Deshaun Watson, who had a field day himself with this defense, which is slightly concerning. Slightly. Now, rookie quarterbacks are still 0-9 against Bill Belichick in Foxboro, but Watson had a bit too much success for my personal liking on the Patriots’ (brand new) turf. Things aren’t going to get easier, either, as they’re facing Cam Newton, who is just as intangible as Watson, if not moreso. These quarterbacks are putting more stress on this defense than they’re probably used to here in New England and they’ve got to find a way to calm it down a bit.
We all know that Patriots defenses notoriously do not go after the quarterback as much as other teams do and as much as fans would like to see. This only works if you have a shutdown secondary who can do the dirty work if the front seven can’t, which New England has obviously mastered in the pass. The catch with this defense is that their secondary is the opposite of shutdown, at the moment. They have the ability to be great and be one of the better secondaries in the league, so I’m not too worried in that sense, but they’ve simply got to be better. When you have guys like Stephon Gilmore, Malcolm Butler, Devin McCourty and Patrick Chung back there who are all great at their jobs, there’s little to no excuse to perform the way they have.
The Patriots have allowed 13 plays of 20 or more yards in just three weeks of play and are on pace for 69 (not-so nice), compared to their 44 allowed last season. Like I said before, they have the ability to be great, but if they want to reach that status, something needs to be done differently from here on out, and of course they know that. Allowing a rookie QB to come into Foxboro and sling for 301 yards and 2 touchdowns and have a 5-point lead with less than three minutes to go in regulation is a bit too un-Patriots-like.
Not having your defensive captain in D’onta Hightower is no small task to overcome, given just how young this defense is and especially how little of a role David Harris has played this season, playing only a couple of snaps again on Sunday (side note: is it even worth using a roster spot on Harris at this point?). Being forced to rely on two rookies and a guy who got here just three weeks ago is never an ideal situation to be in. Deatrich Wise is an absolute beast, Adam Butler is doing a solid job considering the fact that he wasn’t even supposed to crack the roster to begin the season and Cassius Marsh is handling things nicely as he’s played an unexpected linebacking role in lieu of Hightower’s absence, but still. You miss Hightower’s experience, leadership and playcalling ability especially against the type of quarterbacks they’ve been facing.
The aforementioned fact that the Patriots are never overly aggressive on quarterbacks comes into play. I know it isn’t Belichick’s preference and obviously it’s worked out well for him in the past, but QBs are having much too easy of a time against this team. New England is letting up big plays at an uncharacteristic level and pace, giving many of us unnecessary 2011 flashbacks. They’re ranked dead last in the NFL in overall defense, which is alarming. At some point you simply need to get after the quarterback and keep him at least relatively contained. Don’t let them get comfortable like Smith, Brees and Watson have been to start the season and things will go much smoother, in my opinion.
Cam Newton and his Panthers haven’t exactly been lighting up the scoreboard here to start the season, so maybe that is just the matchup this defense needs to kickstart things. That’s what I thought was going to happen against the Texans, but I was painfully wrong about that, so we’ll see. All I know is that the league’s quarterbacks generally aren’t great, but they can be great solely with their legs if you let them be. New England has done a great job at stopping the running game – shoutout to Lawrence Guy and Malcolm Brown – but I’d like to say the same about the passing game sometime soon. Right now, Tom Brady is the Patriots’ best defensive player. That needs to change.
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