Scouting Report on Pats D

[Chris Stevenson]

Opponents need to pressure Brady . . . and keep him off the field

“I think their run defense isn’t good at all on the edges or at the linebacker level, so in this case running to win makes sense,” a scout told Giardi. “[Alan] Branch wasn’t the same player this year and while [Malcom] Brown and [Lawrence] Guy are solid, you can wear them down. I have no idea what they see in Elandon Roberts. He’s a guess guy. He can be manipulated both in the run game and then certainly in the passing game. You run, it amps up the play action and has him running around like a chicken with his head cut off. Miami did a nice job with it. Pittsburgh did, too. That keeps Brady off the field and limits the impact that offense can have.”​

I mean, LOL.

"Miami did a nice job with it"
"He's a guess guy"​

We played what was essentially a B Squad in Miami with BB resting a lot of players, knowing Pitt was the bigger game, which yet again, he is correct in doing. We then followed that up with another B Squad in Pitt, and they held a lethal offense down.

This is the analysis?

How about a top 3 red zone D and the one with the most turnovers in the league in the red zone? How about a deep defense with mix and match capability, making BB/Patricia more ready to use more scheming than they have all season?

NE has added James Harrison, Eric Lee has looked good, even if raw and needing about 10 lbs, it's arguably the best, most versatile/mix and match secondary group with experience of anyone left in the postseason.

I love how he glosses over emerging very good players like Flowers, Van Noy (wildly underrated and would be Pitt's best LB right now by a mile) and someone like a Marquis Flowers who replaced what McClellin was doing here.

If Tenn reads that analysis, they're going to get absolutely smoked Saturday night.

Clearly, Branch and Van Noy are vital, and both sound ready to go. This isn't 2013 when we lost Vince, Kelly and Mayp all within a week of one another.

Holy mackerel.

If anything, considering Tenn's Offense is Mariota, Walker and Henry, you double Walker, load the box, mix and match man and zone coverages, confuse Mariota, seal the edges, and funnel him down the middle for a guy like Roberts to zip in there and lay the lumber.

If the average Pats Hater believes this analysis because of how injured this team has been all year, they're in for a very rude awakening on Saturday night on their tv screen. It's one thing to bash an under-performing group of starters, but it's another to lie outright.

If you're holding teams to under 12 points per game in this era for 2 months straight, that's very good.

 

[BobDigital]

The Pats run D has had issues this year but they are in the best spot to turn it around right now. We have never seen this Pats front 7 with a fully healthy Van Noy and Harrison. Van Noy was only 80% in the last game of the season. He will finally be near 100% vs the Titans.

In the last game of the year. The only game were they fielded the same personnel they will use going into the playoffs they allowed on the ground 19 rushes for 40 yards including 1 rush of 23 yards. I think that was a great showing in the last game. I doubt they will do that well vs the Titans but certainly it is a good indicator.

 

[Chris Stevenson]

The Pats run D has had issues this year but they are in the best spot to turn it around right now. We have never seen this Pats front 7 with a fully healthy Van Noy and Harrison. Van Noy was only 80% in the last game of the season. He will finally be near 100% vs the Titans.

In the last game of the year. The only game were they fielded the same personnel they will use going into the playoffs they allowed on the ground 19 rushes for 40 yards including 1 rush of 23 yards. I think that was a great showing in the last game. I doubt they will do that well vs the Titans but certainly it is a good indicator.

Agreed. That's the analysis. If Branch, Van Noy, etc, weren't going to be available or Marquis Flowers hadn't replaced McClellin's role pretty well, too, then sure.

What's funny is, BB has been close all year to running a pure 3-4, but every time he went to go use it, 1 or 2 key guys got dinged up, and he had to adjust. Very frustrating year in terms of the discombobulation in the secondary in Sept and injuries, but this is the best health we've seen all year.

I fully realize this is not 2004 anymore where it's a 3-4 base, with 4-3 mixed in, but you get the idea.

This is what I can see them using to take out both Mariota and Henry:

T. Flowers, Branch, Brown, Guy/Butler Harrison

Van Noy, Roberts

On 3rd and longs, take our Branch, sub in Wise at 4-3 DE ith Marquis Flowers as a spy on Mariota for any potential scrambles.

That scout should probably be fired. lol