Patriots Review Their Own Play After Chicago Trip
Coaches and players examined tackling lapses and coverage tendencies ahead of the Miami matchup.
By Elena Perry ·
The New England Patriots spent the early part of this week reviewing their own performance after returning from Chicago. Mike Vrabel and his coaching staff split their time between preparing for the Miami Dolphins and conducting a self-scout of the team's tendencies.
Eight starters sat out Monday's practice, and the players were off again Tuesday. The team had taken a long weekend after the Chicago game.
Kevin Byard addressed the most pressing item in the self-scouting report when reporters asked him Monday about the defense's tackling. "We pride ourselves on being a really good tackling secondary," Byard said. "We haven't been doing that the past couple games, so that's something we definitely have to improve on."
The Patriots missed 17 tackles in Chicago. Christian Barmore, Cory Durden, Gabe Jacas, Marcus Jones and Robert Spillane are all missing tackles at rates higher than their career averages, according to Pro Football Focus. Marcus Jones whiffed seven times in Chicago, a career-worst mark. The Patriots have allowed 887 yards after catch, third-most in the NFL, and give up 3.38 rushing yards after contact per attempt, fourth-worst according to Next Gen Stats. Moving to 16th in both categories would save the team close to 30 yards per game.
Vrabel addressed turnover reduction during a Monday morning interview on WEEI. "Some things that we can reasonably improve on, and some things we're just going to have to be OK that we're probably not going to be able to improve on," he said. The Patriots have posted the second-most giveaways through Week 7. Vrabel-led teams have historically finished with fewer turnovers than most of the league, and the Patriots ranked ninth at the end of last season.
Drake Maye has fumbled 20 times since the start of last season and has small hands. Rhamondre Stevenson, Romeo Doubs and DeMario Douglas all carry higher-than-average fumbling rates for starters at their positions, according to SumerSports, and have each fumbled this year. Maye's interceptions declined over the last four games as his play under pressure stabilized. He ranks among the top 10 starting quarterbacks by success rate, accuracy metrics and Expected Points Added per play, and he is tied for the league lead in turnovers. The Patriots hold a winning record through the NFL's third-hardest schedule to date.
New England plays man-to-man coverage at the second-highest rate in the league and performs better in man coverage than all but one team by EPA/play, according to SumerSports. The Patriots rank second-worst in zone coverage by that metric. Chicago's Caleb Williams and the Jets' Geno Smith went a combined 8-for-8 for 127 yards and two touchdowns on play-action passes against base personnel over the last two weeks. The Patriots generate the fifth-lowest pressure rate and allow the seventh-highest EPA/play on dropbacks when they do not blitz, according to Next Gen Stats, and they blitz on 41.7% of snaps, third-highest in the league.
Right guard Mike Onwenu is out for the season, the starting left guard is on injured reserve, and the team's fullback also landed on IR. The Patriots face the heaviest boxes by average defenders near the line of scrimmage, per FTN Fantasy data. Rhamondre Stevenson remains the only runner making defenders miss, and TreVeyon Henderson's second-year production has declined. Josh McDaniels must use personnel and motion to pull defenders out of the box given the state of the offensive line.
