Author Archives: Mike Clement

Analysis of the Patriots’ Week 3 Match-Up Against the Texans

Leave a reply

A 2016-17 AFC Divisional rematch in Week 3 is quite an interesting pairing. In the past year the Houston Texans and Patriots have clashed on three separate occasions prior to Sunday. The Patriots won two of these games in this short series, but each victory has been on separate terms. In a 2016 Week 3 match-up Jacoby Brissett and LeGarrette Blount brought the Brady-less Patriots to a shutout victory. The Texans and Patriots squared up again in the Divisional Round of the 2016-17 playoffs, where Dion Lewis and Tom Brady were the offensive heroes that brought home a win. And this season the Patriots and Texans played in the preseason and Deshaun Watson secured a decisive win for the Texans.

This upcoming battle will showcase current CFB Playoff MVP Deshaun Watson against prevailing Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady. Watson became the starter for the Texans in the second half against the team’s loss against the Jaguars recently. Since then, Watson has racked up a modest 227 yards along with one touchdown and an interception. Texans Coach Bill O’Brien’s offensive game plan in the foreseeable future is to develop Watson as fast a possible. However, Coach Bill Belichick, a friend of O’Brien, is aware of that and will bring defensive pressure on Watson quickly.

Stopping the Texans’ Offense

The Texans run a balanced offense consisting of short and medium passes along with a few different types of run plays. Deshaun Watson is a west coast-schemed quarterback, meaning he likes to throw short slant, curl, and dig routes to receivers. At the same time, he has the skills to tuck and run with the football by himself, as advertised by him against the Patriots in the preseason. For a rookie, Watson has showcased some impressive pocket presence, and knows how to roll out of the pocket to keep the play alive rather than giving himself up for a sack.

Deshaun Watson is able to use an receiving corp that has undergone an overhaul to suit the team. The top receiver on the squad is DeAndre Hopkins, a deep threat who runs primarily fly and cross routes. Will Fuller V is the go-to guy when passing short or medium over the middle of the defense. Ryan Griffin, the team’s primary tight end, mostly pass blocks or runs short routes like a curl off the line. Lamar Miller, the workhorse of the offense, is a one-cut back who can punish the defense on a wheel route.

Expect Bill Belichick to stop the Texans’ offense at the source. The Patriots’ edge rushers and linebackers must step up this week to keep constant pressure on Deshaun Watson. Blitzes and quarterback contain plays will keep Watson in the pocket and make a naive mistake against the Patriots’ secondary.

Tackling the Texan’s Stingy Defense

The Patriots offense redeemed themselves last week against the New Orleans Saints after getting blasted by the Kansas City Chiefs in week one. However, the Saints defense statistically let up a lot of points, and in the last three years they are ranked 30th+ points allowed. The Texans’ defense is on the other end of the spectrum, ranking within the top-five defenses in the league. Stacked on the defensive line the Texans at full strength boast the talents of J.J. Watt, Whitney Mercilus, and Jadeveon Clowney. This defense makes up for a weak secondary by bringing constant pressure to the opposing quarterback and stopping the run.

With an ailing offense and now Chris Hogan and Danny Amendola being among the eleven players questionable to play this week, the offense needs to be cautious. Therefore screen passes to Mike Gillislee and James White will work like a charm. Rob Gronkowski and Dwayne Allen are both vertical threats that can shred up the Texans’ secondary. Tom Brady on average takes about 2.5 seconds to drop back and get the ball out of his hands. Statistics show as his career has progressed, Brady has become increasingly accurate after passing the ball that quickly. This skill will come in handy against an aggressive Texans’ defensive line. The pass rush will be frequent in this game for the Patriots offense. The offensive line and the rest of the offense can still shine if everyone does their job.

Don’t Panic Patriots Fans!

Leave a reply
Put away your pitchforks and torches, estranged Patriots fans. The sky is not falling.

Patriots fans across the nation were left speechless after an astonishing loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the inaugural game of the 2017-18 season. The Patriots celebrated the unveiling of their newest banner commemorating their victory in Super Bowl 51, but their play was nothing close to the caliber of their performance back in February. A swift bout on consecutive drives energized supporters as the Patriots soared to a 17-7 lead in the second quarter. However, Gillette Stadium fell to a murmur after the Chiefs’ offensive resurgence in the second half, the Patriots fell 42-27.

The Patriots? Losing? In their home opener? Armageddon must be upon us. What happened to going 16-0 in the regular season?

The truth is that there were too many factors adding up early into this season that made being perfect impossible. The Patriot’s schedule in its own is rigorous enough to raise a few eyebrows. Tonight’s home opener against the Chiefs was one of the Pats’ true tests in the waking moments of the season. The Chiefs coming into the season are ranked as the 7th best team, per ESPN, and have only improved after adding depth into their powerful defense like linebacker Ukeme Eligwe. Other notable tough match-ups later into the season include the vengeance-seeking Falcons, and away both against the Raiders and Steelers.

The Patriot’s performance did not amount up to their Super Bowl 51 victory. However, it is noteworthy that the Patriots have become mechanically different from they were in February.

Both injuries and free agent acquisitions shook up the roster. Star reciever Brandin Cooks joined the squad as well along with running backs Mike Gillislee and Rex Burkhead.

Two of the more prevalent roster changes are that of which Rob Gronkowski returning to his starting role after dealing with injuries for the past two seasons, and Tom Brady’s go to receiver Julian Edelman suffering a torn ACL and planning to miss the entire year. Emotions for those faithful of the Patriots became high when Edelman took the field during the pregame banner ceremony.

Kansas City Chiefs v New England Patriots : News Photo

Another huge loss for the Patriots came from a surprise retirement from linebacker and defensive end Rob Ninkovich. Since his departure with the team the Patriots’ edge rushing core has been far from the same. This and the dwindling wide receiver depth has proved to be the Patriots’ challenges early on. Without a proven edge rusher adjacent from Trey Flowers the defense has shown struggling on pass rushing Week One. Dont’a Hightower seemed to be the answer to this call until he left the game with a right knee injury. Tom Brady also showed frustration after his new primary target Danny Amendola left the game with a head injury. All production thereon out came to a halt in the second half. Subsequently the team’s morale fell as their lead depleted.

Coach Belichick was blunt with his answer on how he felt the game went in his post game interview:

A new year and huge expectations for a seemingly stable squad, when really some cogs in the machine are now replacements. September for Coach Bill Belichick is a month of trial and error with his ever-changing squads each year. The first weeks of the regular season are used to revise any holes on the roster and exploit player’s strengths. Jonas Gray, Malcolm Butler, and Dion Lewis all metamorphosed before fan’s eyes by Belichick’s system.

Fear, not Patriots fans, this loss is not one that marks any end of the dynasty. Like in 2014 when critics began to echo “Brady’s time is up”, the Patriots will come back swinging. Future Hall of Famer Coach Belichick has seen situations like this before with the team and is capable of making fixes to better the squad for the future.

Did the Chiefs outplay the Patriots? Yes. Have the Patriots lost all chances to make a postseason run already after losing this game? Absolutely not.

We’re on to New Orleans.

 

Recap of the Patriots’ First Preseason Win in Detroit

Leave a reply

Tonight’s game was a bittersweet game for the Patriots as they earned their first victory of the preseason against the Detroit Lions. Players showed evident improvement this week as they continue to prepare for the regular season.

A fast-paced start from the Patriots’ starting offense was quickly brought to a halt, at the sound of a whistle for an injury timeout. Julian Edelman went down in the opening minutes of the first quarter with an apparent knee injury and was shortly carted off into the locker room.

Ian Rapoport and mutliple sources have reported after the game’s conclusion that Edelman has suffered a torn ACL, and will undergo an MRI in the days to come.

With Edelman’s season likely over prematurely, fellow wide receivers Chris Hogan and Danny Amendola are expected to step up. Whoever takes over the role left vacant by Julian Edelman will likely run more complicated routes in the middle of the field, rather than simple fly routes like Brandin Cooks.

On a more optimistic note, on the other side of the field, the Patriots’ defensive starters showed marked improvement in this game compared to their last two matchups. Stephon Gilmore had a great performance early in the game, while only batting down a pass and recording a tackle he showed success in covering his assignment. The starting defense as a whole made key stops in order to shut out the Lions starters in the first quarter.

The backup defense appeared better this week, but the secondary squad allowed a comeback in the second half against the Lions starters. The influx of points let up by the backup squad was expected by Coach Belichick, but he saw it as a challenge for them.

Overall, the Patriots are showing the growth and development needed to live up to their high expectations this season.

New England Patriots v Detroit Lions : News Photo

 

Recap of the Patriots’ Preseason Week 2 Loss in Houston

Leave a reply

The Patriots returned to Houston for the first time since their Super Bowl victory at NRG Stadium 195 days ago. The memory of that monumental win (including some confetti left over from the game), still sat fresh in the minds of Patriots’ veterans and coaches. Unfortunately, the outcome of the preseason match-up against the Texans did not live up to the team’s expectations. Though, still early in the preseason, the Patriots have shown struggles on both sides of the field. At the same time they have shown hints of talent in certain positions. This is to be expected to happen when the team inserts players into certain schemes or situations in a game to see their long term worth. These are the most prevalent aspects to take away from this loss:

Rex Burkhead Rolls with the Starting Offense

Burkhead showed early that he can keep up with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels’s interchangeable game plan. He made a short appearance in the game lining up in the backfield, however performed well as a receiving back for Tom Brady. Rex ran for 20 yards on seven attempts but his stats were more impressive catching the ball, racking up 50 yards and a touchdown from 3 catches. Burkhead’s highlight of the game was being able to pull away from his defender in the second quarter to easily haul in a touchdown pass from Tom Brady.

Rex Burkhead is slated to become a special teams threat and has the potential to make plays like this, accumulating reps from both on the ground or in the air. Rex has strong competition at the running back position behind Mike Gillislee, James White, and Dion Lewis, but he can serve his purpose in special situations on offense for the Patriots. He is stocky and quick enough to run the ball in on the goal line, and at the sametime share reps with James White as a receiving back.  

Defensive Breakdown

So far in this preseason the Patriots defense has been less than perfect. The backups have looked sluggish and have struggled to make plays. Two missed tackles on a slant route in the third quarter led to a whopping 63 yard gain for Texans’ D’Onta Foreman. A short pass that turns into a huge gain is never pretty for a defense, especially backups fighting for a job.

The drive ended with another defensive breakdown where Kony Ealy failed to bring down Deshaun Watson in the backfield. Deshaun Watson then capitalized by running up the middle of his offensive line and into the endzone with ease. Kony Ealy is presumed to start at defensive end, mistakes like this should be corrected before the season starts.

Malcolm Butler, another starter for the defense, gave up a touchdown in broken coverage in the first quarter. This is an issue which certainly needs to be worked on before the regular season begins.

New England Patriots v Houston Texans : News Photo

Offensive Line Looks  Lost

The backup offensive line did not protect Jimmy Garoppolo to their best ability to say the least. Defensive pressure and failed coverage led Garoppolo to make some mistakes against the Texans. He gave up a fumble due to a failed blocking assignment in the third quarter and more of the same lead to an interception in the early stages of the fourth. In general Garoppolo did fairly well despite the turnovers. It definitely would have helped if he had more time to set up in the pocket from play to play. Offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia transformed the Patriots’ offensive line back to its former dignity in his first season back with the team last year, but this preseason has shown some regression with the backups, showing he has some work to do in next week’s practices.

Cyrus Jones Impresses as Return Man

Cyrus Jones has actively been trying to fix his special teams problems from last season. In his rookie season he fumbled the ball five times and was ultimately pulled from the return team. This preseason, the Patriots have been giving him chances to return the ball again, and has so far impressed coaches. After the game Coach Bill Belichick praised Cyrus’s work, saying to the press, “I though Cyrus did a good job in the return game, both in punts and kickoffs. Ran hard. Ran aggressively. Made good decisions with and without the ball. Had a couple of situations where the ball either hit the ground or was going out of bounds. I thought he did a nice job”.

Coach Belichick’s words might translate into Cyrus regaining his returning role back, and certainly will help him gain opportunities to return the ball for the team in the final two preseason games.

Image result for cyrus jones texans

Rookie DE Derek Rivers Out for the Season

Leave a reply

The Patriots lose a promising young defensive end to an injury

Earlier yesterday morning ESPN’s Mike Reiss and Field Yates confirmed that Derek Rivers had suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice. Rivers went down clenching his knee during a kickoff coverage drill in a joint practice with the Houston Texans on Wednesday.

NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport reported earlier that initial MRI results have shown that Rivers has suffered a torn ACL and a sprained LCL. Derek Rivers reportedly intends to get a second opinion to confirm if surgery is needed.

Derek Rivers is the Patriots’ highest pick from this year’s draft, being selected 83rd overall in the third round from Youngstown State. He finished his collegiate career with 120 tackles and 37.5 sacks in his four year tenure. The Patriots brought him on board to be a young addition to an aging defensive end corp. The group has been given the task of stepping up in the wake of Rob Ninkovich’s retirement.

Next man up

Luckily the Patriots have multiple options to consider in the weeks before the regular season kicks off. With the loss of Rivers, there are multiple ways that Coach Belichick and company can find a replacement.

Kony Ealy is presumed to be the starter at defensive end, parallel to Trey Flowers. However, Kony struggled in his first game as a Patriot last Thursday against the Jaguars. More depth will likely be needed on Kony’s side to ease the pressure for him to perform. The Patriots could easily inquire within the roster for a defensive end role and move Geneo Grissom up to the number two slot in the depth chart. Ex-edge rushers Shea McClellin, Kyle Van Noy, and Harvey Langi could also see some playing time filling in the role where needed.

Beyond Gillette

The Patriots could always look for a direct replacement outside of the team as well. Talented veteran defensive ends Dwight Freeney and Mario Williams are currently both available on the free agent market. Coach Belichick has seen plenty of both of these players in the past and knows how well they can perform. Dwight Freeney, for example, might be one of the league’s elders at age 37, but he can still exhibit his explosiveness and some of his speed on command. For a younger player, the Patriots could look for a trade. However, it would be more useful to have some veteran talent for the season and continue developing Derek Rivers starting in the spring.

Whoever might replace Derek Rivers this season, it’s always next man up in the NFL.

 

Image result for derek rivers

The Brandin Cooks Effect in New England

Leave a reply

The Archer has found a new home in Foxborough

Back on March 11th, the Patriots agreed to trade their first and third (No. 32 and 103) picks in the 2017 Draft to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for their 23-year-old star wide receiver Brandin Cooks and their fourth round pick (No. 118). As a personal fan of Cooks since he entered the league in 2014 from Oregon State, coach Bill Belichick has since been ecstatic about adding him to the Patriots’ already talented receiving corps. Belichick commented on Cooks’s raw talent when the Patriots and Saints held joint practices and played each other in the preseasons of 2015 and 2016.  “I’m glad we don’t have to play him twice a year and he’s not in our division. He’s a really good player”.

Cooks made a splash in his three seasons in New Orleans, racking up 2,861 receiving yards from 215 receptions and catching 20 touchdown passes. Although the number-one wide receiver on the Saints early in his career, the team deemed him expendable after rookie receiver Michael Thomas had proved his worth. The Saints have not fallen under fourth place in total offense since 2010.   However, on the other side of the ball, their defense struggled, ranking thirty first in points allowed this season.  To improve their ailing defense, the Saints begrudgingly parted ways with their emerging receiver Cooks this off season.

Patriots 2017: all the more scarier on offense

Brandin Cooks’s incredible speed is his primary weapon to make some of the unbelievable catches that he has hauled in during his three-year tenure in the league.  This clearly aids him in evading the opposing cornerback and creating separation as he runs routes with ease.  Cooks possesses extraordinary awareness when running routes with his ability to place his hands in the perfect position to haul in any pass. Cooks has averaged a 69.5% catch percentage in the 315 times he has been targeted in the NFL, which illustrates his reliability as a receiver, even when he runs deep.

Image result for brandin cooks gif

Versatile Cooks Meets Indomitable Brady

Tom Brady finally has a new a new deep-threat star receiver.   One that already has been drawing comparisons reminiscent of Randy Moss’s  time with the Patriots.  No stranger to working alongside an elite quarterback, Cooks holds praise for Tom, saying, “To play with a guy like that is special. The way that he pays attention to the game, he makes you up your level a little more.” Cooks intends to do whatever he can to quickly become a valuable receiver for Brady, and has proven himself thus far on the practice field.

For the first time in his NFL career, Brandin Cooks will be part of a deeply talented and competitive group of wide receivers. He will likely not face the same workload that he did in New Orleans, with split reps, but he will enjoy being part of such a selfless group. Cooks will presumably assume the role of running go-routes and streaks down the sideline as a deep threat, a duty Chris Hogan possessed last season. Cooks will definitely run many diverse routes as well, but his speed makes him a front-runner to be the offense’s new vertical threat.

Brandin Cooks will show quickly that he will fit into the Patriot’s aggressive offensive scheme and has a chance this season to build off of having two consecutive years with 1100+ yards.

Image result for brandin cooks patriots practice