The New England Patriots offense is not (yet?) putting up numbers like other units in the league
https://www.patriotsfanstore.com/Malcom-Brown-Jersey , but it is still very productive. Maybe more importantly: it has started to click coming out of its week 11 bye. While still not performing at the peak levels its personnel would suggest, the group around quarterback Tom Brady appears to be headed in the right direction. And it better be given the challenge that awaits this week.New England will head to Florida to take on the Miami Dolphins, and it is safe to say that South Beach has not been kind to the team: the Patriots under head coach Bill Belichick are just 8-10 when visiting their division rivals. Whether or not the team’s record improves this year will in a large part depend on the performance of its offense against a Miami defense that has had its moments so far this season but has been wildly inconsistent.Leading up to Sunday’s game we spoke to Kevin Nogle, who covers the Dolphins as the managing editor for our sister site The Phinsider. And when talking to Kevin one thing became clear: Miami’s defense is underperforming. “There are names on this defense like Cameron Wake and Reshad Jones who should be leading a really stout defense,” Kevin said. “Instead, the defense loves to give up huge chunk plays, both through the air and on the ground.”As a result of this, Miami’s defense ranks below average in almost all major statistical categories. The unit is just 29th in the NFL in total yards allowed (4,786) and 18th with 23.3 points given up per game. “Defensive coordinator Matt Burke is taking the brunt of the frustration right now, and it may be rightly so given how badly the team is performing for the most part,” Kevin said about the group’s performance.“There is a ton of talent on the defense, and there are players deserving of Pro Bowl selections
Shaq Mason Color Rush Jersey , like linebacker Kiko Alonso, cornerback Xavien Howard, and safety Jones,” he continued. “But, somehow, the sum of the defense is not equalling the parts they have right now.” However, not all is as bad is it sounds or looks like: the Dolphins are also third in the NFL when it comes to creating turnovers.Miami has 25 takeaways on its r茅sum茅 this year, with 19 interceptions and six fumble recoveries (four of which on defense). A big reason for the productivity when it comes to creating turnovers is cornerback Xavien Howard. Arguably the Dolphins’ best defender — and possibly even best player overall — the third-year man leads the club with seven interceptions and is in the middle of a Pro Bowl-worthy season.“Howard [...] has become a true shut down cornerback who has such great ball-skills that he seems able to go get any pass thrown his direction,” Kevin said about him. And while he will miss Sunday’s game against the Patriots because of a knee injury, his impact on the defense as a whole might still be felt. “It has rubbed off on other players as well, with a turnover leading to more turnovers.”With Howard out, the Dolphins’ other players will have to step up — especially in a secondary that has had its fair share of issues outside of its budding star cornerback. “I will look toward Bobby McCain and Minkah Fitzpatrick
LaAdrian Waddle Jersey , who will likely be the main two cornerbacks,” Kevin said when asked about which players the Patriots and their fanbase need to know about on Miami’s defense.“I would love if they would slide Fitzpatrick on top of Rob Gronkowski for the entire game, taking him out of the offense for the most part — Fitzpatrick will still allow completions as he makes rookie mistakes, but he is really incredible in coverage — but I guess that [...] Jerome Baker is on Gronk and Fitzpatrick is on a receiver,” Kevin continued about the Dolphins’ first-round draft pick who is looking at a bigger role with Howard out.While Miami’s secondary has been up and down this year (up: taking the football away, down: most everything else), the team’s defensive line has mostly just disappointed. “The line is just a big question mark,” Kevin said about the group. “Cameron Wake, Robert Quinn, Andre Branch, and Charles Harris can create pressure, but they are not getting sacks
James Develin Color Rush Jersey , so it is really frustrating.”“In the middle of the line, Akeem Spence has been okay this year — nothing special, but nothing horrible either,” Kevin continued. “Davon Godchaux is playing well as a developing young player. Ziggy Hood and Sylvester Williams are okay as depth players. Really, injuries, especially to William Hayes and Vincent Taylor, have hurt the defensive line. Plus, they love to get penalties, which is never helpful.”All in all, it appears as if New England’ offense might find success against a unit that has not been stout against either the run or the pass. The main thing the Patriots will have to worry about is taking care of the football. They are good in this area as of late, but Miami poses an intriguing challenge for quarterback Tom Brady and the other players touching the football.“It has been a lot of fun,” Kevin said about the Dolphins’ performance when it comes to creating turnovers
Lawrence Guy Color Rush Jersey , “even if the rest of the time the defense is just giving up yards and points.” The New England Patriots played one of their most complete games of the season on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings to improve to 9-3 on the season. Let’s dig a little deeper and analyze some advanced statistics from the Patriots’ 24-10 victory.Pass distributionNFL Next Gen StatsThe Vikings have one of the NFL’s best wide receiver duos in Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs — two legitimate big play threats down the field. However, the Patriots defense did a phenomenal job against the duo and was therefore able to limit Minnesota’s deep-field passing game by forcing 5 incomplete passes (one of which an interception by Duron Harmon) on 5 attempts. As a result of New England’s terrific coverage, quarterback Kirk Cousins had to focus on targeting the short areas.Tom Brady had a similar approach: only 5 of his 32 pass attempts targeted areas further than 10 yards down the field. Despite Minnesota losing Trae Waynes early in the game and fielding Xavier Rhodes after he missed most practices leading into the contest, the Patriots felt not comfortable going deep on a regular basis — outstanding free safety Harrison Smith might be a reason for that. However unspectacular New England’s approach might have been, it worked very well to get the passing offense into a rhythm.Rush directionNFL Next Gen StatsThe Patriots had tremendous success running the football against the Vikings. Overall, the team gained 160 yards on 38 attempts with Sony Michel once again serving as the lead back. The first-round rookie gained most of his yardage running towards the left-side boundary which speaks for the success of tackle Trent Brown and tight end Rob Gronkowski. However, the other areas of the offensive line also were able to generate rushing lanes for Michel.The team’s two other running backs — Rex Burkhead and James White — saw relatively little action compared to Michel but still had some success on the ground. Overall, though, the two were a bit more inconsistent when it comes to gaining yardage as ball carriers.Receiver separationNFL Next Gen StatsNew England’s defensive backs played close coverage all day long as the graph above shows: only one of the team’s primary pass catchers — Aldrick Robison, who was mostly lined up opposite rookie defensive back J.C. Jackson — is the only player with more than three yards of separation when targeted. The rest of Minnesota’s talented receiving corps was covered tightly.The Patriots’ pass catchers were at times wide open against the Vikings as Cordarrelle Patterson and Chris Hogan both had more than five yards of separation — and they and quarterback Tom Brady made it count: the duo combined for four receptions on four targets for 73 yards. New England’s starting options, meanwhile, were covered more closely as the chart above shows.While Josh Gordon had considerable separation for a player of his talent — never more than on his 24-yard touchdown reception — both Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman were covered tightly when targeted. Gronkowski was still able to catch three of the four passes thrown his way for a combined 26 yards. Edelman
https://www.patriotsfanstore.com/David-Andrews-Jersey , however, came up with just three catches for 25 yards on eight targets.Pass protectionPass protection statisticsPlayerSnapsSacksQB HitsHurriesPlayerSnapsSacksQB HitsHurriestwitter.com/JeffPHoweNew England’s blockers had a very good day against a defense that averaged 3.3 sacks per game entering Sunday. With all but one starting lineman going wire-to-wire — left tackle Trent Brown had to leave the field at one point but returned shortly afterward — the unit was magnificent when it comes to slowing down a talented pass rush and generating space in the running game.Pass rush/run defensePass rush/run defense statisticsPlayerSnapsSacksQB HitsHurriesRun stopsPlayerSnapsSacksQB HitsHurriesRun stopstwitter.com/JeffPHoweNew England used creative pass rush packages to confuse not only quarterback Kirk Cousins but also an offensive line that has been inconsistent all year long. The plan worked very well as Minnesota struggled to get into any consistent rhythm while Cousins was pressured on multiple occasions. Once again, Trey Flowers had a huge game and impact — but he is not the only player to stand out.Fellow defensive edge and pass rush specialist Adrian Clayborn also was productive. While he did not register a sack or quarterback hit, he led the team with three hurries. Even though they don’t pop up on the stat sheet like other statistics, hurries and the players producing them can have a profound impact on a passing offense’s play.Pass rush separationNFL Next Gen StatsAs the pass protection and pass rush numbers show, the Patriots were productive in both areas — and this graphic visualizes it even further: while the offensive line did a good job of keeping defenders away from Tom Brady, the defense came consistently close to Kirk Cousins. Clayborn again stands out as linebackers Dont’a Hightower and Kyle Van Noy also had a noticeable day playing downhill.Pass coveragePass coverage statisticsPlayerSnapsTargetsCompletionsYardsTouchdownsInterceptionsRatingPass BreakupPlayerSnapsTargetsCompletionsYardsTouchdownsInterceptionsRatingPass Breakuptwitter.com/JeffPHoweAs noted above, New England’s secondary was outstanding when it comes to limiting deep-field play. The Patriots gave up only two passes of more than 20 yards all day and were generally stout against their respective assignments. Third cornerback J.C. Jackson in particular stands out: the undrafted rookie allowed 5 receptions on 9 targets but gave up a mere 31 yards in the process. All in all, the coverage players were very good against the Vikings when it comes to limiting yards after the catch.
