Just like the Patriots won't.................Here a Patriots view of that subject.
Howe: No cause for alarm in Patriots' ugly defense vs. Texans
Jeff Howe Monday, August 21, 2017
HOUSTON — Consider the scheme, not the faces.
That should be the overriding takeaway when assessing the Patriots starting defense’s initial performance of the preseason Saturday against the Texans. They allowed a touchdown, a pair of drives inside the 10-yard line and 6 yards per play in the initial two series of the game, which obviously isn’t a resume booster, but there’s no reason to be alarmed with 17 days remaining until the regular-season opener.
Cornerback Malcolm Butler had a forgettable night by allowing four catches for 59 yards and a touchdown in two series, but that is a wild aberration for the Patriots’ best defensive player through the opening month of training camp. Compare that to last season, when he allowed four catches just four times in 19 games. And Butler didn’t surrender more than two catches in any of the final seven outings, including the playoffs.
The Patriots opened the night with one of their favorite looks of the summer. They had a six-man front with defensive linemen Lawrence Guy, Vincent Valentine, Malcom Brown and Kony Ealy in the middle, and linebackers Harvey Langi and Kyle Van Noy on the edges. Linebacker Elandon Roberts and safety Patrick Chung manned the second level, while Butler, cornerback Stephon Gilmore and deep safety Devin McCourty filled out the defense. That was as exotic as it would be, and the Texans began with a 4-yard run from Lamar Miller.
From there on out, the Patriots ran a bland, predictable defense. They’ll save the fun stuff — and there’s plenty of that — for the games that matter, including the Week 3 rematch with the Texans in Foxboro.
Also, remember linebackers Dont’a Hightower and Shea McClellin, and defensive linemen Trey Flowers and Deatrich Wise didn’t see the field. Flowers was in uniform but was held out for undisclosed reasons, while the other three have been dealing with injuries.
At any rate, there were issues for the starters who did see the field, but they were largely correctable. Roberts, whose coverage skills aren’t his strong suit, got tangled in traffic and that allowed Bruce Ellington’s 12-yard catch on the second snap of the game. It’s likely he wouldn’t have been on the field for that play if Hightower and McClellin were healthy.
Later in the opening drive, Van Noy had a rare blitz when he was flagged for roughing quarterback Tom Savage. But with McCourty and Chung lined up directly behind Van Noy and over the Texans’ pair of tight ends, it was obvious that Van Noy was blitzing. That’s a vanilla look for Savage, who still needed a bailout from the officials.
Ellington beat Butler for 37 yards on the ensuing play. First, it was a surprise that Savage made the quick throw because Butler had good leverage in coverage. But ultimately, Butler mistimed the jump — a similar issue occurred Wednesday in practice — and Ellington rewarded Savage’s faith. Butler surely will be tested with similar throws early in the season, so that will be a point of emphasis in practice.
The Patriots were mostly fine on the rest of the opening drive despite rushing four on passing plays. Guy continued his summer surge with a sack after bull-rushing the right guard, and Gilmore’s breakup forced a third-and-17.
The back seven played off coverage due to the down and distance, so Butler relinquished a catch to Ellington by design, before safety Nate Ebner’s missed tackle allowed a short catch to turn into an 11-yard gain. Ebner won’t be on the field in defensive situations in the regular season unless there are at least a couple of injuries with the safety group.
The Texans would have certainly taken the easy three points in a meaningful game, but chose to go for it on fourth-and-6 from the 8-yard line, and Guy halted Miller for 2 yards. Credit Ealy on that play, too. He opened with a wide rush, recognized the draw and reverted to his run gap to help in support. Those are the types of plays that will keep Ealy on the field.
There were some defensive substitutions for the second series. The Patriots opened with a four-man front of Langi, Branch, Valentine and Caleb Kidder, who appears to be a longshot to make the 53-man roster. Ryan Griffin then beat linebacker David Harris for a 6-yard catch. Harris, who surely will be protected in coverage situations, stuffed Miller for no gain on the next play, showing that his strength remains as a downhill player.
The Texans converted on the ensuing third-and-4 because Savage had enough time to stare into the solar eclipse before delivering a 15-yard pass to Stephen Anderson. But the four-man rush included Langi, Valentine, Adam Butler and Kidder. Butler is a practice-squad candidate like Kidder, and with standard health across the board, Langi and Valentine are still backups despite their nice camps.
Langi, who had a QB hit and a pressure in the first three series while other starters were in the game, made a couple of mistakes in the second drive. His delayed blitz was a step late, which allowed Savage to hit Tyler Ervin for 6 yards, and Langi later committed a hands-to-the-face penalty to set up first-and-goal from the 4 instead of third-and-7 from the 9. Butler then got beat by Jaelen Strong for a 2-yard score on a double move. Butler didn’t allow a TD after Week 12 last season.
So, the contingent of starters didn’t have an ideal start to the preseason, but this vanilla-based scheme won’t be used when the games actually count. The Patriots had no desire to put the good stuff on film in Houston.
Worse than sniffing glue.
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