'Exhausting' experience for Patriots defense against Deshaun Watson

FOXBOROUGH — Trey Flowers was beat.

Following Sunday’s win over the Texans, the pass rusher sat at his locker for the better part of 20-plus minutes after he got dressed, gathering his strength. After all, spending the better part of the last three hours chasing Deshaun Watson will tire a man out.

“Exhausting,” defensive end Deatrich Wise said when asked about what it was like to chase Watson all afternoon. “It was exhausting.”

Flowers, Wise and the rest of the Patriots’ defense spent Sunday afternoon trying to do whatever they could to contain the rookie out of Clemson. Watson, who was bidding to become the first rookie quarterback to ever beat the Patriots at Gillette Stadium, nearly pulled it off, going 22-for-33 for 301 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. New England got to Watson twice, as Flowers and Cassius Marsh came away with sacks. But it took a Duron Harmon pick as time ran out to save New England.

Overall, this was not the finest hour for Matt Patricia’s unit: the Texans came into the game 30th in points allowed and 32nd in total yards and ended up with 33 points and 417 yards. The Houston offense made the requisite plays for the first three-plus quarters, and posted a whopping six plays of 20 or more yards.

Some of that came down to Watson’s escapability. The nimble rookie was dynamic, but with a smart and sensible style. He was able to make plays in the pocket, but he also did an excellent job when things broke down. He kept his head, found the seams and moved the ball downfield. In the end, he almost became the first rookie quarterback to beat Bill Belichick and the Patriots since Geno Smith did it in 2013.

“That dude is a slippery quarterback,” marveled defensive lineman Alan Branch. “He was able to work the pocket really well, and when big plays needed to be made, he somehow figured out a way to make them. He made eight yards when he needed seven, or made the right pass when he slipped out of a couple of sack opportunities. It was really frustrating as a defensive front just seeing that they had him right in their grasp, and not quite being able to finish.”

“That guy is going to be a great quarterback,” said veteran safety Devin McCourty. “He played really well today and really made it tough for us in certain moments. I mean, he scrambled left one time and threw all the way across his body back to the right — which everyone says you shouldn’t do — and he threw a perfect pass.”

You can blame some of the struggles on the fact that New England was missing linebacker Dont’a Hightower, its’ most stalwart defender. But there’s also the fact that the Patriots had seen Watson in joint camp sessions, as well as the preseason. The overall skill set — especially when you’re talking about the escapability — shouldn’t have been that much of a surprise. And yet, he was able to break contain and run free on several occasions on Sunday.

“It does get frustrating at times,” Wise said when asked about defending Watson. “You see that you have him in vision, and all of a sudden he’s somewhere else and everybody is hopping over each other. It kind of gets frustrating. But you just have to be more technically sound.”

Bottom line? The issues with containment are a concern. The gap discipline was a concern. And the fundamental breakdowns in defending a quarterback like Watson will be an even bigger focus this week, as Carolina’s Cam Newton will be coming to town. (After the game, Malcolm Butler called Watson an “up-and-coming Cam Newton.”)

“We’ve got a lot of work,” said McCourty, “because next week, I mean, that guy coming in here can do that better than anyone in the NFL.”