When it comes to Patriots' plans to defend Marcus Mariota, what can we learn from the last time they met?

FOXBOROUGH -- What can we learn from the Patriots 2015 game against the Titans when it comes to defending Marcus Mariota? While some of the names have changed, look for the schemes to stay the same come Saturday's divisional playoff game.


1. The idea of a spy wasn’t really utilized by New England. While it was clear at times that the role of the middle or inside linebackers were to move with Mariota (a role that usually went to Jerod Mayo or Jamie Collins), it was fairly evident that there wasn’t anyone who was necessarily assigned to “spy” the young quarterback. With that being said, one guy who could have an expanded role is Marquis Flowers, the athletic young linebacker who did well earlier in the season against mobile quarterbacks like Tyrod Taylor. He's surprisingly fast and agile, and has shown a nice ability when it comes to containment. But don’t expect the Patriots to exclusively lean on one second-level defender to attempt to slow down Mariota. Gap discipline, containment, not having your edge rushers get too far upfield and staying cognizant of the fact that he can keep plays alive long after most pocket passers have gone down were the defensive priorities for the front seven that afternoon, and will be the same this time.

(One thing that's important to remember when it comes to pressuring the quarterback this weekend: according to our pals at Pro Football Focus, Mariota threw 13 of his 15 interceptions from a clean pocket in the regular season, tied for the most picks in the league without any pressure. Overall, Mariota had a passer rating of 78.2 when kept clean, the fifth-lowest in the NFL. On the other hand, Mariota had a passer rating of 82.7 under pressure, the third-highest in the NFL. He threw just two interceptions under pressure all season.)

2. The Patriots employed a single-high safety for 14 of Mariota’s 21 snaps in 2015, including the first eight defensive snaps of the game. (On three occasions where they went with two deep safeties against Mariota, the Titans were facing 3rd and long situations.It also appeared they started to go to a pair of deep safeties after taking a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.) The emphasis was clear — stack the line and have him try and beat you throwing the ball. The results were predictable, as the youngster went 3-for-6 for 32 yards, with his longest connection being a 19-yarder before he left the game in the second quarter because of a right knee injury.

3. Speaking of safeties, in 2015, Patrick Chung was utilized almost exclusively as the tight end stopper, as he lined up frequently against Tennessee’s Delanie Walker (two catches, five targets, 64 yards). Given what we've seen from Chung since then, look for more of the same in (mostly) man coverage on Saturday night. One other note about the safeties: Jordan Richards played a whopping 50 percent of the defensive snaps against the Titans, as New England used a three-safety set for much of the time Mariota was in the contest. (Nate Ebner even got some defensive snaps that afternoon as New England leaned on its safety depth all day.) Could be another big Richards game this time around as well.

4. The one commonality that every young quarterback who has ever surprised Bill Belichick and the Patriots in these types of situations is that they’ve all had the good sense to put the game in the hands of their offensive difference-makers. (For more on young QBs who have been successful against Belichick, check out this story from before they faced Deshaun Watson early in the regular season.) To that point, regardless of Mariota’s dynamic skill set, he needs to be able to get a near-transcendent performance out of those around him on Saturday. In 2015, he didn’t get that, as Antonio Andrews rushed for 45 mostly meaningless yards. Dorial Green-Beckham had 113 receiving yards, but the bulk of his production came in the second half after the Patriots had taken a 24-3 lead and New England was more than willing to trade yards for clock at that juncture. Whether that’s Derrick Henry or Eric Decker or Walker or a combination of all three, Mariota needs a lot of help from those around him if he wants to pull the upset this time around.

5. Rewatching the game, it was stunning to see just how much the New England front seven has changed in the last two seasons. Part of it is because of injury (Dont’a Hightower), part is because of retirement (Mayo, Rob Ninkovich), and a large portion of it is because so many guys have since moved on (Collins, Akiem Hicks, Jabaal Sheard, Chandler Jones). Again, some of the schemes will look familiar when compared against the 2015 contest. But when it comes to defensive personnel up front, there’s very little carryover from that game to this one.