PHILADELPHIA — We interrupt the deserved consternation over the Patriots offense (what, you're surprised about its ineffectiveness?) to let you in on a little secret.
The days of Tommy & The Boys running the Flying Elvises are long over — that started in last year's Super Bowl. I know it's strange. I know it feels about as comfortable as trying to fit into the jeans you wore in college. It's gross, unwanted and a pain in the rear. And it's no fun for anyone to watch the great Tom Brady operate an offense like Mark Sanchez (and from Brady's postgame press conference, he's definitely not loving it either).
But due to injuries, personnel mistakes and other roster priorities, this is who these Patriots are now. Isaiah Wynn is not riding in on his oft-injured, undersized horse this week to suddenly make this group look like the 2007 Patriots (he'll certainly help ... some).
Get used to it. It's time to embrace winning ugly on offense, but beautiful on defense.
Because this Patriots defense got hit in the face early again, but then rebounded to throw an absolute blanket over the Eagles in New England's hum-drum 17-10 victory on Sunday night.
Do you realize what those Patriots did from that point on?
After a first quarter-plus that felt a lot like the Ravens game — Eagles: 123 total yards; Patriots 29 — with Philadelphia leading 10-0, the Patriots threw a shutout from then on out. Until the Eagles were in desperation mode against a softer pass defense late in the game, the Patriots allowed 68 yards on 30 plays.
Sixty-eight yards on thirty plays!
That's an average of 2.3 yards per play. For two and a half quarters. Against a football team that didn't have Rutgers on the side of its helmet (sorry, alma mater, had to do it).
That is some damn good ball against an offense that, yes, had injury problems of their own, but featured Doug Pederson, former wunderkind Carson Wentz, two dynamite tight ends (can you spare one? Please?) and a very good offensive line.
"They had a really good plan. They always do," said Wentz, who was as frenetic in the pocket as Jimmy Garoppolo against the Seahawks. "That’s a really good defense, so hats off to them. They did a great job taking away some things we wanted to do. It’s frustrating because we came out pretty hot. We didn’t convert the first drive, but got three points and then went down and scored, and that was it. That was it for our offense. Hats off to them, they played a great defensive game."
How did the Patriots turn things around? It started up front with Danny Shelton and Lawrence Guy. While they weren't primarily at fault for the Calamity in Charm City (that, was the linebackers), it obviously irked the big fellas in the middle of the defense. When you're trusted to stuff the run — and you're, really, the only defensive line run stuffers — and the Ravens run all over you, you're going to take some offense.
Consider the Big Fellas angry.
Shelton tied for the team lead — something you never, ever see with an interior defensive lineman — with unsung Terrence Brooks (seven tackles and a strip sack). Guy was all over the Eagles' backfield, and when he wasn't beating blocks, he was holding them up for others to make plays.
"Those guys have been playing great all season," said linebacker Elandon Roberts. "Everything on defense starts with being strong in the middle, and they were balling. ... I can't say enough about Danny and how he responded last year, and then coming back. Guy has been one of our best players all along."
Said Devin McCourty: "Usually when the guys up front play well ... they did a good job today of handling the run and not getting much help from the secondary. I think we have some really good players on our front seven. I think we have the mindset that we know we have to stop the run. You know, you go out there two weeks ago and play bad against the run, we knew Philly was going to come here and try to run the ball and see if we fixed that. It’s going to be the same thing next week when we play Dallas. They’re going to test us in the run game, see if they can get some things that happened two weeks ago and early in the season. We know the key is trying to stop the run and make a team one-dimensional and then we are able to get in our different packages. That’s going to be a week-to-week thing of trying to stop the run.”
Then, of course, there was the usual blanket coverage provided by the sterling New England secondary. The plan and great coverage had Wentz pumping, ducking and scatter shooting all night long.
"The run game probably wasn’t as effective from (10-0) on out," said neutered Eagles tight end Zach Ertz. "Obviously, we had a 16-play drive, scored a touchdown on a throw to [TE] Dallas [Goedert], but from then on, it was kind of rough sledding. They are the number one defense in the league for a reason. They are extremely well-coached, and they don’t beat themselves."
Oh, and don't forget about Rocket Man Jake Bailey, who was the player of the game with his eight punts for an average of 47.6, and a net of 46.0. That's ridiculously good. The Eagles started five of their drives inside their own 13-yard line. Imagine Brady & Co. functioning on those long fields time after time.
“Jake is a rookie, and the way he’s been punting the ball all year is awesome," McCourty said. "We have to continue to use that as a weapon, and understand how good those guys (on punt coverage) are to just go and do that each week. When you have talent like that, the team is going to lean on you to do that.”
Bill Belichick Live Postgame Press Conference: https://t.co/9nKvZdHkvW
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) November 18, 2019
Tom Brady Live Postgame Press Conference: https://t.co/aetSuHi96e
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) November 18, 2019
