Grading the 2019 Patriots III: In just two years, Belichick completely revamped passing defense

Before an NFL team turns the page on the previous season and moves forward to the next, they put the team and their players under a microscope to see what worked, what didn’t, and what needs to be changed/altered to make progress in 2020.

Obviously, we have no idea what the Patriots’ internal grading looks like, and we don’t anticipate Bill Belichick opening up his grade book to the public anytime soon. So, we’re left to do our homework with some assistance from people who have knowledge of how the Patriots view things.

So we’ll start our dissection (which is a homage to my mentor, Bob McGinn) with an overview of the team and positions, and then we’ll move onto individual player grades/assessments. Finally, we’ll conclude with our imitated but never duplicated offseason depth chart coded for performance and contract status, and with a comprehensive analysis of team needs headed into the ’20 offseason.

Here's the 2018 version.

Part I: Grading the 2019 Patriots: Patriots were better overall, but tilted too much to the defense; Brady improved
Part II — Team grades for passing offense, rushing offense.
Now: Part III — Team grades for passing defense, rushing defense, special teams.
Next: Part IV — Team grades for personnel moves, coaching and overall.
Finally: Part V—Individual offensive, Part VI—Defensive grades.

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And with that, let’s get started…

PASSING DEFENSE: A-plus

[table id=421 /]

Patriots posted a 62.8 defensive passer rating, which was the best in the league and the best under Bill Belichick since 2003. What's amazing is just two years ago, the Patriots posted their worst-ever DPI under Belichick . ... Patriots also ranked first in DVOA (-32.2%). Two seasons ago, the Patriots were 21st in passing defensive DVOA. ... Patriots allowed an NFL-best 56.5 completion percentage. New England was second to San Francisco in passing yards per game (180.4) and play (5.38). In 2018, the Patriots were 22nd (246.4) and 8th (6.52). In 2017, they were 30th and 21st. ... Patriots had 47 sacks, tied for 7th in the league. They were also 7th in sack percentage (8.0). They were 30th in 2018 (5.23%). ... ProFootballFocus.com ranked the Patriots as the No. 1 pass coverage unit (92.7). The pass rush was ranked 13th (71.8). The Patriots were ranked second (92.5) and 27th (65.4) in 2018. ... Patriots had a league-best 25 interceptions. It was their best mark since posting the same in 2010. The best was 29 in 2003. ... New England allowed 42 passes of 20 yards or more, sixth-best in the league. The Patriots allowed just five pass plays of 40 yards or more, tied for second. ... Including the postseason and two plays where penalties tacked on yardage, the Patriots allowed 45 pass plays of at least 20 yards. Stephon Gilmore led the team with nine, followed by Jonathan Jones with seven. Four of Gilmore's nine plays happened in the season finale loss to the Dolphins. ... Kyle Van Noy led the team with 41 totals QB pressures and eight sacks, and Jamie Collins (26.5) was the only other player above 20. ... Among players with at least 100 pass rushes, Deatrich Wise, Jamie Collins, Michael Bennett, and Van Noy led the team in pressure percentage. ... The Patriots allowed just three 100-yard receivers: Golden Tate (6 for 102), Cole Beasley (7 for 108) and DeVante Parker (8 for 137). ... The Patriots didn't allow a 300-yard passer until the final game of the season (Ryan Fitzpatrick, 320 yards).

[table id=422 /]

RUSHING DEFENSE: B-minus

[table id=424 /]

Allowed 108 rushing yards per game and 4.22 yards per carry, to rank 11th and 16th respectively. It was their best per-carry mark since 2016 (3.9). ... New England's DVOA was -14.0% and that was sixth-best in the league. That was their best since '16 (-23.3%, 5th). ... Patriots ranked 13th in explosive run rate allowed (10 percent). ... New England allowed five 100-yard rushers: Frank Gore (17 for 109), Nick Chubb (20 for 131), Mark Ingram (15 for 115), Joe Mixon (25 for 136) and Derrick Henry (34 for 182). ... John Simon (20.7), Ja'Whaun Bentley (16.1), Elandon Roberts (14.4), Danny Shelton (12.4) and Lawrence Guy (11.6) led the teams in tackles per snap played. ... Jamie Collins (40), Guy (32), Van Noy (30), and Hightower (28) led in PFF's run stop stat. ... Guy (20.5), Shelton (14.5) and Van Noy (13.5) led in BSJ's Stuffed Runs (1-yard or less outside of short yardage). ... Patriots missed 99 tackles in 17 games. Collins (16), Hightower (10), Gilmore (7) and Devin McCourty (7) led the team. Patriots missed 74 tackles in 19 games in 2018.

[table id=423 /]

SPECIAL TEAMS: A-minus.

Patriots finished third for the second time in three years in Rick Gosselin's comprehensive special-team rankings. ... New England was top five in: inside the 20 punts (2nd), opponent punting (2nd), opponent net punting (4th), points scored (tied for 2nd), blocked kicks (tied for 1st), takeaways (tied for 2nd). ... Patriots had just 13 special teams penalties, which was tied for third-fewest. ... Patriots had a field-goal percentage of 79.4 (opponents 89.5) and made 86.7 percent of extra points (opponents 96 percent). Patriots were 84.4 and 98 the previous season. In 2018, it was 92.5 and 95.7. ... As a rookie, Jake Bailey posted a 45.0 average, good for 22nd in the league. His 38 punts inside the 20 were tied for 2nd behind Brett Kern. His 9.3 touchback percentage was 29th. ... Matthew Slater, Brandon Bolden, Nate Ebner, Chase Winovich and Shilique Calhoun all played over 50 percent of the special teams snaps. ... Slater (8), Ebner (7), Bolden (6) and Winovich (5) led in tackles.