A week ago, we were rightfully raving about the Patriots' defensive plan against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.
It was vintage Bill Belichick. They had a tremendous plan — create a hard edge taking on lead blockers, with an overhang defender to double up on the edge — to make the Ravens have to run everything through their weakened offensive line, make them fight you in a telephone booth, and make Jackson have to win with his arm.
Sure, the weather helped, but the defense was tremendous in the 23-17 victory.
The Patriots had their mojo back.
So much for that.
Apparently, Belichick gave the defensive coaches the week off after the Ravens game because the exact opposite happened: instead of throwing a curveball at Deshaun Watson and the Texans, the Patriots rolled over, played dead and basically went with the, "Hopefully he's off and throws us one or two," plan.
That was it. How else do you explain 13 — 13! — three-man rushes. The Patriots only sent pressure — against a bad line missing both tackles, including their far-and-away best player in Larmey Tunsil — three times (6.8 percent).
You'd figure that sort of pass-rush plan would include something else with it, like some creative coverages. Maybe a trap coverage to fool Watson in a key spot. Maybe a robber doubling at just the right time. While we did see Jason McCourty play some deep safety to allow Devin McCourty a chance to get back to his old third-down robber role (and they might now be showing their age with a lot of miles and plays this season), there was very little of that. Just a plain old mix of zone and man, which was further a problem because the Texans mostly spread the Patriots out and picked them apart.
It was a pathetic plan all around that largely gave the players no chance. You got the feeling watching the second half on film that some of the players were saying to themselves, "What the hell are we doing here?"
And they would be right to question the plan. They were sent into a gunfight with a bunch of rocks.
The plan was so bad that I pinned six plays, including two touchdowns, on no individual players. They simply had no chance to make a play. You know how the Patriots routinely put their players in the best position to succeed? This was one of those games where that took a week off as well.
Routinely, Watson had 3 seconds or more to throw the ball (anything over 2.5 seconds is a win for the offense). On Keke Coutee's touchdown from the 6-yard line, Jonathan Jones was asked to cover for 4.5 seconds. That's impossible. Coutee ran from the right side to the left and then came back. He could have made a sandwich while he was at it.
That's from the 6-yard line, where the defense has the advantage because the field is compressed!
KEKE COUTEE LIVES!
(And what a pass pickup by Duke Johnson!!!) pic.twitter.com/7Jda1oxTAu
— Rivers McCown (@riversmccown) November 22, 2020
