The biggest issue the Patriots needed to address on defense heading into this season was the run defense.
Basically, the Patriots were terrible on the first two downs — the worst in the league — and that set the course for the entire unit to have issues getting off the field. It doesn't matter how good your secondary is, if the offense is in manageable yardage on second and third downs, every defense is going to have issues pressuring and covering.
It was no surprise then, that the Patriots went out and spent heavily on their front seven in the offseason. They brought in linebackers Matthew Judon and Kyle Van Noy, re-signed Lawrence Guy, and invested in nose tackle Davon Godchaux and end Henry Anderson.
With Washington debuting a revamped offensive line on Thursday night, we figured the Patriots would dominate up front. We were mistaken.
The Patriots had multiple issues up front against Washington — mostly with nose tackles Godchaux (three blown gaps) and Carl Davis (one), and ends Montravius Adams (two) and Akeem Spence (one) — and you figure that unit will have a long week of corrections.
What were the issues? A look through video analysis before we get into the gamechart, position ratings and 3 up/3 down:
The biggest issue was the nose tackles getting shoved out of their gaps. The entire Patriots defense, especially when they're playing a straight old school 3-4, is predicated on the defensive linemen holding up against blockers to create room for the linebackers to make plays. On multiple occasions, Godchaux and Davis were shoved out of their gaps, leaving huge holes for Washington to run through.
I'm surprised that Godchaux, who came from Brian Flores and the Dolphins, wasn't better than this to start. But the good news is there were obvious corrections made between series and he improved as the game went on.
But in general, this was a very sloppy game from a defense that has be the backbone of this team if they're going to be successful this season. Out of the starters, Matthew Judon (tackle for loss, pass breakup, knockdown) was ready to go, but the rest were not.
Expect this unit, after a week of coaching, to be much better against the Eagles. I imagined Bill Belichick was not very happy during the film review.
Here are the defensive positional ratings against Washington:
Defensive line (2 out of 5)
Judon was impactful and the second unit outside of Adams did a better job in the second half, but overall this was a very sloppy performance. ... Tashawn Bower (sack, hurry) played much better in the game than he did in practice. ... Curious decision to start Spence over Henry Anderson, who looked great again. ... Adams had two hurries (one on the interception) and a stuff, but he needs to be better in the run game because Christian Barmore is going to be the better pass rusher when he gets back. ... Of the interior linemen, Nick Thurman might have been the most consistent player.
Linebackers (2.5 out of 5)
Not much out of this unit, which happens when the defensive line doesn't do its job. ... Didn't even seem like Dont'a Hightower was on the field. Again, not his fault. ... Bentley is still a step behind on a lot of reads. ... Harvey Langi had a game to forget with three missed tackles. This isn' the Jets. ... Patriots brought eight pressures in this game and they were not overly effective.
Secondary (2 out of 5)
Kyle Dugger looked like a different player. On the practice field, he's confident and makes plays. On Thursday night, he was tentative and error-prone. ... Didn't have a big problem with the backshoulder catch he allowed, but that's the type of play that veteran film study breaks up in the regular season because of route recognition. Had a miscue in zone coverage. Biggest error was his blown contain on 3rd and 1 when Taylor Heinicke scrambled for a first down. Not only was Dugger way to aggressive initially, but he lost sight of the ball and had his back to Heinicke. That play was not good. ... On the first completion of the game, Jalen Mills opened up his hips to the boundary, and then couldn't recover. Again, just goes to show the overall sloppiness of the Patriots' defense.
(Adam Richins for BSJ)
THREE UP
Matthew Judon: The tackle for a loss was a blown block, but the other two plays were excellent.
Josh Uche: Was productive in a second team/sub package role with two hurries.
Ronnie Perkins: Missed a tackle but two hurries and half run stuff was good production for the rookie.
THREE DOWN
Harvey Langi: Missing three tackles in the second half of the first preseason game is a straight line to getting cut.
Kyle Dugger: Had three forgettable plays. This team needs him to get going if he's going to start at strong safety. He's better than he showed.
Davon Godchaux: No. 1 tenant for a Patriots nose tackle — Thou shall not be moved easily, even by double teams. Time to step it up.
