Taking a closer look via video at three key Patriots plays from Sunday's win over the Chargers, which include:
- Myles Bryant showing his instincts that keep him in the lineup, and Devin McCourty being heads-up;
- Jared Cook giving the Patriots an INT, and Mac Jones being cool under pressure;
- The Patriots offense communicating one thing to the Chargers, but doing something different to clinch the game.
3-4-NE 30 (:48) (Shotgun) J.Herbert pass incomplete short right to K.Allen (M.Bryant).
Justin Herbert and coach Brandon Staley actually had differing opinions on what they anticipated the Patriots would do in coverage, and what they actually did. Staley thought NE didn't show anything new. Herbert seemed perplexed — he said Patriots have not played Cover 2 all year when they actually do play a lot of Tampa 2 coverage — which could show his weakness thus far as an NFL QB from the mental perspective.
The Patriots didn't do anything exotic on this play. Especially with man corners injured, they are not just going to declare when they're going to be in man. This was a typical look for them — two linebackers in the A gap, safeties that could be Cover 2 or Cover 1 robber. Essentially, they are giving Herbert no information before the snap. This is not unusual for the Patriots.
The Patriots look to be playing two-deep, five-under match coverage which is basically man in your zone. Myles Bryant does a great job coming off his responsibility after reading Herbert and making a good hit to dislodge the ball. But Keenan Allen, for what he is paid, should make this catch and hold onto it. Still, good play by Bryant. Love that kid. Showed last year how smart he was. He's just a damn good football player and can play anywhere and do a good job.
And right after the play, Devin McCourty smartly calls for a huddle while his teammates celebrate like they just won the game. He knows the Chargers very well might go for it on fourth down and the defense needs to be ready. The Chargers end up kicking the field goal, which surprised me, but it might have been a tip of the cap to how difficult the Patriots were to score touchdowns against.
(10:20) (Shotgun) J.Herbert pass short right intended for J.Cook INTERCEPTED by A.Phillips at LAC 26. A.Phillips for 26 yards,
TOUCHDOWN.
TWO-POINT CONVERSION ATTEMPT. M.Jones pass to J.Meyers is complete. ATTEMPT SUCCEEDS.
This is what Brandon Staley said about the play after the game:
“It was a check to the flat. It was a miscommunication between the two of them. It was a double-nudge protection where the half back and the tight end are in the flat off their nudges.”
This is what Justin Herbert said:
"Miscommunication. I have to be smarter about that. I have to move on to the next read, but that’s one of those plays that you need to just watch and get better from.”
Great catch by Adrian Phillips to intercept this pass and convert it into a touchdown. Terrible play by the Chargers, specifically Jared Cook and Herbert to a lesser extent.
Staley is saying that both the back and tight end have to chip the end, and then go to the flat. Cook chips the end, but then runs a hook. Herbert threw the ball expecting Cook to turn out into the flat. That did not happen. Herbert is basically saying, "Once I saw Cook had no clue, I should have to thrown it expecting him to actually turn around."
What's further interesting about this sequence — besides Matthew Slater being there to celebrate in 0.5 seconds — is Belichick (wrongfully, in my opinion) wanted the playclock reset for the two-point attempt. He thought the offense, which was delayed by the Patriots' own celebration, was not going to have time to get set for two very important points. He probably thought about calling one of their two remaining timeouts (don't worry, they'd burn both of them in the next 4 minutes), but decided not to.
Was Mac Jones rushed or bothered by any of this? Not one bit. The kid was very cool, went through identifying the Mike and started the motion, took the snap, saw his first option was covered, and then threw a nice anticipatory ball to Jakobi Meyers to grab a seven-point lead.
This is why, and we'll see more in a second, if you just look at Jones and his physical playing ability, you miss so much about why he is and will continue to be the Patriots' QB for some time. A very subtle play like this plays very big for a head coach and earns him even more trust down the line.
2-10-NE 45 (6:38) M.Jones pass short left to J.Meyers to LAC 38 for 17 yards (A.Gilman) [U.Nwosu].
The Patriots do wind up taking their final timeout here because David Andrews and others got into a shoving match with the Chargers after Rhamondre Stevenson was pushed back a little too long. But that breather was probably a good thing because it allowed Josh McDaniels to reflect on a good, pivotal play.
The Patriots purposely want to stay out of third down because that's normally when you get the designer pressure and coverage looks. That's not good for a young QB and neophyte passing offense. Even Staley talked about it.
"What we have to do is stay out of known passing downs, do a better job of staying out of those designer looks where they are setting their third-down defense up to engineer their stuff against your protection scheme," he said. "That’s what we have to do a better job of on early downs, getting in rhythm, staying on schedule, getting the explosive plays, mix in the run and the pass, move in the pocket. If we can do that, we can be a dangerous offensive football team. They have a good defense. Third down is a place you don’t want to be in the NFL. You don’t want to live like that."
It's absolutely no coincidence that the biggest plays on this drive were this second-down throw to Meyers, and the 15-yarder to N'Keal Harry two plays later to get the clock under 5 minutes — that was also on second down.
In any event ... everything the Patriots are communicating to the Chargers says run here, down to the fullback in the backfield, and the tight WR split by Meyers (who blatantly false-started on this play, by the way). Yes, Meyers was wide open on this play, but why?
It's the formation and personnel, which informs the defenders' keys that tells them run, combined with Jones' tremendous play-action fake. The linebackers totally get sucked in, they can't get to their drops to help on Meyers, which leaves him wide open.
The Patriots have run a variation of this play with Cam Newton. It's never this wide open because Newton is terrible at playfakes. One of the many reasons why I wanted Jones over Newton.