The Patriots have been blitzing more, which I’ve been asking for. The problem? They’re not getting home as often, which created a nice, cushy pocket for Derek Carr. While nobody’s idea of a franchise quarterback, Carr does play pretty well when clean. He was largely squeaky clean on Sunday.
The second part of this defensive equation was what had to happen on the back end without Christian Gonzalez, who had already established himself as a trusted chess piece, drawing and handling essential assignments. Not flawless. But good and promising. Indeed, one of the most disappointing aspects of this young season is that we don’t see the continued development.
Against the Saints, the Pats felt it necessary - understandably so - to play more zone because they didn’t have the horses to play man-to-man. That led to the defense being sometimes exposed by a talented collection of wide receivers (wouldn’t that be nice?). Michael Thomas, Chris Olave, and Rasheed Shaheed are smart; they were able to find soft spots in the secondary - which there will be in zone, especially when the QB can sit back there and pick and choose.
Yes, Matthew Judon is missed. But it is what it is (remember when that saying was en vogue?). If he comes back, it’ll be December (likely), and who knows if there’s still a season by that point. Certainly, it’s not looking promising at the moment. Josh Uche had a few moments in the game but finished with just one quarterback hurry. That’s not enough. Rookie Keion White had a day to forget. He's a kid. It will happen again. But I had the Pats' pressure rate at around 20%. After a similar performance last week. Not good enough. And while the Raiders aren’t imposing, and Jimmy G has been known to serve up a gift or three (it pains me to write it, but the truth is never mean), Josh Allen looms. He has owned Belichick and the Pats for several years now. (As a side note, as this season teeters, how many Pats fans sell off their tickets to members of the Bills mafia?). Remember, the Saints hadn’t scored 20 or more points in either of their first four games until they came to Foxborough. They also stunk on wheat, rye, and pumpernickel in the red zone. Both of those facts were refuted against the Pats.
Anyway, as Warner Wolf used to say, “Let’s go to the videotape.