In the losses to the Seahawks and Jets, the Patriots' team defense has basically been a mess.
In the last two weeks (pending Monday's two games), the Patriots' defense ranks:
30th in Expected Points Added
31st in Total Pass EPA
31st in Pass Throw EPA
26th net passing yards (passing yards minus sack yards) per pass attempt (7.3)
28th in first downs allowed (45)
29th in passing first downs allowed (27)
31st in completion percentage allowed (75.9)
28th in allowed rushes of 5+ yards (42.3%)
One of the biggest issues against Geno Smith and Aaron Rodgers was the Patriots' lack of pass rush discipline, something that was harped on incessantly when Bill Belichick was here.
"What I would say is that we did a poor job keeping them in the pocket, and that comes down to discipline," Jerod Mayo said last week.
"As a whole, we have to do a better job keeping the quarterback in the pocket. That was one of the last reminders, even with [Aaron] Rodgers, was ‘let's keep this guy in the pocket.’ He had free roam too many times. We'll get that corrected."
Defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington saw the same thing.
Yeah, we just got to be more disciplined, definitely," he said. "That's one of the things that we need to clean up, especially from the past two weeks. We just got to make sure that we communicate right, we're communicating our rush right, and then we just got to do a good job of just knowing our assignment and doing our job.
"It boils down to being disciplined. So I got to do a better job just making sure that we are disciplined within our rush, making sure we contain the quarterback. Because, again, that's not an X's and O's deal, that's something where we beat ourselves by not containing the quarterback and really tackling."
The numbers definitely bear out the struggles. Over the past two weeks, no team allowed more completions (12) or passing yards (140) outside the pocket. In fact, Smith and Rodgers combined to go 12 for 12 for 140 yards, 2 passing first downs, 0 sacks and a passer rating of 115.3 outside the pocket). The league average was 52% completions, 39.6 passing yards, 1.2 sacks and a 76.1 passer rating.
That was just passing. Smith and Rodgers also killed the Patriots running the ball as well. Rodgers rushed 3 times for 18 yards and 2 first downs (tied for 6th in the league). Smith rushed 5 times for 8 yards with 3 first downs (tied for 2nd in Week 2).
That's 5 first downs rushing by the QBs, and 2 passing first downs out of the pocket.
That's shameful, and probably the biggest reason why the Patriots didn't close out the Seahawks game in Week 2, and didn't stay closer against Rodgers and the Jets.
A look at the most problematic plays against the Jets with analysis:
The question is, what's the problem? As long as I've been covering the team, containing the quarterback has not been an issue - outside a play here or there.
For the Jets game, you could definitely see the Patriots entering the game without much worry about Rodgers fleeing the pocket - in his first two games, he didn't show any willingness to do that. And he is 40 years old. But even Mayo said that was a point of emphasis coming into this game.
So you would then look at coaching. The Patriots are running basically the same scheme that they have for years, with Mayo as head coach and Covington as the playcaller. Before this season, Covington ran the defensive line and I thought he was excellent - his group played with discipline, routinely made an impact and showed improvement.
With Covington bumped up, Mayo hired former Packers defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery for the same position, and brought in former Giants and Ravens outside linebackers coach Drew Wilkins to fill the same role here.
Montgomery lasted eight years in Green Bay under various defensive coordinators, and was well-liked by colleagues. Most of the issues with his Packers group came against the run, but there were some rumblings during the offseason that some of the Patriots players disagreed with the techniques Montgomery was teaching them, that it ran counter to what has been taught for years in the building.
Wilkins is a disciple of Wink Martindale, the former Giants and Ravens defensive coordinator who is now at Michigan. That scheme was known for being overly aggressive and sometimes that lacked discipline. Wilkins also didn't get high marks for his work in Baltimore and New York, according to league sources.
It's only been two games, so it's hard to make sweeping judgments, but it makes you wonder if the coaches are all on the same page - since the players obviously have not been the past two weeks.
Here are the positional ratings against the Jets:
DEFENSE
Defensive line (1 out of 5)
If you think the offense was bad in this game - the defense was worse. .... There were definitely a lot of impactful plays, mostly from Anfernee Jennings (six), Keion White (three) and Joshua Uche (three), but this was one of the worst performances I've ever seen out of a Patriots defensive front. This group had 15 of the defense's 39 minus plays: 5 blown gaps, 6 failed edges, missed 3 tackles and one dumb roughing penalty from Uche. ... With more film, opponents understand how limited the Patriots are in the middle of their defense at all three levels and are making a living there. Davon Godchaux has been solid for the most part, but he was easily reached a few times in this game, allowing blockers to get out on the linebackers. Keion White is being targeted when he has to play at DE in the 3-4, which isn't really fair to him. He needs to be on two feet being impactful. In the words of one league scout, Daniel Ekuale, Eric Johnson and Jeremiah Pharms - the players tasked with filling in for Christian Barmore - "look like the practice squad players they are." They aren't keeping blockers off the linebackers.
Linebackers (1 out of 5)
Ja'Whaun Bentley, you are missed. Jahlani Tavai and Raekwon McMillan combined to miss five tackles, and allowed 9 of 9 passing for 86 yards, 50 after contact. ... Tavai did some really nice work in the run game, but he really struggled in coverage (5 for 5, 42 yards). TE Tyler Conklin faked Tavai out of his shorts on a 22-yarder over the middle. To this point in the season, Tavai ranks 36th out of 46 linebackers with at least 60 snaps (12 of 13 for 107 yards). Tavai missed a team-leading three tackles for ... Raekwon McMillan looks a bit lost with more playing time. This team needs Sione Takitaki and his speed off the PUP list in the worst way.
Secondary (1 out of 5)
This group had three plus plays, two by Jonathan Jones (Kyle Dugger in the end zone was the other). They had 16 minus plays as Rodgers picked them apart with next to no real pass rush pressure (18%) - some of the Patriots "pressure" was just Rodgers moving into areas the Patriots' voided with their terrible pass rush. ... Christian Gonzalez had some good cover snaps against Garrett Wilson, but this was a long night for him (he was bailed out by Rodgers missing Wilson deep/Wilson moving toward the snap, and lack of timing between Rodgers and Wilson overall. ... Dugger gave up two 20-plus receptions and missed a tackle on a touchdown. ... The middle of the secondary is also an issue being targeted by opponents when linebackers or safeties are the middle linebacker in Cover 2/Tampa 2. ... Patriots played 63% zone coverage, 67% in the first half. Cover 3 (23%), Quarters (18.6) and Cover 2 (18.6) were most prevalent.
ZERO UP
Wanted to say Anfernee Jennings due to him being the most impactful player, but he allowed a touchdown and Rodgers to gain 11 yards on a key third down.
THREE DOWN
Edge rushers: The lack of rush discipline against Rodgers was embarrassing.
Middle-of-field pass defense: Rodgers was 9 of 10 for 124 yards down the middle.
Christian Gonzalez: He wasn't outclassed or anything and had some really good reps against Wilson, but this was a rough outing capped by those back-to-back plays in Wilson's touchdown (which was good coverage, just Rodgers being better).