Week five of the "Mike's Musings" column. It will appear here every week during the season, and I will have my final say on the previous week's game, sharing observations, opinions, and frustrations (there are lots).
The Patriots' defense has a lot of talkers but not enough doers through four weeks. Saying you're pissed off is what they know you want to hear - and I'm sure anyone with pride on that side of the ball feels that way - but if they don't back it up with the right actions, then it's just empty words. Of all the areas I thought the Pats would have issues with this season, a defense that is having a problem doing its job is not one of them, and that's even after the injuries to Barmore and Bentley and the trade of Judon.
"Sometimes, when you try to make a play, you go outside of the scheme," Jabril Peppers said the day after the 30-13 loss in SF. "You just have to stay with the technique, the fundamentals, and make the plays that come to you. You're not going to make the play every time. Sometimes, your job might be to set the edge. Sometimes, it might be to take on the double team, etcetera, for the betterment of the defense. That's really all it is – knowing the schematics, especially when things are going fast and you're tired. Things that are correctable."
Davon Godchaux was less politically correct (if you will) about some of his teammates going rogue on defense. His tone wasn't angry or harsh. It bordered more on acceptance, although I can't believe that someone who played as hard and well as he did Sunday would be shy about just letting this sort of on-field behavior slide by without saying something.
"Just being honest, we got some guys just kind of being, like, kind of selfish, because guys, I get it, I mean, we're down," he said to WEEI Monday. "Guys want to make plays. I get it. But everybody got to play as - I'm talking about defense - everybody has to play as one of 11. And everybody got to sacrifice to do what's best for the team."
The Pats managed to be a top-10 defense by just about any overarching metric you wish to apply (9th in DVOA) and did so without Christian Gonzalez and Judon for the better part of the season. They re-upped a bunch of those players - Kyle Dugger, Jahlani Tavai, Josh Uche, Anfernee Jennings, and Peppers - expecting more of the same, if not even more, under the new regime. They held the Bengals to 10 points in that opening-day win. Since then, they haven't stopped the pass, consistently set the edge, and, Sunday, gave up a ton of explosive pass plays. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
This is on the players first and foremost - I know they're not being coached that way - but if they aren't going to do it the way Jerod Mayo and DeMarcus Covington want - and trust me, they've made it clear over and over that this is a player problem more than a scheme problem - then it's fair to wonder just how effective the coaches are at their jobs as well.
ON THAT NOTE
In week two of this NFL season, the Saints scored 44 points in Dallas. One of the things that jumped out about that game was how offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak used 12 personnel to keep the Cowboys in their heavier base defensive alignments for most of the game. While they only dropped back 17 times, they still had three pass plays of 39 yards or more, exploiting slower defenders.
On Sunday, Brock Purdy was far more active as a passer, but he often stared across at the Pats' base defense, which — shocker — is more plodding than their sub-packages. My question is why Mayo/Covington insisted on staying heavier, even though they clearly couldn't handle the 49ers' skill players.
The obvious answer is priority number one was stopping the run. That didn't go so well. The 49ers rushed for 148 yards, averaging 4.8 yards per carry, and lead back Jordan Mason had 124 of those yards and three runs of 10 or more. So, who won that cat-and-mouse game? Answer: not the Patriots.
For those keeping score at home, that means this once-vaunted unit has been owned by Seattle's first-year OC, Nathaniel 'Friggin' Hackett's Jets, and Shanahan.
Coaching problem? It's on my radar.
WIDE ZONE
I counted four successful runs on outside zone, and three of the four popped because of cutbacks (which is part of the design). All three of those were to the left side. I've lowered the bar, but I consider that progress.
BRISSETT TO BLAME?
I credited Jacoby Brissett for being responsible for two of the six sacks he took, but what Maliek Collins did to Layden Robinson on back-to-back plays at the end of the first half partially explains why the veteran signal-caller appears to be hanging onto the job by a very thin thread.
The first penetration came courtesy of a bull rush that had Robinson on roller skates as soon as the ball was snapped. That forced an incomplete pass, which, considering the circumstances, was a successful play because it should have been a negative one. The next was a little inside rip move that left Robinson in chase mode. Being in chase mode as an offensive lineman is a terrible thing. Brissett was taken to the turf.
The accumulation of hits and pressures that Brissett has faced for the first four weeks is seemingly impacting his ability to see the field the last two weeks. Can't say as I'm surprised.
The more I look at the situation and the declaration that Brissett is still "100%" the starter, the more I think the Pats view this Miami game as winnable and will give the veteran a chance to buy himself another week. But if it goes poorly, and it's as much Brissett as it is what's around him, I could absolutely envision Drake Maye getting reps and, if he handles them, being the guy in week six. I'm not saying I agree with that approach (if it comes to that), but it clicked in my brain this morning that Mayo/AVP/Wolf might have no other choice with the locker room.
TIME FOR TYQUAN TO SIT
"If you want fast guys, draft fast guys."
Sorry, Matt Groh, but the fast guy you drafted three years ago is not cutting it. Tyquan Thornton, a 2022 third-round pick, played his fewest snaps of the season (13) and, aside from a suspect block in the back penalty and being Brissett's target on the pick 6, didn't have his name called once. Thornton's speed is not creating space, and if he's not doing that, what exactly is he bringing to the table? He's not without talent, but his feel for route running has never stood out, and despite Van Pelt pumping him up this summer, he only strung together a couple good days, not a couple weeks or a month.
With Kendrick Bourne returning to practice this week, I wonder if Thornton soon becomes a healthy scratch. I write that not expecting Bourne to be the guy he was before he tore the ACL. I think history tells us it usually takes 13 months to start feeling like yourself post-ACL (and another entire off-season to be the guy you once were), but Bourne certainly has a better sense for spacing and is a better route runner. This offense needs that.