A lot has been made - even here at BSJ by Mikey G - about the Patriots' decision in regard to how they defended Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp in Sunday's 28-22 loss to the Rams.
Certainly it wasn't great when the duo caught 13 of 19 passes for 229 yards and three touchdowns, and Matthew Stafford completed 5 of 9 for 66 yards and 1 TD to four other targets.
I don't have a huge problem with the coverage approach because the Rams make it difficult to match up in tight man coverage with their tight splits and motion at the snap.
However, I did take issue with other aspects related to covering Nacua and Kupp.
For one thing, Sean McVay and the Rams obviously did their homework and knew the Patriots save their most creative designs and man coverage for third down. McVay thwarted that by playing CFL football — only need the first two downs to move the ball with ease (the Patriots' defense only got the Rams to third down FOUR times in the first three quarters). The Patriots weren't prepared for that and adjusted too late.
One of the biggest factors in this game was the Patriots' lack of a plan for how to deal with Nacua and Kupp in their splits or with motion. I can tell you how a certain former coach would have approached this game. He would have put more resources and focus on hitting Nacua and Kupp at the line and disrupting the timing of the Rams' passing game, which barely skipped a beat on Sunday. If that meant a lighter box and more Rams running then so be it. Stafford was not going to be allowed to throw to his two favorite (only?) receivers time after time.
For example, on the second play of the game, Nacua came in motion and exited through the C gap between the left tackle and tight end (let's see Alex Van Pelt try that). None of the defensive linemen even looked at him. Christian Elliss was way off the ball and got a piece of him, but not nearly enough. Jonathan Jones, in man coverage on Nacua, was essentially picked by Elliss and the pass went for 37 yards. Under the former coach, one of the linemen would have knocked the stuffing out of Nacua, the linebacker would have finished him off and by that time Stafford would have been on to someone else.
That was one aspect of being underprepared. The other was the Patriots busting more coverages than normal, often looking like they had no clue what to expect. McVay could have sprinkled in a few designer looks for the Patriots and/or he could have been assisted in what gives the Patriots problems by former New England coaches Nick Caley and Jerry Schuplinski or even Bill Belichick himself. Whatever the reason, the Patriots lacked preparation and attention to detail in this effort.
A look at the biggest issues, including video analysis of the coaches' film:
2Q 1-10-LA 20 (12:23) M.Stafford pass deep right to P.Nacua to LA 45 for 25 yards (J.Tavai; M.Wilson).
This to me looked like scheme, and knowing how the Patriots would react to late motion. Kyle Dugger rotated down, the Patriots shifted into Cover 3 and Nacua easily got open.
2-3-NE 48 (11:03) (Shotgun) M.Stafford pass short left to D.Robinson to NE 38 for 10 yards (M.Jones).
Kupp is in motion at the snap and Marcus Jones goes with him across the formation. Marco Wilson bumps out to take Kupp in the flat but Jones stays on him as well, leaving Demarcus Robinson uncovered. Bust against pretty simple motion.
2-4-NE 17 (8:32) (Shotgun) M.Stafford pass short left to P.Nacua to NE 5 for 12 yards (M.Wilson; M.Jones).
Nacua motions out and back into trips as the Patriots are in man coverage. They stay locked onto their players instead of passing them off and Christian Gonzalez is easily rubbed and it's an easy gain. Had to have a good plan against trips and didn't.
2-5-NE 5 (7:22) (Shotgun) M.Stafford pass short right to C.Kupp for 5 yards, TOUCHDOWN
Rams have two receivers right, Jonathan Jones wide on Robinson, Dell Pettus and Sione Takitaki looking like they are going to bracket Kupp. He simply releases into the flat, Jones stays locked on his coverage and doesn't just play the flat and pass Robinson to Pettus and it's an easy touchdown. Not an exotic look by the Rams. No motion. Just a bad plan for defending this by the Patriots.
1-10-NE 12 (5:49) M.Stafford pass short right to P.Nacua for 12 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Nacua comes in short motion, which doesn't allow Jonathan Jones to jam him. Anfernee Jennings has no concern about Nacua, who gets a free release and just beats Jones on a great throw and catch. Kupp was not on the field. How about two guys on him? Somebody has to hit him and slow him up.
3-6-NE 44 (:57) (Shotgun) M.Stafford pass short right to C.Kupp to NE 39 for 5 yards (A.Jennings) [C.Gonzalez].
Jennings (and Keion White) drop into coverage against Kupp on this pressure ... enough said.
2-6-NE 29 (:16) (Shotgun) M.Stafford pass deep left to P.Nacua pushed ob at NE 8 for 21 yards (M.Jones).
Marcus Jones carries the vertical receiver too far and Marco Wilson can't keep up with Nacua. Easy pitch and catch.
3Q 2-9-LA 31 (14:19) (Shotgun) M.Stafford pass deep middle to C.Kupp for 69 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Obviously not the call I would have preferred in this situation (all-out blitz) but the coverage by Jonathan Jones was just as bad. He doesn't give any ground and is flat-footed as Kupp approaches him. The fatal flaw was Jones jumped to outside leverage, almost like he was expecting safety help, making the throw much easier for Stafford. The rule is to force the route outside with inside leverage to make the throw more difficult.
1-10-NE 48 (4:55) M.Stafford pass deep left to T.Atwell ran ob at NE 27 for 21 yards.
It's Cover 3 so Marcus Jones has to err on the side of playing deep, but he gets turned around by a good route and Stafford throws it in perfect timing because there's absolutely no pressure on him. Too easy.
2-2-NE 19 (3:35) M.Stafford pass deep left to C.Parkinson for 19 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Eliss takes a false step on the playaction fake and Kyle Dugger, as he often does, gets caught watching and doesn't get into what I think is his position as the deep third defender on that side of the field. Colby Parkinson just blows by them both for an easy touchdown. Fairly embarrassing.
4Q 1-10-LA 30 (4:54) (Shotgun) M.Stafford pass short right to C.Kupp to LA 48 for 18 yards (D.Pettus).
The Patriots leave Kupp uncovered in the slot, leaving his coverage up to Jahlani Tavai on the other side of the field. I mean, do I have to say any more?
And that about did it.
Did you notice that I didn't really talk about matchups, or who was covering who? The Patriots' issues were in their lack of preparation for what the Rams might do and had to combat them, and just really poor execution. The Patriots weren't even a speed bump for the Rams' passing game. They presented absolutely no problems to the Rams.
That's on coaching.
A look at the first half on defense:
Here are the positional ratings against the Rams:
OFFENSE
Quarterback (4.5 out of 5)
Drake Maye's highest-graded game for me by a wide margin. He played like a 10-year veteran, with an assist from a very good gameplan by Alex Van Pelt that seemed designed to get the ball out of Maye's hands quickly, against a good Rams defense that threw a lot at him. He saw the game so much better this week than last. ... The Rams didn't blitz all that much, but they often simulated pressure with 5+ on the line, only to drop out (sometimes very late). It never bothered Maye. ... He was scorching in the first half with with 7.5 plus plays and only 2 minus plays. ... The 3rd and 7 throw across his body while getting hammered to Pop Douglas was sensational. ... The TD to Kendrick Bourne was a bust by the Rams, but Maye saw it and delivered a perfect strike. ... The only minus plays: Kayshon Boutte was open on Maye's 2-yard checkdown to Antonio Gibson; Douglas was wide open for a touchdown when Maye threw it out of the end zone against an all-out blitz (one of the few times he didn't see it); his throw to Hunter Henry at the pylon was a turnover-worthy play and was fortunate it wasn't picked off; the sack on the penultimate play; the game-ending interception. The way I saw it: Douglas, Henry and Boutte were all still running their posts with their heads down after Maye got rid of the ball, telling me they all had deep routes (there aren't many option routes in this offense). If Maye wanted to throw one of those, he needed to hold the ball a second long and move up in the pocket. If he felt pressure, dump it to Stevenson in the right flat, let him get out of bounds and try to convert on 4th and manageable. If Maye held the ball and threw it down the left hash, it's a big play to Douglas. ... Maye had some responsibility on the strip sack but it was a unit-wide failure. It's a three-step drop and Maye's supposed to throw the 9-stop (sell the go hard, then stop for backshoulder or comeback) to Boutte if he decides to work that side of the field. He can't pull it down. But Boutte didn't run a great route and Ben Brown/Michael Jordan gave up the fastest T/E twist that you'll ever see.
Running backs (2.5 out of 5)
Rhamondre Stevenson had another couple great blitz pickups (and one he missed) and ran the ball well, but that chop-block penalty was huge, had a run for 2 yards where more was left and he fumbled AGAIN. ... Sidy Sow is having issues at fullback. His pad level (even when he played a few snaps at LG) continues to be a problem.
Receivers (2.5 out of 5)
Kendrick Bourne had a great bounce-back game, and it was great to see Demario Douglas continue to emerge as a real weapon in the YAC game. ... One week after having a great blocking game, Hunter Henry struggled in this one and had a big whiff that caused the Patriots to settle for a field goal near the goal line. ... Kayshon Boutte and Jaheim Bell had big drops. ... Ja'Lynn Polk looks completely lost out there. Worse than before. On one route, Maye had rolled right and he had no clue for about 15 yards - he was still running full steam ahead.
Offensive line (1.5 out of 5)
Despite having a good plan against Jared Verse (passed the Jeffrey Simmons Test - Tommy Point!), the Patriots still got worked outside of Mike Onwenu and Ben Brown (I somewhat absolved him on the strip-sack because it's a three-step drop and the ball should have been out). ... Michael Jordan, Demontrey Jacobs and Vederian Lowe combined for 9.5 pressures and 23 minus plays. ... Lack of upper body strength from Brown and Jordan are causing a lot of issues with the twists and stunts. I mean, they are backups for a reason.
DEFENSE
Defensive line (1.5 out of 5)
Keion White was really good. Other than that? Not good. It wasn't awful (aside from Daniel Ekuale against the run again), but they barely got any pressure against a struggling Rams offensive line (tighter coverage plan would help as well). ... This was the worst run edge game that I've seen from Anfernee Jennings in some time. That was a big surprise. ... Christian Barmore made a couple of run plays, but joined Yannick Ngakoue in doing nothing against the pass.
Linebackers (1 out of 5)
Outside of a QB hit and hurry, Christian Elliss looked every bit the special teams linebacker as he was late on every read and got pushed around in the run game. Also missed a tackle for a loss. ... Jahlani Tavai didn't register much at all. Wasn't bad, just wasn't impactful. ... Still waiting for Sione Takitaki to start showing up. He's a better player than we've seen to date.
Secondary (1 out of 5)
With no pass rush help and a really bad plan for how to deal with what the Rams like to do, all of these guys were roadkill. McVay and Caley had their heads spinning, as detailed above. ... At least Marcus Jones made five plays. Jonathan Jones (PBU) and Christian Gonzalez (knockdown on rare blitz) were the only others.
THREE UP
QB Drake Maye: Played like a veteran in this game. Love how he attacks his issues from previous games (like inviting too much pressure) and immediately corrects them. That is very rare for a player at his age and lack of experience. Gets better the more he plays and sees.
WR Kendrick Bourne: Looks like the benching got his attention. He was dialed in for this one. A rare time where I didn't question a route.
DE Keion White: Basically the only impactful player on the defense.
FOUR DOWN
LB Christian Elliss: Not sure if the Rams were targeting him in this game against the run and pass, but sure felt that way. He struggled.
CB Jonathan Jones: Should have had more help on the first touchdown, but two touchdowns allowed is two touchdowns allowed.
WR Ja'Lynn Polk: His head looks like it's spinning. This should not be happening. He is too good. Something is off about this.
OL Jacobs, Jordan & Lowe: Very rough outing for this group. And imagine if Maye didn't have his best snap-to-throw mark of the season?