After finishing with a season high in rushing yards and yards per carry, it might be easy to get carried away and think that what was broken has now been fixed.
To quote the legendary Lee Corso, "Not so fast, my friends."
Yes, the Pats were good enough to take advantage of the Titans' bottom-third run defense (by DVOA), wisely pounding the rock early. The approach may have already been baked in - Mike Vrabel challenged the offense last week to run the damn ball. However, when Tennessee opted to play a two-high shell defense to start the game, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels wisely continued to hand the ball to Rhamondre Stevenson. He had 42 of his 88 yards on the first drive, and while that march bogged down and resulted in a field goal, the message had been sent and delivered.
"We were more decisive," Vrabel said Monday. "We gave them a chance early at the line of scrimmage. To be able to get into the line of scrimmage, to be able to make some breaks and give them some space. If you want to hit some big ones, you're going to have to be able to block support players, you're going to have to be able to block safeties, block force.
"But I thought we got them through the line of scrimmage at times. I thought we were decisive. There were times where there wasn't anything there and we got a couple yards, and then there were times where there was things there and we got double-digit runs."
Vrabel's insistence on sticking with Stevenson also paid dividends. The coach's faith in the veteran back never wavered publicly, and to hear Stevenson talk about it, privately, either. The 27-year-old has been the team's most reliable pass protector and looks more like the player who opened last season with a bang, rushing for 125 yards (the last time a Pats' RB went over the century mark).
“You look at last week, at the end of the game," Vrabel told WEEI. "He steps up, he blocks the inside linebacker. Yesterday, he was blocking in protection; he was up in the A-gap. He goes out, scans out to the nickel, and we're able to get a big third-down pass off. So he does a lot of things without the football, and then when he does have the football, when he takes care of it, and he's decisive, he’s been good.”
Now we'll see if Stevenson and the rest of that group are good enough to move a Browns defense that's third in DVOA.
THUMBS UP
I have given Drake Maye more flower bouquets over the last 36 hours than may be allowed by law. It's possible that the cops showed up with a court order imploring me to stay at least 500 feet away. Stay tuned...
K'Lavon Chaisson is really fast. And while that doesn't do him any good when teams run right at him - and they do run right at him - his ability to come off the edge, contort his body at the top of the rush, and impact quarterbacks is his best trait. Chaisson's ghost rush led to one of his sacks, and he got another after Harold Landry flushed Cam Ward from the pocket. I also had him for two other pressures, and, of course, the scoop and score on Ward's fumble.
I did not know that this version of Austin Hooper had that TD catch in his bag. My apologies, sir. It was a great individual play on an underthrown ball, not just the catch itself, but getting the feet down. Hooper and Hunter Henry were also passable as run blockers on Sunday, which hasn't been the case for the majority of this season.
Morgan Moses played at a high level in both the run and pass games. He engulfed the edge on Stevenson's touchdown run, and also had a hell of a combo block on an 11-yard jaunt by Stevenson. He's not being asked to fly solo out there all the time, and that approach has generally been effective.
If you want to look up selfless in the dictionary, you can see a picture of Christian Barmore for how he's played the last month or so. He is very adept at freeing other rushers when the Pats deploy two-man line games; in fact, Landry pointed to Barmore after his sack, a big thnak you for him picking two defenders. I also had him for a couple of pressures.
Kyle Dugger doesn't quite make the thumbs-up list, but he's playing better, including in coverage. There is trust developing between him and the coaches. Kayshon Boutte didn't have a ton of catches, but as usual, he makes the most of his opportunities. That TD catch was a beauty.
THUMBS DOWN
Will Campbell was hit or miss. He had a false start, got bull rushed directly into Maye, was responsible for a QB hit when he didn't pick up a defender coming off the edge, and also allowed a run stuff. That said, it was a better day in the run game for him. Big challenge this Sunday. Massive, actually. McDaniels will be wise with this.
Jared Wilson starred or co-starred in three sacks of Maye. On a couple of them, he got beaten decisively, including one in the red zone. Wilson and Campbell also couldn't corral a stunt, and the rush came through the rookie left guard's spot.
Marcus Jones was the primary defender on Chimere Dike's long touchdown catch, but that was as much about safety Craig Woodson getting spun like a top on the post-corner move. He's gotta be the help there in the middle of the field as the deep safety. Woodson also made a hell of a read on a screen to Tony Pollard, but got absolutely destroyed by a lineman before he could make the tackle. It was a knee-buckler.
I can't get over how out of place Keion White looks as a pass rusher when he's lined up on our outside the tackle. As I posted on Sunday in the game chat, the Pats have been calling around about finding another pass rusher to come off the edge, and White's inability to make an impact there, plus Elijah Ponder not being ready for primetime, is no doubt a big reason why.
The Titans threw at linebackers quite a bit on Sunday, and Robert Spillane was victimized a few times, including on that 18-yarder early in the game. Marte Mapu also saw a ton of targets during his 20-snap day. Most of it was late, but he surrendered several catches. This is an exploitable area of the Pats defense.
Hey Julian Ashby, stop getting called for penalties. Long snappers should never have their name mentioned, unless they're making a tackle.
