All I have left to say about the Miami game last week is “we’re onto the Colts”.
Motion sickness
For the last two weeks, the Patriots defense has been a tough watch. Motion and condensed formations have given the Pats’ defense nightmares with wide open receivers galavanting across the field.
However, this Colts team are kind of a different beast, in that they do not rely on motion – 53.5%, 26th in the NFL – anywhere near as much as the Rams and Dolphins, who rank second and first in the league, respectively.
They do utilise a lot of play designs that allow their raw, but freakishly athletic, quarterback Anthony Richardson to use his running ability, such as designed quarterback runs, RPOs (Run-Pass Options), and read option plays.
These will all test the assignment discipline of the New England defense. Their recent miscommunications need to be a thing of the past this week, if they are to prevent Indianapolis from getting ahead of the chains on early downs.
O-line offensive to watch
The more I watch last week’s game film, the more disappointed I am in the schematic answers provided to Drake Maye and the offense by the coaching staff.
Maye was too often left in a spot where he had no answers to beat the blitz. However, that issue is secondary to the fact that the talent level on this Patriots team is so much lower than its league contemporaries.
That is not going to change this week. They face a very talented Colts defensive line who schematic answers and better performances will be required against.
The line is anchored by DeForest Buckner, who has the fourth highest pass rush win rate (15.5%) of any interior defender with at least 150 snaps.
Additionally, Grover Stewart is a defensive stop machine with 26 on the season – third amongst interior defenders – and talented rookie edge defender, Laiatu Latu, notched a 90.8 PFF pass rush grade last week against the Jets.
All eyes will be on the two rookie passers in this one, but if the Pats stand a chance in this one, it will likely be the big lads in front of Maye who will decide it.
