Patriots film review: Special teams miscues totally out of character
COMMENTARY
It was almost as though the scoreboard was backwards.
The New England Patriots were trailing at home, 35-14, to the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth quarter.
It was the last thing anyone expected to see, but you didn’t need to pinch yourself to believe it was real. You needed only to have seen the three critical special teams plays that led up to such a lopsided score.
[fragment number=0]
It all started with the dropkick by safety Nate Ebner. With a misdirection kickoff following a touchdown, the Patriots were hoping to catch the Eagles off-guard. But the Eagles were totally prepared for it, and Seyi Ajirotutu recovered the kick at the Eagles’ 41-yard line.
“A lot of times,’’ head coach Bill Belichick said, “when teams have six guys up on the line of scrimmage like Philadelphia did—like we usually do, a lot of teams do that—then that leaves five players to cover the field and there is quite a bit of space back there so if the ball gets into that space it’s hard to set up a return and it’s possible that it could roll around or not be handled and you can make a play on it. But it definitely puts pressure on the return team to handle that ball and get a good organized return.’’
The Patriots put that pressure on the Eagles’ return team, but the Eagles handled it to perfection. The gamble blew up in Belichick’s face, but the damage was not nearly as bad as it’s been made out to be in the media. The Eagles possessed the ball at the 41-yard line, just a 21-yard difference than if Stephen Gostkowski had kicked a touchback. The Eagles offense is averaging just 29.25 yards per drive (26th in the NFL), according to Football Outsiders, so even with the good field position, they still weren’t guaranteed to score.
That being said, that play set the tone for the next two-plus quarters while the Eagles went on a 35-point scoring binge.
“I don’t think anything surprises you with the Patriots,’’ Eagles wide receiver Jordan Matthews said, per CSN Philly. “I mean, they ran like a triple reverse pass to Tom Brady, so nothing can really surprise you. But in a sense it is kind of like, man, you know, that’s disrespectful. They’re trying to go ahead and get the ball back that quickly so they can put points on us. We’ve got men in our locker room, too.
“When a team’s trying to do that and trying to impose their will on us the way they were trying to, it was important for us to go out and score that next drive. And we were able to go do that.’’
The Patriots aren’t afraid to take those calculated risks, but they don’t often backfire quite this badly.
Which leads me to believe that the Patriots will correct the issue.
[fragment number=1]
Besides, it wasn’t a calculated risk when the Patriots elected to punt on 4th-and-5 from their own 38-yard line in the third quarter, and a calculated risk definitely didn’t lead to that punt being blocked and returned for a touchdown.
Likewise, it wasn’t some zany rush call by the Eagles’ special teams coordinator.
“No, we just missed it. They had shown the rush before. We just didn’t obviously execute the protection well enough,’’ Belichick said. “They took advantage of it. Give them credit, they did a good job, but we had seen it multiple times this year the same type of rush and those two in particular, [Chris] Maragos and [Bryan] Braman. We just didn’t handle it well.’’
It was just a missed assignment, and it was only the second blocked punt in Ryan Allen’s three-year career. Who, exactly, was to blame on this? It’s hard to say for certain, but the only unblocked player comes through between defensive end Geneo Grissom and Darius Fleming; Grissom helps Joe Cardona with a double-team block, and Fleming chases an edge rusher around the perimeter.
Whether it was a miscommunication between two players or simply a missed assignment by one, it’s not the kind of excuse we see very often on special teams for the Patriots.
Which leads me to believe that the Patriots will correct the issue.
One issue that can’t immediately be corrected is injuries, which are catching up to them on offense at the skill positions, but Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski weren’t going to make the tackle of Darren Sproles on his 87-yard punt return touchdown.
[fragment number=2]
That was on special teams ace Matthew Slater, who lost containment of Sproles on the sideline, and safety Tavon Wilson, who couldn’t get off a block in time to make the tackle as Sproles raced by. Sprinkle in a collision between Ryan Allen and linebacker Darius Fleming and you have a recipe for a long touchdown return.
Those are all core special teams players who have contributed in big roles covering kicks and punts. Those were mistakes made by players who are usually very reliable in those situations.
Which leads me to believe that the Patriots will correct the issue.
These three miscues on special teams were arguably the difference in a win and a loss. Regardless of when the Patriots get healthy, they need to clean up those mistakes if they want to get back to their winning ways.
15 biggest draft steals in NFL history
[bdc-gallery id=”139001″]
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com