Perry's Report Card: The Gun Show and another tortured young QB
Gunner Olszewski and the Patriots' special teams unit aced the test vs. the Chargers on Sunday, but they weren't the only group that passed with flying colors. Here's Phil Perry's Week 13 Report Card.
Complementary football.
Complementary football.
Complementary football.
In any other year, those words would ring through the facilities at Gillette Stadium incessantly. At the very least, they'd be parroted back to reporters on a loop to emphasize the idea of football as the ultimate team game. One of the pillars of the Patriots program, the virtues of complementary football are extolled now via WebEx calls.
There's no other way to describe what the world saw from the Patriots in Los Angeles on Sunday. Against the Chargers, they did a little bit of everything. Other than succeed in pushing the football down the field, they did a little bit of everything. But that's who they are, and they understand that.
They want to run it. The world knows they want to run it. They run it anyway.
They want to make big plays in the kicking game. Bill Belichick openly lamented missed opportunities there for weeks earlier this season. Now they've produced a handful over the last two weeks.
They want to bother quarterbacks on defense and make teams earn every yard. They want to create turnovers. They've done that lately as young players have slid into well-defined roles and leaders at all three levels have played to their potential.
It might be hard to replicate what the Patriots did Sunday. But if they can get just one or two key plays from their kicking game -- instead of what felt like a half-dozen against the Chargers -- they'll be competitive. If they cook up two or three well-timed quarterback pressures -- instead of the three sacks and 11 hits they recorded Sunday -- they'll have a shot to go where they want.
Sunday just showed how well-oiled things can look when they hit on every aspect of their 2020 formula for winning. That won't happen on a weekly basis the rest of the way. But some variation of the complementary game they've played over the last five weeks, during which they've gone 4-1, might be enough to keep them in the hunt.
Let's get to the grades . . .
How can a quarterback who averaged just 3.6 yards per pass attempt still end up in the "B" range? He remains hard to handle as a runner, particularly in the red zone. One of the best red-zone runners in modern NFL history, Newton ran for two touchdowns and six first downs as the punchless Chargers defense had no answer for what is very obviously the overwhelming majority of the team's offensive identity at the moment: the power running game.
Newton fumbled a snap and threw five off-target passes, not including four screens that had little-to-no chance of working after the Patriots hit the Chargers for a 15-yard gain on the first play of the game with a screen. If the Patriots fall behind on the scoreboard and are forced into more passing situations moving forward, they'll need to turn to something other than screens. Teams are expecting them.
Jarrett Stidham looked good in mop-up duty, hitting Gunner Olszewski on a well-designed touchdown pass that required some efficient footwork on the part of the second-year passer.
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Josh McDaniels got creative in trying to get the Chargers not to stack the box, it seemed. He spread out his offensive personnel. He took fullback Jakob Johnson and split him out wide. He put two backs on the field and put one outside the numbers as a receiver. Yet, Damien Harris faced eight-man boxes on 10 of his 16 carries and still came up with 80 yards rushing (5.0 yards per rush).
The Patriots used the Wildcat. They ran power. They ran isolation plays (time . . and time . . . again). This unit, including Sony Michel (10 carries, 35 yards), combined with Newton made up the centerpiece of a plan that wanted to overwhelm the interior of the Chargers defense. Mission accomplished.
Harris (one catch, 15 yards) and Michel (one catch, 23 yards) also factored into the game as receivers -- though Michel's catch came late with Jarrett Stidham in the game.
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Jakobi Meyers had a bad drop to start the game, but he helped make up for it with a nice snag on a low pass down the field in the third quarter. N'Keal Harry came through with a very physical touchdown grab in the third; Newton admitted it wasn't the most accurate pass, but Harry created space for himself by shoving the defensive back at the top of his route. The contact went uncalled, and Harry got his shot of confidence and an opportunity to celebrate with his teammates.
Donte Moncrief didn't factor in as a receiver, but he did take an end-around for a third-down conversion and he made his presence felt in the kicking game. More on that later.
Ryan Izzo checked in with one catch for six yards. He also helped lead the way for Moncrief on the end-around run. But Izzo had to leave the game with a neck injury, opening up an opportunity for rookie Dalton Keene to get into the mix. He wasn't targeted in the passing game, but he was used as a blocker and stood out on one "Wham" play where he sealed off a defensive tackle, allowing Damien Harris to plow ahead for yardage in the third quarter.
Jakob Johnson, who we include with this group as the team's lone fullback, will need to recover quickly for Thursday night. He was in the middle of some loud collisions as the Patriots used him as their primary lead blocker in this one. Not easy to run the football when everyone knows you will, but Johnson helps allow the Patriots to do exactly that.
The offensive plan that Josh McDaniels compiled helped protect Cam Newton in the pocket. Quick-hitting throws. Screens. Run. Run. Run some more. But this group had plenty to do with Sunday's successes. Not only were they able to keep Joey Bosa off Newton for the most part with chips to help Michael Onwenu (who took a few Ls against one of the game's best), but the entirety of the Chargers defense had trouble getting to the Patriots quarterback.
Newton was sacked once when his protection broke down, but otherwise the ball was out of his hand or he was largely unhurried 19 attempts. When he was hurried, at one point, he took the opportunity to scramble up the middle for 14 yards and a first down. Plus, the run game was largely productive despite the Chargers understanding that was going to be the bulk of the Patriots' plan.
What didn't this group do? Credit special teams coach Cam Achord for having this group up on its details. Gunner Olszewski gets most of the shine for his punt-return touchdown, and it's well-deserved. But it doesn't happen without key blocks from Matthew Slater, Donte Moncrief and Adrian Phillips to get him started. Olszewski doesn't end up in the end zone if not for effective-and-legal blocks from Rashod Berry and Justin Bethel. Olszewski made the punter miss. He walked the tightrope. He scored.
New England's concern for the details showed up on their field-goal block for a punt as well. Bethel and Cody Davis put the Chargers in a bind when aligned side-by-side. Both got through. Davis ended up with the block. There on the spot, ready for the scoop and score? Devin McCourty.
Jake Bailey was a wizard on Sunday, too. Four punts. Three downed inside the 20. One at the goal line when Bethel coolly snared it and dropped it behind him as he attacked the ball at full speed. The Patriots nearly had one more downed at the goal line early in the game, but Slater couldn't touch it because he'd been angled out of bounds and would've been flagged.
Nick Folk made a whopping seven kicks on the night and continues to absolutely drill his attempts when called upon. The Chargers helped this group out by missing a field goal, having one blocked and having the wrong number of players on the field for three different punt plays -- one of which earned them a penalty -- but the Patriots have to come away with an "A" here. Maybe the easiest grade of the year.
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This group isn't typically known for its ability to negatively impact opposing quarterbacks, but that's exactly what it did on Sunday. And it wasn't just interior pass-rushing menace Adam Butler, either. Butler had a sack. Lawrence Guy had a sack. Deatrich Wise had a sack. Wise and Butler also had quarterback hits on rookie Justin Herbert. Byron Cowart came up with a hit.
The plan for the majority of the night was not to pressure Herbert with numbers. It was similar to the plan they had for Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes, actually. Play numbers in coverage. Make the quarterback fit passes into tight windows. The Patriots were able to do that while also simultaneously bothering Herbert despite sending just three or four pass-rushers at him for the majority of the game.
Josh Uche's role is growing before our eyes. He played a season-high 29 snaps on Sunday and was one of the busiest pass-rushers on the Patriots defense. He had what looked like a sack with Adam Butler before Herbert got an incomplete pass away at the last second. He added two more quarterback hits on the day, overwhelming a Chargers offensive line that graded out as one of the worst in football going into Sunday, according to Pro Football Focus. Uche was also seen spying on Herbert when the Patriots opted to drop a rusher out into the short area beyond the line of scrimmage in order to keep an eye on the athletic rookie passer.
Meanwhile, Uche's college teammate Chase Winovich had a pair of hits and his first career interception. This group, along with the defensive line, helped keep Herbert uncomfortable all afternoon. He finished with 3.9 yards per pass attempt and just a 43.7 quarterback rating. The Chargers were able to find some room on the ground early (15 carries, 70 yards), which helps explain why this isn't a flat "A." But LA was trying to dig out of a hole for so long, the run game was abandoned.
Stephon Gilmore has now taken two of the game's top receivers head-on over the course of the last two weeks and emerged on the winning side. First DeAndre Hopkins. Then Keenan Allen. Late in the fourth quarter -- with the game out of reach and Gilmore no longer chasing him -- Allen had just four catches for 35 yards. Coming into the weekend, he was the league leader in receptions. Instead, Gilmore helped keep Allen (five catches, 48 yards on 11 targets in the game) very quiet. Gilmore also saw some time on No. 2 wideout Mike Williams.
But JC Jackson popped up with another pick (seventh of the season), and more held his own against Williams (four catches, 43 yards). For those two wideouts to combine for less than 100 yards in a game where the Chargers were trailing -- and throwing -- throughout speaks volumes of the work of the Patriots secondary.
The Patriots will need this group to be at its best again on Thursday as it takes on Jared Goff, Sean McVay and the Rams. Jackson's availability bears watching as he came out of the game with what looked like a back issue. He was questionable coming into the game with a back injury but played through it and played well.
