It might be time to scale back the expectations for the New England Patriots’ pass rush this season.
After sacking Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson three times and bringing pressure throughout Week 1, hopes were high for the Patriots’ front seven this season. But the Patriots lost their best defender, defensive end Trey Flowers, to a concussion in the first quarter Sunday and never recovered during the 31-20 Week 2 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Patriots didn’t sack Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles and barely laid a hand on him all night. That allowed Bortles oodles of time to hit wide receivers for big gains, finishing the day 29-of-45 for 377 yards with four touchdowns and one interception.
Here’s our full list of takeaways and metrics, provided by Pro Football Focus, from Week 2:
PASS RUSH
DE Adrian Clayborn: five hurries on 20 snaps
DE Keionta Davis: three hurries on 34 snaps
LB Dont’a Hightower: two hurries on 12 snaps
SS Patrick Chung: two hurries on four snaps
DE Geneo Grissom: two hurries on 17 snaps
LB Ja’Whaun Bentley: two hurries on eight snaps
DE Trey Flowers: one hurry on five snaps
DT Malcom Brown: one hurry on 27 snaps
DT Lawrence Guy: one hurry on 25 snaps
DT Danny Shelton: one hurry on 26 snaps
— The Patriots pressured Bortles 20 total times on 52 passing snaps. Last week, the Patriots brought 28 pressures, including three sacks, on 45 passing snaps.
— The Patriots really missed Flowers. He was dominant against the run and pass in Week 1, and Clayborn, Davis, Deatrich Wise and Grissom couldn’t replicate his overall play. Wise didn’t record a single pressure.
— Bentley and Clayborn struggled in containing Bortles at times. The Jags QB ran six times for 35 yards.
PASS COVERAGE
CB Jonathan Jones: four catches on six targets for 84 yards, TD
CB Eric Rowe: 3-3, 68 yards, TD
CB Jason McCourty: 4-6, 48 yards
LB Kyle Van Noy: 5-6, 38 yards, INT
CB Stephon Gilmore: 4-9, 36 yards, TD, PBU
FS Devin McCourty: 3-3, 35 yards
SS Patrick Chung: 3-3, 29 yards, TD
FS Duron Harmon: 1-2, 22 yards
LB Dont’a Hightower: 2-2, 17 yards
— Rowe was benched in the first half for Jason McCourty after letting up two catches for 46 yards with a touchdown. After Patrick Chung suffered a concussion in the first half, Rowe replaced him in the Patriots’ dime defense and immediately gave up a 22-yard catch. It was a rough performance for Rowe, and it will be interesting to see who starts in Week 3 against the Detroit Lions.
— Jones was in coverage on Dede Westbrook’s 61-yard catch and run. Jones got caught up in traffic on a crossing route and couldn’t rebound. Jones also forced Van Noy’s interception with solid coverage.
— The Patriots had trouble on crossing routes all game. Players after the game noted it was something they needed to fix heading into Week 3.
RUN DEFENSE
DT Lawrence Guy: five stops
DE Keionta Davis: two stops
DE Trey Flowers: one stop
LB Elandon Roberts: one stop
SS Patrick Chung: one stop
FS Devin McCourty: one stop
— Guy was a bright spot on the Patriots’ defense. He was the Patriots’ top-rated defender on PFF.
— The Jaguars were without starting running back Leonard Fournette and still ran 24 times for 104 yards.
— The Patriots missed Flowers’ ability to set the edge in the running game. That’s something Davis and Wise have struggled with at times early in their careers.
PASS PROTECTION
RT LaAdrian Waddle: sack, three hurries
LG Joe Thuney: QB hit, three hurries
LT Trent Brown: three hurries
RB Rex Burkhead: sack
RG Shaq Mason: QB hit
C David Andrews: hurry
TE Rob Gronkowski: hurry
FB James Develin: hurry
— Among players who were in on pass protection, only running back James White came out clean.
— Waddle gave up the strip sack to Dante Fowler Jr.
— Burkhead gave up a sack to slot cornerback D.J. Hayden in the fourth quarter.
PASS ACCURACY
— Of quarterback Tom Brady’s 11 incompletions, three were throwaways and two were while he was under pressure.
— PFF didn’t charge the Patriots with a drop for the second straight week. An incompletion to rookie running back Sony Michel was deemed uncatchable by PFF.
— Brady was 0-for-2 on throws 20 yards or more.
— Brady got rid of the ball in an average of 2.35 seconds. That was down from 2.4 seconds in Week 1. Brady got rid of the ball in 2.62 seconds in 2017.
RUSHING ATTACK
RB Sony Michel: one forced missed tackle
RB James White: one forced missed tackle
— The Patriots just have to hope Michel and Rex Burkhead were still rusty from missing the preseason.
— Michel had a nice 15-yard run but otherwise looked pedestrian.
— Burkhead played sparingly, doing most of his work in the first and fourth quarters.
— White has never been a between-the-tackles runner, doing most of his work catching out of the backfield. He carried the ball four times for 11 yards. That was probably four wasted handoffs.
For more grades, advanced statistics and more at Pro Football Focus, go to ProFootballFocus.com.
