FOXBORO, Mass. — Sunday’s game was a rare goose egg for the Patriots’ best pass rusher.
Matthew Judon finished New England’s 30-24 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders with no tackles, no sacks and no quarterback hits in 52 defensive snaps. It was the first time Judon had been shut out in all three categories since Week 17 of last season, when he played just 10 snaps after a stint on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
Pass rushers don’t need to be statistically productive to impact a game, but Pro Football Focus also credited Judon with just one pressure. Speaking Thursday, the newly minted Pro Bowler lamented that he couldn’t do more to disrupt Raiders QB Derek Carr.
“I didn’t get to the quarterback like I wanted to,” Judon said. “I got a couple hits and hurries, but I’ve got to get the quarterback on the ground. That’s my job. That’s the goal every time I go out there, and I didn’t do that. I’ve got to be better. I’ve got to be better.
“But there’s always next week. You’ve just got to keep going after it, man. You can’t get discouraged. They had a good game plan with what (Carr) did. He got the ball out of his hands fast. That’s what it is. (Expletive), I try, but I’m not always going to get it.”
The Patriots also used Judon differently against Las Vegas, dropping him into coverage on a season-high nine of his defensive snaps. The veteran edge rusher allowed just one 11-yard completion to All-Pro receiver Davante Adams — a coverage mismatch if there ever was one — and said this tactic seemed to surprise and stymie the Raiders’ offense, which is led by a pair of ex-Patriots assistants in head coach Josh McDaniels and coordinator Mick Lombardi.
“I think I was 8-for-9,” Judon said. “I only gave up one catch in coverage, and that’s to a pretty damn good wide receiver. It kind of messed them up. You usually see me rushing. When you see me dropping in pass coverage and I’m taking a zone away, it messes some quarterbacks up, and it makes them hold the ball just a little bit longer. It worked for the most part. I let up one pass, and I’ve got to be better on that play, but that’s a good wide receiver that got that catch.”
Opponents have been devoting additional resources to slowing Judon in recent weeks. When the Raiders would shift their protection toward him only to realize he was being used as a coverage player, lanes would open for other New England defenders to attack. Ja’Whaun Bentley, Josh Uche, Lawrence Guy, Davon Godchaux and Christian Barmore all recorded at least half a sack in the loss.
It’s a delicate balance, though. Drop Judon out too frequently, and you’re limiting your top pass rusher’s ability to do what he does best.
“That’s not always going to be our game plan,” Judon said. “I don’t think our game plan is to make me a cover linebacker or nothing like that. I’m not going to really be off the ball all that much. But sometimes it is in the game plan, and you’ve got to execute the calls that are being called. And I enjoy it, for real. I go out there and play catch before the game and do all the DB drills. I think I can do. I’ll be a straight DB if they needed.”
What the Patriots need most is for Judon to keep up the torrid sack pace he set over the first 11 weeks of the season. His 14 1/2 sacks rank second in the NFL behind Nick Bosa’s 15 1/2, but he’s been held without one in three of the last four games. The emergence of Uche, in particular, has given the Patriots a deeper pool of pass rushers than they had in 2021, but their front seven still flows through Judon.
New England limited Carr and the Raiders to two first downs over their first six second-half possessions before cracking in the final minutes. Vegas tied the game with a nine-play, 81-yard touchdown drive before winning on Chandler Jones’ stunning walk-off lateral return.
The Patriots will need Judon and his running mates to get after Joe Burrow this Saturday as they look to slow down the Cincinnati Bengals’ elite collection of offensive weapons.
