various patriots idp (1 Viewer)

[Kool-Aid Larry]

EDIT: THIS FIRST POST IS FROM 2013!!

there was a thread with a lot of talk about mayo and the linebackers, but we had a couple more injuries on sunday, and these things all kind of create ripple effects with other players, so i thought I'd start a new thread

I'll start with mike reiss's snap counts for this past game vs pitt

S Devin McCourty -- 75 of 75
CB Kyle Arrington -- 73 of 75
DT Chris Jones -- 72 of 75
CB Alfonzo Dennard -- 71 of 75
DE Chandler Jones -- 66 of 75
LB Dont'a Hightower -- 61 of 75
DT Joe Vellano -- 61 of 75
CB Logan Ryan -- 58 of 75
DE Andre Carter -- 45 of 75
LB Brandon Spikes -- 45 of 75
S Steve Gregory -- 39 of 75
S Duron Harmon -- 38 of 75
DE Rob Ninkovich -- 35 of 75
CB Marquice Cole -- 29 of 75
DT/NT Isaac Sopoaga -- 26 of 75
LB Dane Fletcher -- 16 of 75
DE Michael Buchanan -- 9 of 75
S Tavon Wilson -- 4 of 75
LB Jamie Collins -- 2 of 75

(Penalties included; kneel-down at end of the second quarter not included.)

Analysis: Sopoaga started in his Patriots debut, playing a situational role in the base defense. The reason he started was because the Steelers opened the game with offensive lineman Mike Adams as a sixth blocker, forcing the Patriots' "big" defense on to the field. We'll have to look closer at Sopoaga's play to get a better feel, but two plays caught the eye live -- his ability to help control the line of scrimmage on a fourth-and-1 stop and a pass breakup that could have been a pick-six if he caught it. Overall, some good impact from the newcomer in the base and short-yardage packages, it seemed. ... While Sopoaga helped the cause, rookies Jones and Vellano remained the top pairing at defensive tackle. When Sopoaga mostly rotated in, it was for Vellano. ... Carter played 40 of his 45 snaps in the second half as the top replacement for Ninkovich, who left with a foot injury in the third quarter. ... For the second week in a row, Fletcher ran the dime defense as the lone linebacker. ... Collins played two snaps in the short-yardage package. ... Harmon's high stat total is a result of coming on for the injured Gregory in the second half. ... Same for Buchanan and Wilson on the Steelers' final drive.

thx, mike reiss

hightower - he started out the post mayo era in week 7 by basically filling in for him in a 5-2 front against the run heavy jets, and wore the green dot as the lone dime 'backer, playing pretty much every snap.

however, in the more traditional 4-3 packages he got bumped over to slb, with jamie collins taking mayo's wlb role.

the following week, he lost the dime 'backer role to fletcher, and ceded the green dot over to gregory, as he was only on the field for 78% of snaps.

gregory apparently hurt his thumb in week 9 vs pitt, passing the green dot back to hightower.

j collins - there was a lot of speculation that he would replace mayo, and he pretty much did in the 4-3 packages, initially, but they played a lot of 5-2, bumping him off the field.

his 16% week 7 snaps against the jets grew to 32% in week 8, but have been wiped out in a db heavy scheme vs pitt.

spikes - started the season getting pushed off the field by hightower, but underwent a renaissance with the wilfork injury, as the pats used him to try and cork runs up the middle, playing him about 75-80% of the snaps, but only 60% the game vs pitt, when they used more db in the 55-31 blowout

chris jones - still playing almost every snap after the addition of sopoaga -- kelly has been ir'd

chandler jones - when LDE ninkovich hurt his foot in week 9 vs pitt it looked like chandler spent a good amount of time at LDE, with newly signed andre carter filling in at RDE

andre carter - could pick up significant snaps at RDE going fwd if ninkovich misses time

s gregory - knocked out with a thumb injury

d harmon - has occasionally subbed in for SS gregory, and replaced him in the second half when gregory hurt his thumb.

something to monitor in deeper leagues

a dennard - apparently left the game on the final series

week 9 and after the bye:

(from mike reiss)

The latest on the injury front: Four players didn't finish the game: No. 4 receiver Austin Collie (knee), starting defensive end Rob Ninkovich (foot), starting safety Steve Gregory (right thumb/wrist) and starting cornerback Alfonzo Dennard (unknown). Ninkovich appears to have avoided serious injury, and Dennard looked to be moving OK in the locker room despite coming off on the final drive. The injuries to Collie and Gregory appear more serious.

they played a lot of cb vs pitt, with logan ryan seeing 77% and cole in on 39%, pushing spikes off the field a bit more than the last few weeks.

I would think spikes gets a little more play in week 11 vs a carolina team that likes to run, unless the pats get up quick early, and force carolina to throw.

ninkovich missing any time could impact chandler jones and andre carter.

steve gregory's injury could create a new idp starter in harmon.

also, gregory missing time would probably leave hightower with mayo's green dot, which could possibly get him back in as dime 'backer --- I should probably look at the second half on rewind, unless somebody here was paying more attention than I was.

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

here's a little 10 min chitchat on pats defense from local radio (weei sun am) -- features matt chatham, who used to play for the pats.

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

looks like fletcher continues as the dime lb against carolina

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

R. Ninkovich 0-13

looool...has anybody ever seen that?

 

[discountdoublecheck]

I have not. He was all over the field in an overtime game and he scored 0 points. NE and SEA seem to give two players an assist on a shared tackle. Instead of one solo and one assist. Awesome..

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

thank you, MIKE REISS

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Snaps played by Patriots defenders in Sunday's 34-31 win over the Broncos, while analyzing what it means (as charted in the press box, small margin for error):

S Duron Harmon – 90 of 90
DE Chandler Jones – 90 of 90
DT Chris Jones – 90 of 90
S Devin McCourty – 90 of 90
DE Rob Ninkovich – 90 of 90
CB Kyle Arrington – 85 of 90
CB Aqib Talib – 80 of 90
DT Joe Vellano – 70 of 90
CB Logan Ryan – 69 of 90
LB Brandon Spikes – 68 of 90
LB Dane Fletcher – 57 of 90
LB Dont’a Hightower – 33 of 90
LB Jamie Collins – 22 of 90
CB Alfonzo Dennard – 21 of 90
DT Isaac Sopoaga – 14 of 90
CB Justin Green – 8 of 90
CB Marquice Cole – 7 of 90
DE Andre Carter – 6 of 90

(Penalties included.)

ANALYSIS: Contributions from linebackers Dane Fletcher and Jamie Collins, who haven’t been a big part of defensive plans prior to this point, stood out. Fletcher had played 68 total defensive snaps through the first nine games of the season and nearly matched the total on Sunday night, when he had a key forced fumble. Fletcher was thrust into action when linebacker Dont’a Hightower came out of the game late in the second quarter and didn’t play another snap the rest of the way. As for Collins, he was “active”, according to Bill Belichick. That was reflected in his snaps-to-tackle ratio, which was impressive (22 snaps, 10 tackles). The Patriots spent most of the game in their 4-2-5 nickel and the speed and range of Fletcher and Collins helped the club. … One aspect of the 4-2-5 nickel that was a bit different from the norm was that it didn’t include No. 3 defensive end Andre Carter until late. The Patriots kept a second defensive tackle on the field over a third-DE (when they kick DE Chandler Jones inside) in hopes of staying stout against the run. Run defense was a struggle for them. … The 90 snaps were two shy of the season high (92, vs. Jets, Oct. 20) … Players to monitor on the injury front who didn’t play in the second half: Hightower, DT Isaac Sopoaga and CB Alfonzo Dennard. … With Sopoaga sidelined, and first-year player Marcus Forston inactive, it left Joe Vellano and Chris Jones as the lone defensive tackles. That’s another reminder of how the season-ending injuries to Vince Wilfork and Tommy Kelly have had a big effect on the club. … It looked like a pre-set rotation was adopted at cornerback in the first half, just to give ailing players a chance to limit their workload. It showed up on the fifth drive when rookie Justin Green, promoted from the practice squad on Saturday, replaced Aqib Talib.

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots

 

[treat88]

R. Ninkovich 0-13

looool...has anybody ever seen that?

One of the strangest lines I have ever seen.

Also thought he at least contributed to forcing the Montee Ball fumble.

The official scorers are actually worse than year which I didn't think was possible based on their track record.

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

he got an assisted fumble on that

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

here's a little 10 min chitchat on pats defense from local radio (weei sun am) -- features matt chatham, who used to play for the pats.

some recent stuff from matt on the easley pick and what it means for our d -- most of it starts at 9:10

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

We're declaring Duron Harmon the winner of the safety competition to start alongside Devin McCourty. There were two side sessions during practice when Darrelle Revis, Brandon Browner, McCourty and Harmon worked alone with defensive backs coach Josh Boyer. Patrick Chung and Tavon Wilson have also competed, but this looks like Harmon's job to lose.

http://bostonherald.com/sports/patriots_nfl/the_blitz/2014/06/minicamp_observations_mankins_sits_out_wilfork_progresses

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

--New England's defense once again utilized a lot of odd-man fronts against Washington. That 34 look had Vince Wilfork over the nose with Tommy Kelly at left end and either Chris Jones or Will Smith on the right. The linebackers included Jerod Mayo and Jamie Collins on the inside with Dont'a Hightower and Rob Ninkovich on the outside. Chandler Jones actually saw time at both end and linebacker in these segments. The same, in other groups, was true for rookie Zach Moore.

--Jones also spent time with the DBs and linebackers during 7-on-7 action. At that same time Ninkovich was down working on pass rushing with the defensive lineman. Jones is certainly seeing more time at linebacker and playing on his feet, both in drills and team action, than we've seen previously.

http://www.patriots.com/news/blog/article-1/Tom-Brady-shines-defense-dominates-and-other-Patriots-camp-blogservations-from-Washington/24f1786e-dfea-46fa-9e4a-58ddb458a6e9

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

RICHMOND, Va. — On one side of the ball, the dream for the Patriots is to have an aggressive, attacking defense that can get to the quarterback and make his life much more miserable than it has been in recent years.

During one phase of 11-on-11 drills yesterday in the joint sessions with the Washington Redskins, we saw that dream becoming reality.

Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III didn’t know what hit him.

Chandler Jones batted down one pass. Then he and Dont’a Hightower, both coming off a different edge, combined for a sack on the next play. A few plays later, Rob Ninkovich brought down Griffin. A few plays later, Jerod Mayo was charging at him on a blitz up the gut.

This is now how the Patriots rush the passer. They attack from everywhere. Why? Because they can.......

http://bostonherald.com/sports/patriots_nfl/new_england_patriots/2014/08/patriots_pin_back_ears_on_pass_rush

to be fair about it, the year they signed that fat slug off washington they had a very similar experience against tampa, I think it was, in preseason, running a 4-3 under --- absolutely terrorized them.

didn't pan out so much in the regular season, so it remains to be seen how much of this stuff is just situational work, although I think one of the big differences is they'll be able to actually implement the man coverage they tried and failed at that year.

and don't forget easley......

 

[ShaHBucks]

RICHMOND, Va. — On one side of the ball, the dream for the Patriots is to have an aggressive, attacking defense that can get to the quarterback and make his life much more miserable than it has been in recent years.

During one phase of 11-on-11 drills yesterday in the joint sessions with the Washington Redskins, we saw that dream becoming reality.

Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III didn’t know what hit him.

Chandler Jones batted down one pass. Then he and Dont’a Hightower, both coming off a different edge, combined for a sack on the next play. A few plays later, Rob Ninkovich brought down Griffin. A few plays later, Jerod Mayo was charging at him on a blitz up the gut.

This is now how the Patriots rush the passer. They attack from everywhere. Why? Because they can.......

http://bostonherald.com/sports/patriots_nfl/new_england_patriots/2014/08/patriots_pin_back_ears_on_pass_rush

to be fair about it, the year they signed that fat slug off washington they had a very similar experience against tampa, I think it was, in preseason, running a 4-3 under --- absolutely terrorized them.

didn't pan out so much in the regular season, so it remains to be seen how much of this stuff is just situational work, although I think one of the big differences is they'll be able to actually implement the man coverage they tried and failed at that year.

and don't forget easley......

Does it say anything about RG3?

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

it said he looked bigger in person than on tv

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

The integration of the 3-4 defense could be here to stay once again. The Pats are using it a lot.

8. Nick Foles is certainly no fluke. The kid was deadly accurate with his passes. He made 2 passes to his RB on deap wheel routes right in front of me against VERY good coverage. One he dropped right there, another he put right on the hands of receiver. Interesting to note that the LB in coverage on both plays was Dante Hightower, and even his most severe detractor would have be proud of him for his position in coverage. It was outstanding both times. IIRC, he was in coverage against Sproles and McCoy on these plays. These are guys that a 270lb LB shouldn't be in the same area code with, but there Hightower was right on the hip of both.

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/threads/8-12-the-snapshot-edition.1111253/

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

pats trade for ben bass and jerel worthy

this could be a little interesting just because of the type of player worthy is and the scheme he fits best

 

[Borden]

How do you see things shaking out in the LB situation? I'm have Collins and Anderson. From what I've read here it doesn't sound promising for these two.

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

for collins?

where did you read that -- I thought most were high on him?

personally, I have a very tough time trying to decipher collins because I really have no idea how the pats will use him, although I'm sure he'll be on the field.

if anybody has insight on that I'd like to hear it.

I wouldn't expect much from anderson, though, unless somebody gets knocked out for the year.

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

Dominique Easley is participating in 11v11s for the first time today.

Easley's 1st rush blazed by C Ryan Wendell's inside shoulder; 2nd rush beats G Dan Connolly to outside; 3rd rush a dynamic sudden spin move.

https://twitter.com/MikeReiss

 

[dickey moe]

Is Kyle Arrington worth hanging onto in deep leagues?

 

[JaxBill]

Ben Volin ‏@BenVolin 1m

Not Mayo RT @Patriots: Jamie Collins with a green dot for the defense tonight. http://bit.ly/1BLFFRP

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

Is Kyle Arrington worth hanging onto in deep leagues?

Depends on league, but imo he's the slot guy who probably gets 60-65% snaps.

Usually, i think guys like this are pretty match up dependent where i'd like the match up vs a det or nos, but not a sea or sf

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

I'll steal wholesale from mike reiss

Here is what it looked like in the season opener against the Dolphins:

Sub: 42 of 74 (41 in nickel, 1 in dime)
Base: 31 of 74
Heavy: 1 of 74

The notable aspect of the Patriots' personnel usage, as previously noted, was how defensive end/outside linebacker Rob Ninkovich was taken off the field in sub packages, which is a change from last year. That contributed to his lower snap total.

editor's note: it also looked like ninky tweaked a shoulder at one point

If you had safety Patrick Chung in the "who will be the kickoff returner" pool, cash in your chips. Few saw that coming, as he wasn’t a regular returner in the preseason or training camp. He finished with two returns for 50 yards, with a long of 30 yards. Devin McCourty had one kickoff return later in the game (27 yards).

A look at snaps by New England Patriots players on defense in the team's season-opening 33-20 loss to the Miami Dolphins (includes penalties):

DEFENSIVE LINE/ON-THE-LINE LINEBACKER:
Dont'a Hightower -- 74 of 74
Chandler Jones -- 70 of 74
Vince Wilfork -- 50 of 74
Sealver Siliga -- 41 of 74
Rob Ninkovich -- 35 of 74
Joe Vellano -- 32 of 74
Dominique Easley -- 27 of 74


NinkovichQuick-hit thought: Ninkovich played 95 percent of the defensive snaps in 2013, so seeing him in a part-time role caught the eye, as he was taken off the field in sub packages and replaced by cornerback Kyle Arrington. The Patriots seemed to miss his pass-rush abilities at times in sub. Noticed more of Hightower playing toward the line of scrimmage instead of in a cover-based role, which appears to play better to his strengths.

OFF-THE-LINE LINEBACKER:
Jerod Mayo -- 74 of 74
Jamie Collins -- 73 of 74

Quick-hit thought: Collins looked like his gas tank was on empty by the end of the game.

SECONDARY:
Devin McCourty -- 73 of 74
Darrelle Revis -- 65 of 74
Alfonzo Dennard -- 50 of 74
Patrick Chung -- 47 of 74
Kyle Arrington -- 31 of 74
Malcolm Butler -- 27 of 74
Tavon Wilson -- 22 of 74
Logan Ryan -- 18 of 74
Duron Harmon -- 4 of 74
Nate Ebner -- 1 of 74

Quick-hit thought: Revis missed the final nine snaps because of cramping. The repetitions at the second cornerback and second safety spots were spread around a bit, but it gave a glimpse of how the coaching staff views the personnel because Alfonzo Dennard got the majority of snaps as the No. 2 cornerback while Patrick Chung took the most No. 2 safety reps. A bit surprising to see such a low playing-time total for Harmon, who was the No. 3 safety in 2013. Meanwhile, Wilson's 22 defensive snaps exceeded his total for all of last season (18).

Personnel-wise, the Patriots were basically in two defenses:

1. A base unit that included a front of Rob Ninkovich, Chandler Jones, Dont’a Hightower, Vince Wilfork/Sealver Siliga, Joe Vellano/Dominique Easley, Jerod Mayo and Jamie Collins.
   
2. A sub defense that took Ninkovich off and created a six-man front.

Defensive starters for the New England Patriots in their season-opening game against the Dolphins:

OLB/DE: Chandler Jones
DT: Vince Wilfork
DT: Joe Vellano
OLB/DE: Rob Ninkovich
LB: Jerod Mayo
LB: Jamie Collins
LB: Dont'a Hightower
CB: Darrelle Revis
CB: Alfonzo Dennard
S: Patrick Chung
S: Devin McCourty

 

[jonboltz]

Good info as always.

Thoughts on Siliga for DT required leagues? He's played like 4 career games and all he does is produce box score stats.

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

Good info as always.

Thoughts on Siliga for DT required leagues? He's played like 4 career games and all he does is produce box score stats.

I have no meaningful comment on that, as I'm not in any DT leagues, and even DL is shallow in the stuff I play in, but from a football pov I thought he was pretty huge last year coming off ps.

basically, I'd say he was just buried there to begin with by wilfork and kelly, but when he finally got his chance I thought he did a great job holding the point and getting push.

I wonder how run against stats looked before and after they put him in there -- I bet they took a good turn.

anyway, if you can hold your ground and not get washed out of a play I think it probably bodes well for whatever tackles you might pick up from that position.

we actually had another guy in camp this summer who didn't make final cuts and unfortunately didn't make the ps -- this guy

he was in for the 4th quarter of pre games against some other guys who got cut, but he kind of reminded me of a siliga, whereas siliga was doing it at the nfl level.

plus, it doesn't hurt if he gets a dozen snaps next to vince drawing double teams.

I'd say the big downside with siliga is you won't be getting the snaps you probably got last year, or would get with other players on other teams.

you've got wilfork ahead of you, and chris jones isn't even on the field yet, so you're just looking at rotational snaps.

 

[jonboltz]

Forgot about Chris Jones. I remember reading that Jones graded out pretty terrible last year. He is still planned on being fairly involved in the rotation?

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

Forgot about Chris Jones. I remember reading that Jones graded out pretty terrible last year. He is still planned on being fairly involved in the rotation?

I really have no idea, but they don't seem to have a big problem with the guy, and they're different players, so you'll see different packages featuring different guys.

I think the defense is very fluid, so you'll get rotational snaps out of a lot of guys in different looks.

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

here's some guy's opinion

- The linebackers were up and down. While many of them had some issues against the run (as did all of the Patriots), Dont'a Hightower looks like a new man rushing the passer off the edge. He had three QB pressures and looks faster than in 2013. Jerod Mayo had an in-the-grasp sack on a delayed blitz and looks like he may be shaking off some of his rust. Jamie Collins had ups and downs: he forced a fumble but also looked sluggish in his zone drops. It seemed to me that a lot of the big plays the Dolphins had in the passing game were due to Collins not getting enough depth in his drops. Collins was also beaten on a potential TD pass to Dion Sims, although the Michigan State tight end dropped the pass in the end zone.

http://www.patspulpit.com/2014/9/7/6119163/quick-take-miami-makes-the-patriots-cry

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

the most excellent and comprehensive look you're going to get at where everybody was lining up

 

[Warpig]

Soooo...Duron Harmon...not a starter? Seems like every thing I read said he was the starter and the staff really likes him. Friggin pats and their smoke and mirrors.

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

Soooo...Duron Harmon...not a starter? Seems like every thing I read said he was the starter and the staff really likes him. Friggin pats and their smoke and mirrors.

yeah, but what you were reading was beat writer speculation from early in camps.

we'll see what happens --- not much is set in concrete on the pats, and if chung was all that great we wouldn't have let him go the first time around.

speaking of chung, he was replacing ninky up in the box as a lb in some packages, fwiw.

 

[Warpig]

Thanks for the scoop!

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

http://vikingsterritory.com/2014/analysis/2014-minnesota-vikings-scouting-the-new-england-patriots

cool scouting breakdown of the pats from some minny dude

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

collins is OUT tomorrow

this probably pulls hightower off the line, which may opn that spot back up for chandler jones

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

Also, dennard out

dennard has a shoulder issue, so logan ryan will get the start opposite revis

apparently, deontae skinner filling in for collins, with hightower possibly remaining in his 3-4 olb role from week 1

skinner just called up from ps this week

edit: on the first series both skinner and hightower have taken snaps at collins' spot

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

thx, mike reiss!!

MINNEAPOLIS -- One of the compelling strategy questions facing the New England Patriots against the Minnesota Vikings was whether to use cornerback Darrelle Revis in a matchup situation against explosive receiver Cordarrelle Patterson.

The Patriots did match Revis up ... but it wasn’t against Patterson.

Instead, they had him blanket veteran Greg Jennings, and he turned in a performance that was so impressive it had Jennings (one catch, four yards) seeking Revis out after the game to laud him.

Not after this one, as Revis’ uncanny anticipation had him mirroring Jennings at times to the point where he actually looked like the intended receiver on some plays. Such was the case on his second-quarter interception, which he said was a result of film study and anticipating what was coming based on a formation they had shown earlier.

In matching up with Jennings, Revis moved into the slot at times, mostly when the Vikings had a three-receiver package on the field. He has played there in the past -- Patriots fans might recall his work against Wes Welker -- but it’s still an adjustment.

“You do have to play different,” he said. “There is a lot of chaos going on in the slot and things happen really fast [compared] to outside.”

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

The Patriots flip-flopped between a 3-4 and a 4-3 this week, using different combinations of players up front. There were a mix of defenders, including Jones, Rob Ninkovich, and Dont'a Hightower getting opportunities in the front seven. Jones and Ninkovich each lined up at outside linebacker and as a 5-technique defensive end in the Patriots' 3-4 alignments, and both were lined up in a 2-point-stance in what looked like a 4-3 alignment but could have been called a 2-5-4 (two down linemen, Jones and Ninkovich in a two-point stance on the edge, three linebackers, four defensive backs).

Both of Jones' sacks came as a 3-4 outside linebacker.

— Defensive starters: OLB Chandler Jones, DE Vince Wilfork, DT Sealver Siliga, DE Chris Jones, OLB: Rob Ninkovich, ILB Jerod Mayo, ILB Dont'a Hightower, CB Darrelle Revis, CB Logan Ryan, S Patrick Chung, S Devin McCourty

— Found it interesting that Deontae Skinner was in on the team's nickel package with Jamie Collins out. Skinner is regarded as more of a run-thumping linebacker, and was targeted twice on the Vikings' opening drive, allowing two completions and a third-down conversion. The Patriots' lack of depth at linebacker, and how they manage it without Collins, will be an interesting storyline going forward.

— Another nickel package saw the Patriots pull Vince Wilfork and Sealver Siliga in favor of cornerback Kyle Arrington and defensive tackle Dominique Easley.

— Linebacker Dont'a Hightower once again had a dynamite performance, lining up as both an inside and outside linebacker in the 3-4 and as an outside linebacker and a defensive end in the 4-3 and nickel packages. He came crashing off the edge to log a pair of sacks, and made a pair of nice tackles of Vikings wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson in open space on crossing patterns. He also got into the backfield for two tackles-for-loss and assisted with another tackle behind the line of scrimmage. Hightower looks ready to become a central player for the Patriots defense.

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/extra_points/2014/09/patriots_week_2_game_notes_chandler_jones_kicks_ou.html?camp=miscatriots&SREF=Optin&dlvrit=834384

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

thx, mike reiss!!

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- A look at snaps by New England Patriots' players on defense in the team's 30-7 victory against the Minnesota Vikings (includes penalties):

INSIDE LINEBACKER
Jerod Mayo -- 68 of 68
Dont'a Hightower -- 68 of 68
Deontae Skinner -- 21 of 68

Quick-hit thought: Skinner, promoted from the practice squad Saturday, was part of one base package that the Patriots mostly used when the Vikings had one back and two tight ends on the field. He played 19 first-half snaps and just two in the second half. In explaining Skinner's promotion, Bill Belichick said, "Deontae has had a couple good weeks on the practice squad and in practice. It is an opportunity for him and I think he was mentally ready to take advantage of it. Sure he will get better as he continues to play. He hasn't played a lot of football for us this year."

DEFENSIVE END/OUTSIDE LINEBACKER
Rob Ninkovich -- 68 of 68
Chandler Jones -- 68 of 68

Quick-hit thought: Ninkovich had played 35 of 74 snaps in the opener but was back to full-time duty, perhaps in part because of Jamie Collins' thigh injury keeping him out of action. Meanwhile, Jones was arguably the best defender on the field.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Sealver Siliga -- 40 of 68
Vince Wilfork -- 39 of 68
Dominique Easley -- 29 of 68
Chris Jones -- 16 of 68
Joe Vellano -- 2 of 68

Quick-hit thought: Vellano had started and played 32 of 74 snaps in the opener, but he only took the field for two second-half snaps against the Vikings. A combination of Jones' return from injury, and the Patriots facing an interior tackle tandem of Wilfork and Siliga, contributed to his reduction in workload.

CORNERBACK
Logan Ryan -- 68 of 68
Darrelle Revis -- 60 of 68
Kyle Arrington -- 45 of 68
Malcolm Butler -- 8 of 68

Quick-hit thought: After Alfonzo Dennard was a surprise scratch (left shoulder), it thrust Ryan into a full-time role and he played well. Revis was excellent and got the final series off, while Arrington was a consistent presence in the slot.

SAFETY
Devin McCourty -- 60 of 68
Patrick Chung -- 37 of 68
Duron Harmon -- 25 of 68
Tavon Wilson -- 13 of 68
Nate Ebner -- 13 of 68

Quick-hit thought: Chung has played the most next to McCourty in the first two games of the season, and he sometimes comes off the field in sub packages, giving way to Harmon. Ebner (two first-half snaps; 11 second-half snaps) was part of the dime package that was used mostly late.

 

[ShaHBucks]

DT spot looks congested now. Jones was a nice play for me last year leading all rookies in sacks.

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

I'll steal this from andyjohnson at the patsfans forum

thx, andy!!

I went back and reveiwed the film, and here is how the defense schemed yesterday.

I'll start with the second half because thats easiest and most appropriate to this point.
We played almost exclusively 4-2 nickel in the second half. We played maybe 5 snaps of 34 base, if that and also a handful of 3-2 dime.
Hightower didn't play DE with Jones rushing from inside all day.
His pass rush was exclusively as a blitzer when we sent 5 or more, which we did a lot of.
In all nickel and dime packages Hightower aligned off the ball in the vicinity of where a 34 ILB would align, except for blitz packages when he cheated up to the LOS (usually near the B gap) and blitzed.

These are the schemes we played, which a rough estimate of how much, and personell used.

BASE
We played 34 base. Wilfork was on the DL mostly with Silinga, Jones and Easley rotated in a bit. Vellano played less than 5 snaps.
Hightower played weak OLB.
Mayo and the rookie were the ILBs.
The DL shifted to strength making either Nink or Jones the Strong OLB depending upon formation, the other one played DE.
We played some snaps with '3 bigs' Wilfork, Jones, Siliga (I'm guessing somewhere between 5 and 10 of them) with Nink and Jones as OLBs and Mayo and Hightower ILBs. This is clearly a run heavy D that we will use situationally and opponent specifically.

We played a handful of 43 snaps, with the same personell. The major difference was the LBs were further inside and BOTH Nink and Jones had contain.
Sub packages were primarily the 42 nickel. Chris Jones, Easely and Wilfork were the DTs.
We played a few snaps of 33 nickel which was basically the 34 described above with a LB (Skinner) out and a DB in.
We played a little 3-2 dime, which was interesting with Easely on the nose and Jones and Nink at DE.
Mayo and HT at LBs.

In the end this was pretty much the same scheme that we played vs Miami, but offensive personnel groups, game plan and score made it look different. Jones was standing up more, because Nink was in a 3 point stance more because the Vikes went strong more often to a different side of the field that the Dolphins.
I think if Collins were healthy, we would have seen Nink coming off the field in sub with Hightower taking his DE place and Collins taking the LB spot HT was playing yesterday.
HT did not play DE at all yesterday, but did vs the Dolphins, so it seems Collins being out got Nink more reps.

 

[LargeMouthBass]

Any news on Jamie Collins? Is he good to go this week?

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

he had limited practice today, so I think the intent is there depending on how he does the next couple days, but I wouldn't trust him to play a full load.

I'm not saying he won't play every snap, but somebody has to come off the field, and it might be him if he isn't 100%

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

Defensive Tackle

Vince Wilfork -- 50 of 60

Chris Jones -- 29 of 60

Dominique Easley -- 16 of 60

Joe Vellano -- 14 of 60

Sealver Siliga -- 11 of 60

Defensive End

Chandler Jones -- 60 of 60

Rob Ninkovich -- 60 of 60

Linebacker

Dont'a Hightower -- 60 of 60

Jerod Mayo -- 60 of 60

Jamie Collins -- 20 of 60

Cornerback

Darrelle Revis -- 60 of 60

Logan Ryan -- 60 of 60

Kyle Arrington -- 21 of 60

Safety

Devin McCourty -- 60 of 60

Patrick Chung -- 44 of 60

Tavon Wilson -- 13 of 60

Duron Harmon -- 12 of 60

Nate Ebner -- 10 of 60

 

[jonboltz]

Kinda expected with Collins coming back from injury.

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

btw, siliga got knocked out in the 1st qtr with a foot, I think it was, if anybody cares about dt

 

[alger]

btw, siliga got knocked out in the 1st qtr with a foot, I think it was, if anybody cares about dt

I do. I have Chris Jones on my dynasty squad. Thanks for the info

 

[jonboltz]

Interesting that, despite Siligia being injured, Easley's snap % went down.

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

Interesting that, despite Siligia being injured, Easley's snap % went down.

well, siliga is more vince's position, so vince soaked some of those up, and then chris jones just ate up easley's snaps

he was just working back in last week

 

[jonboltz]

Interesting that, despite Siligia being injured, Easley's snap % went down.

well, siliga is more vince's position, so vince soaked some of those up, and then chris jones just ate up easley's snaps

he was just working back in last week

Losing snaps to Chris Jones is likely an even bigger issue.

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

haha.....eh, I think vets generally have a big edge regardless of talent --- at least on the pats.

I wouldn't worry about it this early in the year

I know fans like to think of a lot of these guys like slugs, but they wouldn't be on the team if belichick thought they were worthless.

just not making mistakes is a pretty important ability.