Last week, against a mediocre Cleveland Browns team, the Patriots defense was absolutely torched by Peyton Hillis and Colt McCoy. The Browns controlled the ball for over 38 minutes, Hillis had 29 attempts rushing for 184 yards, and McCoy had a completion percentage of 73.6%. These stats reflect the poor defensive pressure applied by the front seven, as McCoy was never hit or sacked in the game, while Hillis did not rush for any negative plays.
Fast forward one week, and the Patriots suddenly looked like a defensive juggernaut against an elite Pittsburgh Steelers offense. Featuring Ben Roethlisberger, a good offensive line, and a future star in running back Rashard Mendenall, Pittsburgh had every reason to believe that they could steamroll the New England defense. However, the Patriots thought otherwise and absolutely stymied the Pittsburgh offense. The defensive pressure applied on Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh backfield was the key to this quality defensive effort.
Overall, New England sacked Roethisberger five times and hit and pressured Roethlisberger 10 other times, which caused him to make several poor decisions. Hybrid defensive ends Mike Wright and Tully Banta-Cain, two relative unknowns who thrive in Belichick’s system, each led the way with 1.5 sacks and two different knockdowns on Roethlisberger. Through three quarters, the Patriots forced the Steelers to four different three-and-outs, and Pittsburgh’s 23 points in the fourth quarter came when the game was already in-hand.
If the Patriots defense continues to apply consistent pressure to the quarterback like the unit did this past Sunday in Pittsburgh, New England will be primed for success this season. Roethlisberger, who remains one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL, was clearly rattled from all of the pressure from the New England front seven. Roethlisberger was forced to scramble out of the pocket from the New England pass rush in multiple instances and make several quick decisions to avoid getting sacked. With the tremendous speed and instincts of the New England linebacker corps and defensive ends, the New England front seven can run with almost every quarterback in the NFL.
Most of the better quarterbacks in this league (Brady, Manning, Brees) all play best within the pocket and when they have time to throw. The best way to disrupt their rhythm is to apply quick, consistent pressure, which will get them out of their comfort zone. Teams like Pittsburgh and the New York Jets, two of New England’s primary competitors in the AFC, feature several long developing plays that take several seconds to complete. If the Patriots apply pressure, it will eliminate these plays from their playbooks and force them to make shorter throws, which will allow cornerbacks Devin McCourty and Kyle Arrington to play more aggressively on the receivers.
Last year, the Achilles heel for the Patriots was the defensive pressure. Baltimore absolutely torched the New England front seven in the wild card game last year, as Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco seemingly had at least 4 seconds to throw every snap, while running back Ray Rice had wide open running lanes to rush in.
This year, defensive newcomers Brandon Spikes, Jermaine Cunningham, and Rob Ninkovich have stabilized the linebacking corps and added a new dimension to the defense that was missing a year ago: a consistent pass rush. All three of these players run extremely hard on every snap and use their quickness and instincts on opposing tackles to get to the backfield in a hurry. As a result, the Patriots have improved considerably on defense from the beginning of the regular season, and the Patriots have recently forced upper-echelon quarterbacks Phillip Rivers, Roethlisberger, and Brett Favre into playing below their standard. If the Patriots continue to find a way to get to the quarterback, they will ease the pressure on their offense and continue to frustrate opposing quarterbacks.
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