Pats Pulpit
The playoffs are back in Foxboro. The New England Patriots are getting set to welcome the Los Angeles Chargers to Gillette Stadium for a Sunday night showdown on wild card weekend.
With that, let’s get into this week’s #PostPulpit Mailbag.
The Chargers’ defense looks legit against the pass. Seems Jesse Minter runs a modern Fangio-style, two-high shell that morphs into man on verticals and zone underneath, paired with a strong pass rush. The tradeoff appears to be run defense — that’s where opponents have found openings.
This type of defense I’ve heard cited as a potential answer to Drake Maye. How has he actually fared against split-safety, zone-match looks?vSo what’s the counter? How should the Patriots offense attack this defense? Do we take the ball out of Maye’s hands and lean on the run? Are there opportunities to attack with the pass given they likley will take away the deep ball? – CanuckYaz
As you hinted at, the Chargers defense spends most of their time in zone coverage (80.7 percent, 5th highest) — rotating primarily between quarters, split-safety, and cover-three — which has led to them limiting explosive plays as the fifth-lowest rate in the league. That does not mean big plays are impossible to find, however.
Two weeks ago, old friend Nick Caley found a pair of explosive touchdowns on deep posts against LA’s match quarter calls — which have four defenders in the deep portion of the field in zone but can match receivers with man-to-man principles underneath or overtop when routes declare. Prior to that, George Pickens also connected on a deep touchdown vs. the Chargers attacking the backside of quarters which essentially becomes man-to-man.
If the touchdown looks familiar, that’s because it’s essentially the same play and coverage as Kyle Williams’ touchdown in Baltimore.
With Drake Maye’s success vs. zone this season and with his ability to push the ball downfield, explosive plays should be available Sunday night. But, as he said Wednesday: “Don’t get bored being efficient.” Chargers DC Jesse Minter also isn’t afraid to heat up opposing quarterbacks when they need a big play, so the Pats offense will need answers.
As for the ground game, New England’s red hot rushing attack could continue to find success against the Chargers defense specifically running downhill duo schemes. L.A. has struggled defending that approach and guarding play-action off of it — something Maye found success with last week going 6-for-6 on his play-action attempts and averaging 15.7 yards per.
What’s the bigger concern: our pass rush vs. their offensive line, or their pass rush vs. our protection? How have teams slowed the Chargers offense lately — and do the Patriots have the defensive personnel to replicate that approach? – CanuckYaz
The Patriots pass rush should have an advantage over the Chargers offensive line, which ranks dead last in pass block win rate and 31st in run block win rate. A dominant effort in the trenches up front is where the Patriots defense can take control...
