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Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Can the Patriots defense carry them for another postseason run? - Boston Herald

FOXBORO — The rock upon which Bill Belichick built the 2019 Patriots cracked last weekend.

The fate of the Pats’ postseason run now rests on how quickly those cracks can be sealed.

Last seen mowed down by Miami, the Patriots defense is preparing for the two-headed offensive monster set to visit Foxboro this Wild Card weekend: Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill and 2019 NFL rushing champion Derrick Henry. The Pats can absorb several body shots from Henry because they’ve proven sufficiently rush resistant this season and stood tall in the red zone. They cannot, however, survive quick-score uppercuts from Tannehill.

Mostly because their offense can’t punch back.

The Pats went 0-4 when opponents scored 20 or more points during the regular season. Tom Brady led only a single fourth-quarter comeback and game-winning drive for the second year of his career. The running game has shown late-season signs of life, but none of dominance.

The best Patriots must be at their best Saturday to top Tennessee. For the first time in almost two decades, that no longer means Brady. It’s the defensive backs.

“Just trusting our keys, trusting each other and believing in each other. That’s what its going to take,” Pats All-Pro cornerback Stephon Gilmore said. “We’ve got a great team coming in, probably the best team we’ve played all year. So it’s going to be a big challenge for us.”

Undoubtedly, Tennessee has closely studied this week how Miami quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick reduced the Pats secondary to rubble. Titans coach Mike Vrabel explained as much Tuesday on a conference call, as if he was instead standing in front of a team meeting.

“The quarterback was able to buy himself some time with his legs, and you’ve got to run great routes. If you run sloppy routes, they’ll undercut you,” Vrabel said. “The quarterback’s got to put balls in good spots to allow for guys to be able to play out in front of defenders, who do a fantastic job of getting their hands on the ball, disrupting the football. And Ryan last week was able to get them in the right plays a lot of time and put the ball in spots where his guys could make plays on it.”

Absent from Vrabel’s explanation was the mention of turnovers, which have dried up considerably. After forcing more than three per game through October, the Pats have produced nine over their last eight games — with more than half coming at Cincinnati. That afternoon, Gilmore grabbed two interceptions while shadowing Bengals Tyler Boyd, whom he basically sent into witness protection.

Now licking his wounds from DeVante Parker’s 100-yard game on his watch Sunday, Gilmore must turn to Tennessee’s No. 1 wideout A.J. Brown. Brown has surpassed 100 receiving yards in four of his last six games and made a late push to be named Offensive Rookie of the Year.

“He’s gotten better and better as the season’s gone on, and he’s hard to tackle once he gets the ball. That’s one thing that sticks out about him,” Gilmore said. “You’ve got to get him on the ground once he catches it.”

Of course, Tannehill hasn’t completed 70% of his passes this season firing strictly to a rookie. Fellow former first-round wide receiver Corey Davis ranks second with 601 yards, while tight end Jonnu Smith and running back Dion Lewis are involved, too. Smith scored against the Pats in the Titans’ 34-10 win last season, as Davis torched Gilmore.

“The ball gets spread around pretty good. There’s not just one guy that they’re throwing to,” Belichick said. “They do a good job of getting the ball to everybody and they have, obviously, the best running game in the league. … And the quarterback can move down there, too.”

Since Tannehill took over the starting job in October, Tennessee has gone 7-3. More impressively, they’ve led the league in yards per passing attempt, feasting on long play-action throws and intermediate routes. After six years toiling in Miami, Tannehill rapidly reached the peak of his powers under first-year offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.

It’s been a perfect marriage of talent and scheme, which could prove problematic for the Pats. Few teams deploy their tight ends more often than Tennessee, and heavy personnel groups featuring multiple backs and tight ends have stressed the Patriots. Not unlike Fitzpatrick did last weekend.

“With Tannehill they’ve had a blending of really everything. From run to play-action, but also just the specific looks that they’re giving is very easy for Tannehill,” said Pats defensive line coach Bret Bielema. “You can see the confidence in the way he’s executing the runs, the run games, the checks at the line of scrimmage, but also how he ties that into the passing game. Play-action or drop-back, he’s just got a lot of options around him.”

And now there remains just one option for the Patriots: defend or die trying.

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Can the Patriots defense carry them for another postseason run? - Boston Herald
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