Musket Fire
FanSided

The New England Patriots’ glaring weakness on defense

By Brandon Gimpel

FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - OCTOBER 10: Kyle Van Noy #53 of the New England Patriots celebrates with his teammates Terrence Brooks #25, Stephon Gilmore #24 and Matthew Slater #18 after recovering a fumble to score a touchdown against the New York Giants during the fourth quarter in the game at Gillette Stadium on October 10, 2019 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - OCTOBER 10: Kyle Van Noy #53 of the New England Patriots celebrates with his teammates Terrence Brooks #25, Stephon Gilmore #24 and Matthew Slater #18 after recovering a fumble to score a touchdown against the New York Giants during the fourth quarter in the game at Gillette Stadium on October 10, 2019 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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Despite a spectacular start to the season, the Patriots’ defense has a weakness and teams may be catching on.

The Patriots’ defense has been the talk of the season around New England after a historic first half of the season. They were shutting out teams week in and week out with ease. They have tallied 19 interceptions so far this season and are among the top of the league in nearly every defensive statistic. It seems that a few teams have found a “chink in the armor” of New England’s defense, and Baltimore was able to expose that weakness.

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In two consecutive weeks, the Patriots have given up over 100 rushing yards to an opposing running back. In the game against Cleveland, Nick Chubb carried the ball 20 times for a total of 131 yards, and last week Mark Ingram carried the ball 15 times for 115 yards. Luckily for the Patriots, these back-to-back 100 yard rushing games came just before the bye week so they have time make adjustments. Looking ahead on their schedule, they still have to play arguably the best running back in football in Ezekiel Elliott. This is going to be a tremendous test for New England’s front seven who may not be as dominant as advertised.

This is still a very good defense, but through nine weeks have not had to face many elite run heavy offenses. Baltimore was the first team that took this approach against New England and the defense got gashed. Not only did Mark Ingram gave 115 yards, Lamar Jackson was also able to scamper for 61 yards. This is concerning because Zeke Elliott is a much better running back than Ingram. The Patriots will have to be prepared for Elliott when the Cowboys visit Foxboro on November 24th.

This bye week is a great opportunity for the coaching staff to work on a solution to this problem before more teams start catching on. The defense is the driving force of this team and if they can be exposed, the Patriots are in a world of trouble.

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