Pats' run defense needs to improve in Week 8 – NBC Sports Boston

FOXBORO — As the Patriots prepared for their first practice since head coach Jerod Mayo described them as “soft,” perhaps “salty” would have been the best adjective to describe the air around the team's offensive players.

Putting on full pads for a practice focused on early downs was their first opportunity to prove to their coach that they were ready and able to play the type of football that was asked of them .

“It should light a fire under your butt,” guard Michael Jordan said. “For me personally, you can't let someone hold you to a higher standard than you do. When Coach said it, it meant something. But I hold myself to a higher standard, so I'm already upset. I'm already upset.”

The question now is whether or not Mayo's message has gotten through to his team as they prepare to take on a Jets team that is currently doing some soul-searching of its own.

Are players taking one of the most offensive four-letter words in football and using it as fuel? Will you take on this challenge straight away? Or are they going in the opposite direction?

“You shouldn’t take it too personally,” tackle Demontrey Jacobs said. “You look at it: 'How can I change this narrative from the coach's perspective?' As he said, “We play soft,” he said. “We just need to repeat what we need to do to play harder and smarter together for longer.”

“I’m not upset about it at all,” Jordan said. “I'm happy to accept it. You need something like that. You need it. It takes complete honesty to see where you need to go.”

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Hunter Henry lives just a few cubicles away from a group of linemen in the Patriots' locker room. He also insisted that the players involved would rise to the occasion.

“It has to challenge you,” he said. “It's a physical game. You never want that to be your identity… I think the team will respond great. You don’t want to be called that.”

On Friday, after seeing two days of training, Mayo said his team's intensity was where he expected it to be after everything that had happened since the clock hit zero in London.

But unless they can improve on what they've shown lately when it comes to running the football (their backs have averaged 1.9 yards per carry over the past two weeks) and passing the run stop (more on that below) – and unless they see real results against a division opponent at home this weekend won't matter.

“My job is to always challenge these guys and always show them what it’s like,” Mayo said. “What I can say is that we had a good week of training. We had good weeks of training. Now it just needs to show up on Sunday.”

Matchup that determines the game

Jets lead the game against Patriots lead the defense

As the Jets finished their film review of the Patriots' loss to Jacksonville, how could they have thought anything other than this: “Let's run them out of the building.”

Anyone who rushes for 171 yards on the ground — including an embarrassing 17 straight carries — can expect to see the same kind of grind-you-out approach the following week. No matter what opponent.

The question is whether the Patriots will have any schematic answers to deal with what the Jets will throw at them with running backs Breece Hall and Braelon Allen. One suggestion I heard this week is that New England could philosophically change its approach with its front seven.

Early downs had long been a “two-gap” defense, allowing players to take over blocks and play out gaps on either side of those blocks, eventually shedding them to make tackles. Easier said than done. Especially if you don't have the staff to pull it off.

Patriots defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington spoke to the media and shared his reaction to Bill Belichick calling the Patriots a rejecting run defense.

It might prove beneficial to call for a more gap-focused, on-the-ground approach. That could mean sending out run bolts. That might mean tilting the front to achieve penetration. The Patriots are missing some of their top defenders – Ja'Whaun Bentley, Christian Barmore, Jabrill Peppers – so they don't have the size they're used to in some spots, making it difficult to get two-yardage coverage. Daniel Ekuale, Christian Elliss and Marte Mapu don't bring the same punch.

The Patriots threw a few wrinkles into their run defense in real time against the Jaguars. No team played with more boxes filled last week (41 percent of snaps, according to NextGen stats) than the Patriots. They also sent second-level defenders on blitzes to try to run down the clock and make tackles near the line of scrimmage. Neither worked.

The Patriots will have to keep turning the dial looking for answers as they are in the middle of a three-game stretch where they have allowed it average 185 yards per game on the ground. The good news for them is that the Jets haven't performed particularly well this season despite having two talented defensemen. They are 29th in EPA per rush and 28th in success rate when Aaron Rodgers passes.

A matchup that will surprise you

Blitzes between Drake Maye and the Jets

One thing Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich hasn't been afraid of since taking over? Heat up the opposing quarterback.

His team's blitz rate since Week 6 is ninth in the NFL at 37.7 percent. Makes sense. When the Jets send five rushers or more, they are second-best in the NFL in quarterback rating allowed (55.0) and fourth-best in yards per attempt allowed (5.3).

Tom E. Curran and Phil Perry praise Drake Maye for his demeanor on Sunday against the Jaguars and his improvement since being drafted last spring.

Seeing a rookie quarterback this week shouldn't deter him from that tendency – especially since that style of defense brought the Jets big success in Week 3. Under then-head coach Robert Saleh, the Jets hit just over 36 percent of Patriots dropbacks and allowed just three points.

And yet… Patriots quarterback Drake Maye seemed comfortable battling extra pass rushers. Against Houston in Week 6, he averaged 9.9 yards per pass against the Lightning, catching three touchdown passes. Against the Jags, he threw a touchdown pass on the blitz and had the best EPA per play against the blitz in Week 7 (+0.22).

As they say, something has to give.

A matchup that will take years off your life

Breece Hall against the Patriots linebackers

The Patriots didn't just have trouble preventing opposing running backs from carrying the football between the tackles. Running backs were also an issue in the passing game. In the last three games, they allowed running backs a quarterback rating of 120.5 on 12 targets.

Unfortunately, they now face one of the most talented pass-catching players in football. And in Rodgers, a quarterback who has targeted running backs in the passing game more than anyone else this season (57 attempts).

According to NGS, Hall caught 32 of his 43 targets for an average of 9.6 yards per catch, yielding 73 yards after contact above expectations. That final number puts him third among all defensemen this season. Elliss, Raekwon McMillan and Jahlani Tavai will have their hands full getting the 5-foot-10, 217-pound man on the floor. According to Pro Football Focus, the Patriots have missed a whopping 28 tackles in the last three weeks.

Prediction: Jets 23, Patriots 21