The switch has been flipped for the Patriots' defense and has been for quite a while. To begin the year, Bill Belichick's unit struggled to get off the field in crucial moments and was an Achilles heel for the club as it got out to a 2-4 start. However, the light has gone on over the last five weeks during this winning streak and New England now owns the hottest defense in the NFL. For the first time this season, the Patriots were able to pitch a shutout by blanking the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night 25-0.
This was a continuation of what has been a dominant stretch by New England over the last month-plus. Since Week 7 when this streak began, the Patriots are allowing 10 points per game (first in the NFL) and 258 total yards per game (second in the NFL). They've also totaled 13 turnovers and 15 sacks over this stretch, both marks being the best in the league.
To further highlight how dominant this club has been, here are a couple more nuggets about this unit:
- Over the last 19 possessions, the Patriots' defense has allowed zero points.
- Over the last 26 possessions, the Patriots' defense has scored 13 points and allowed seven.
- In the last 116 minutes of game action, the Patriots have outscored their opponents 70-0.
That's as dominant as you can get and this latest showing against Atlanta was just the latest example. They were able to apply pressure on Matt Ryan early and create three first-half sacks. Then, in the second half, a turnover tsunami washed over the Falcons as the Patriots forced four straight interceptions (including a pick-six) to end the game.
One of the hallmarks of a great defense is beating down on inferior teams and not letting them needlessly have life during a game. While the Falcons aren't the same caliber of team that the Patriots will see over this stretch run or in the playoffs if they ultimately get there, performances like Thursday flash championship-caliber DNA that this unit is starting to develop.
A great example of that was following Mac Jones' interception in the third quarter. New England held a 13-0 lead and the Falcons had an opportunity to make it a one-score game. Instead of things snowballing as they did at times to begin the year for the Patriots, the defense kept points off the board as they prevented the Falcons from advancing on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 from the New England 16-yard line. It's that type of clutch complementary football that will be vital as they look to enter the postseason.
Again, in a vacuum, shutting down the Falcons on Thursday shouldn't be too much to raise your eyebrows at. However, the manner in which they did, combined with how this unit has ascended in recent weeks, makes the Patriots one of the more feared teams in the NFL at the moment.
Games to monitor on Sunday
With New England having Sunday off after playing on Thursday, now is a good chance to take a deeper look at the competition in the weeks ahead. The Patriots' next opponent is the Tennessee Titans, who they'll play host to at Gillette Stadium in Week 12. The Titans will be in Nashville taking on the Houston Texans. There admittedly may not be much to take from this game as Tennessee is facing a last-place club, but it will be interesting to see how it continues to look without star running back Derrick Henry nonetheless.
With that game certainly of note, here are two other games that warrant significant attention:
- Colts at Bills. This matchup is worth watching on a number of different fronts. On top of both of these teams being on the schedule for the Patriots in the coming weeks, if Indy were to upset Buffalo, New England would have sole possession of first place in the AFC East coming out of Week 11.
Of course, simply scouting how these teams perform will also be important. The Bills were able to bounce back in Week 10 with a blowout win over the Jets after falling to the Jaguars the week prior, but there have been some questions about Buffalo deteriorating a little bit after a strong start to the year. Now that the Bills face stiffer competition in the Colts, we may get a better sense of where Sean McDermott's team is at. Meanwhile, the Colts have been a scrappy 5-5 team and is still very much in play for a wild card spot in the conference, meaning they are direct competition to New England, especially if Buffalo maintains its lead in the division. - Cowboys at Chiefs. This is more of a macro view of the AFC playoff picture. So far, no elite team has truly revealed itself in the conference, which naturally makes the Patriots' outlook that much more interesting. However, the Chiefs did look like their former elite selves last week as they dropped 41 points and Patrick Mahomes threw for 406 yards and five touchdowns in a win against Las Vegas. If they have truly flipped a switch and have returned to form, that'll be a major threat to New England.
Bill Belichick vs. first-year head coaches
Belichick's impressive record against rookie quarterbacks has been of note for many years. However, the 2021 season is showing us that Belichick is also having tremendous success against first-year head coaches as well.
So far, Belichick is 5-0 this season when going up against a rookie head coach with the latest victory coming on Thursday against Atlanta's Arthur Smith. He's also defeated Robert Saleh (Jets) twice, David Culley (Texans), and Brandon Staley (Chargers). On top of that undefeated record, Belichick's Patriots have outscored those rookie head coaches 156-65.
The final first-year NFL head coach left on the schedule for Belichick is Urban Meyer when the Patriots play host to the Jaguars in Week 17.
Kyle Dugger's emergence
One of the better stories during New England's dominant run on the defensive side of the ball is second-year safety Kyle Dugger. He's currently the Patriots' leading tackler this season and is coming off back-to-back weeks with eye-opening plays. Against Cleveland last week, he picked off Baker Mayfield that truly opened the floodgates en route to the blowout. This week, he was tasked with covering Falcons star rookie tight end Kyle Pitts and came through early with a tremendous PBU on a third-and-9 throw from Matt Ryan on Atlanta's opening drive.
Pitts was targeted three times when Dugger was covering him on Thursday and managed just one catch for 16 yards. Dugger also finished the game with seven tackles.
N'Keal Harry shows slight spark
N'Keal Harry clearly hasn't lived up to his first-round draft status back when the team took him No. 32 overall back in 2019. While it remains to be seen if he'll ever ascend to be the player the club hoped he would be upon drafting him, he's recently carved himself out a solid role. Entering Week 11, Pro Football Focus had Harry as the No. 2 blocking wide receiver in the NFL and was second on the team in blocking in their Week 10 win over Cleveland, only trailing tackle Trent Brown. That's an underrated contribution that Harry is making on this team, especially for a club that runs as much as New England does.
He also showed a little spark in the passing game during Thursday's win over Atlanta, catching both of his targets for 14 yards. It's also noteworthy that each of those grabs weren't garbage-time targets for Harry as Jones looked at him during New England's opening drive and he touched the ball again on the team's third possession of the evening. There was also an opportunity for Harry's contributions as a receiver to have been even bigger. On Jones' third-quarter interception on a pass intended for Jonnu Smith, the rookie did seem to have an open Harry on that same side of the field and closer to the sideline as corner A.J. Terrell gravitated toward Smith.
Clearly we're past the point of hoping/predicting any sort of breakout from Harry, but if the Patriots can unlock just a smidge more from him as a pass-catcher, that could be a fascinating wrinkle to the offense over the final few weeks of the regular season.