FOXBORO – On the first defensive series of the night, the Patriots’ third-down unit came on the field hoping to ruin the Tennessee Titans night. Thanks to a couple of rookies, they did just that.
On third-and-7, at 10:03 of the first quarter, Adam Butler created pressure up the middle of the offensive line. Marcus Mariota immediately tried to roll out of the pocket. The only problem was that Deatrich Wise was there ready and waiting for the sack.
The next time [...]
FOXBORO – On the first defensive series of the night, the Patriots’ third-down unit came on the field hoping to ruin the Tennessee Titans night. Thanks to a couple of rookies, they did just that.
On third-and-7, at 10:03 of the first quarter, Adam Butler created pressure up the middle of the offensive line. Marcus Mariota immediately tried to roll out of the pocket. The only problem was that Deatrich Wise was there ready and waiting for the sack.
The next time the Patriots defense saw another sack, it was from Butler – on another third down, this time at 13:27 of the third quarter. The two Patriots rookies have grown close this season and in Saturday night’s AFC divisional win over Tennessee helped the pass rush on a record-setting night.
“It’s great. I love working with Deatrich. He’s very disruptive,” Butler said. “That’s pretty much both of our jobs – to be disruptive. I come up the middle, get him off the spot. He rolls out and he’s got him. I trust him. He sets the edge, Mariota steps up and I’m there for him. We sort of just play off each other.”
The first two sacks of the game set off a chain reaction for the Patriots. When the game was over, the Patriots defense had eight sacks, which were a Patriots franchise record. Wise and Geneo Grissom led the team with two apiece. Butler, Marquis Flowers, Trey Flowers, and Ricky Jean Francois all got into the fun as well.
For a team that struggled to put together a consistent pass rush through the early portion of the regular season, Saturday’s performance came at a perfect time. With a mobile quarterback in Mariota on the other side of the line, the team needed to do all they could to keep him in check. The game plan was to create pressure up the middle and not let Mariota escape the pocket.
“We understand we had to attack them as far as containing him and getting some pressure up the middle,” Trey Flowers said. “Those were the keys going into the game – not allowing him to step up and not allowing him, once he feels that pressure, to escape out the pocket. Hats off to the guys in the backend taking away his first read.”
The growth of rookies like Wise and Butler has been encouraging. In the regular season, Wise finished with five tackles and 19 quarterback hits. Butler added two sacks. The pair looked dominant at times on Saturday. Although they’re not full-time players, they understand their role on the team and excelled.
In the Pats defense, the rookies are a part of the third-down package along with the likes of Trey Flowers and Marquis Flowers. The goal there is simple – get to the quarterback.
It was mission accomplished on Saturday.
“See, that’s one thing that we’ve build together – great chemistry between us,” Wise said. “He knows how I rush. I know how he rushes. He does a great job bringing the pocket up. I try to do a great job keeping the edge. We know how to rush off each other to make plays.’
“You’ve got a lot of guys who want to get after it,” Trey Flowers added. “Adam up the middle just getting penetration, pushing the pocket. You’ve got Deatrich on the edge, working his good rush and things like that. You’ve got guys like Marquis and [Kyle] Van Noy up the middle either spying or getting penetration as well. When you’re doing things like that and you’re on a roll like that, the back end guys holding their own, when you’re working like that and clicking on all cylinders, you’re bound to be successful.”