New England’s typically-stout defense has had its struggles recently
Following a 41-21 loss to the Houston Texans, the New England Patriots defense found itself confronted with some harsh internal criticism. Whether it was head coach Jerod Mayo telling the unit it should “feel like crap” or defensive tackle Davon Godchaux questioning its pride, the message was painfully clear.
Sunday’s outing was bad, and nothing the team ever wants to see repeated. Heading into Week 7 and a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, the unit therefore has something to prove.
It carries the proper mindset, as linebacker Jahlani Tavai told reporters on Monday.
“We’re just pissed off,” Tavai said during a video call. “We’re pissed off on the defensive side. We just have a lot to prove and do our jobs.”
The Patriots entered the 2024 season with a simple plan to success in mind. They would control the rhythm and tempo on offense through their running game, and subsequently play stout football on the defensive side of the ball.
The recipe worked perfectly in Week 1 against the Cincinnati Bengals, but things have gone sideways since that upset victory. The Patriots have lost a league-high five straight games, giving up an average of 26.6 points and 385.8 yards along the way, and standing at -3 in the turnover department.
While not all of the blame for that falls on the defense, the unit has failed to meet expectations lately — with the Texans game a low point so far.
“We don’t need to hear the coaches talking about them being upset. We should already be upset,” Tavai said.
“41 points is unacceptable. Over a 100 yards rushing is unacceptable. Those are things that we have standards on, and we’re not playing to our standard. We should be pissed off. It shouldn’t be coming from the coaches. We’re definitely hearing the message from them, but this is a players game so it’s on us as players to understand that and fix the problem.”
Tavai added that the problems were minor in nature, and “very simple stuff” to address.
“When we practice, we know that those are the big plays or big runs that they love to run,” he said. “We’re reading our keys well, so when it comes to the game — whether it’s we got to get more conditioning in or just meet more together, whatever it is — we have to make sure everyone is dialed in.”
From the outside looking in, one part of the problem appears to be the Patriots’ personnel situation. Besides trading disgruntled Pro Bowl linebacker Matthew Judon to Atlanta during the offseason, New England also saw three more of its most important players on defense depart.
Defensive tackle Christian Barmore was diagnosed with blood clots early in training camp; linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley suffered a season-ending biceps injury in Week 2; safety Jabrill Peppers was arrested ahead of Week 5 and remains on the commissioner’s exempt list. All three would have played prominent roles at their respective positions and given the team quality at all three levels.
For Tavai — echoing Davon Godchaux — that reasoning for the unit’s recent decline does not cut it.
“There’s no excuse. What we’re doing is on us,” he said.
“We have to take accountability for what’s been going on. We can’t blame newer guys because it’s us vets who aren’t consistent. Whether it’s five plays we’re doing well, and then one play we’re not, and then back to five — that’s unacceptable. We’re going to make sure that everybody’s on the same page. We’re all to blame right now.”