Sack Series - Justin Francis Goes For 3

In order to understand who was responsible for each of the 7 sacks that were produced against Miami, I am going to break down all 7 of the sacks (and the 1 QB hit). I will look at all aspects of the play, and give credit where credit is due. Check back this bye week for more...

After CB Derrick Martin's sack, Miami faced a 3rd and 14. The Dolphins were already out of the game, but a stop here virtually ended the game (<7:00 left in 4th). The Patriots are in a Nickel set with #54 Dont'a Hightower and #58 Tracy White at LB. Although Mayo and Wilfork were pulled from the game during garbage time, the defensive backfield stayed the same. Let's take a look:

As they had all day on 3rd and long, The Patriots played cover-2 with man coverage from the CBs. Miami attacks the scheme with 2 verticals up the sideline, and a deep crossing pattern from the slot. #26 Derrick Martin does a good job of forcing his man to go the long way around, and he stays close enough that #25 Pat Chung doesn't need to help him. Instead, The Pats are able to smother the deep routes with double coverage. Also, #58 Tracy White is in position to tackle the TE Fasano if targeted. There's really no where to throw except Fasano, but on 3rd and 14 Tannehill holds on to the ball.

The pass rush is a simple 4-man rush. #54 Hightower comes into the backfield, but only to engage with Bush and keep him from going out for a pass pattern. #71 Deaerick and #96 Cunningham both attack the A-gap intially, but they are turned away. Improvising, Cunningham was able to loop around and get in Tannehill's face. On the edges, #99 Scott and #94 Francis exploit the Tackles once again. Scott gets around with a nice spin move, and he narrowly missed Tannehill as he dove at the QB's feet. Francis beats his block with a strong bull rush, and snags Tannehill after Scott and Cunningham force him to step up

Overall, The Patriots got some quality pass rush from their role players in week 17. Hopefully, these unheralded pass rushers can keep it going in the playoffs, but it must be noted that Miami looked sluggish, especially in the second half. Miami's Tackles were especially vulnerable, and it seemed like we could beat them at will. Likewise, Ryan Tannehill did not make quick decisions when opportunities were there. Nevertheless, our backups made The Dolphins' starters look really bad.

It all seems to be coming together for the front-7, and it doesn't even matter which guys are in there. Everybody is buying in to the scheme and accepting their roles. In my opinion, the biggest difference between the 2011 defense and the 2012 defense is the play of our second-tier players. A big emphasis in the off-season was to build the "middle class" of the roster, and we certainly have. Guys like Wilson, Martin, Cole, Francis, and Scott have really improved our sub packages and added quality depth around Vince Wilfork and Rob Ninkovich. All in all, I think this makes us a better, more consistent unit on defense than we were last year.