Patriots’ fans and foes alike are probably focusing on one area of the team when assessing New England’s chances of making postseason run down the stretch of the 2022 campaign.
Those eternal optimists looking for a reason for hope, a pillar to point to as to why Bill Belichick’s team might be able to claw out the wins it needs in the coming four weeks to hold onto its current spot in the playoff picture, need look no further than the edge of New England defense.
And skeptical opponents including those preparing for the Patriots – competition that includes this Sunday’s trip to Las Vegas, Christmas Eve at Gillette against the AFC champ Bengals, hosting the scuffling Dolphins in Week 17 and a regular season finale in Buffalo -- scouting the areas of concern for the middling 7-6 team currently penciled in as the No. 7 seed in the AFC probably also begins with the Matthew Judon-led pass rush.
If there is one area of the Patriots that’s worthy of consistent praise from allies and trepidation for weekly opposition it is indeed that pass rush.
New England currently ranks No. 3 in the NFL with 45 sacks, trailing only the Eagles (49) and Cowboys (48). The Patriots are on pace to blow by the most sacks recorded by a New England team during the Belichick era – 49 in 2015 – and could even challenge the franchise record of 66 set in the infancy of the team in 1963.
Records are great and make for fun statistical notes, but the record that matters is the wins and losses that New England collects over the next four games with the season’s overall outcome on the line. And that’s where the rubber meets the rush in New England these days.
As Cardinals backup Colt McCoy and his offensive line learned last Monday night, New England’s rush can take over a game. And it’s certainly not a group that relies solely on Judon, who was tied for the NFL lead with 14.5 sacks heading into Week 15.
Josh Uche’s work opposite Judon has been a revelation for the New England defense over the second half of the season. The reigning AFC Defensive Player of the Week, Uche had a hat trick of sacks in Arizona to key the Patriots’ six-sack performance on the way to victory in the must-win affair.
Uche, who Judon has praised often as New England’s best pure pass rusher, now has 10 sacks on the season, all since Week 8, most in the NFL over that span. The third-year former second-round pick has stayed healthy and honed his natural athletic abilities over the last couple months, while clearly also taking advantage of playing opposite his three-time Pro Bowl teammate Judon.
While the dynamic duo on the New England edge has combined for more than two dozen sacks, the depth of the rush may be even more alarming to opponents. Versatile veteran defensive lineman Deatrich Wise Jr. has a career-best 6.5 sacks, though his production has tailed off a bit over the second half of the year. All told the Patriots have 13 players who’ve notched at least one sack this season, including eight who’ve gotten to the quarterback on the multiple occasions.
The already impressive group may even get a late season boost with second-year former second-round pick Christian Barmore back on the practice field this week in Arizona as he works back from the knee injury that’s sidelined him since Week 6. Many hoped that the athletic big man Barmore might be Judon’s inside-out pass rush partner this season coming off an impressive rookie campaign and anything he adds to the front over the next month will be yet another layer of concern for opposing offensive lines and the quarterbacks they protect.
Judon, who had 1.5 sacks in the win over the Cards, also shows no signs of slowing down this December, having made it a clear goal to not fade down the stretch like he did a year ago when he went the final four games of the season without a sack or QB hit as New England lost three of its final four games of the regular season.
Judon is going strong. Uche is coming on strong, living up to the potential he showed at Michigan that made him a top Patriots pick. Barmore is getting back into playing shape and good health.
Put it all together and the Patriots have a legitimate game-changing pass rush that just might be a season-changing strength for the team. Derek Carr, Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa and Josh Allen all have to be well aware that Judon and Co. have something to prove for a team with something to prove in the coming weeks.
And as Patriots fans know firsthand from years of experience with Tom Brady at the helm in New England, the best way to upset and defeat a high end passer is through the pass rush, almost regardless of how the rest of the team-based matchups stack up. This December Patriots’ defensive play-caller Steve Belichick has the horses to get that job done.
At the very least, New England hits the final four weeks of the season with a puncher’s chance to make the playoffs.
Or, should we say, the Patriots have a pass rusher’s chance to earn a postseason spot that would be an impressive accomplishment given everything that’s gone on with this rollercoaster season.
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