Patriots show promise in huge area, and that was a big factor in making Drake Maye look much better than Caleb Williams
The New England Patriots defense showed up ready to play on Sunday against the Chicago Bears. And they gave Caleb Williams no time to make anything happen, sacking the rookie quarterback nine times in the win. "Defensively I would say we were able to get pressure. We were able to get pressure on the quarterback," […]
The New England Patriots defense showed up ready to play on Sunday against the Chicago Bears.
And they gave Caleb Williams no time to make anything happen, sacking the rookie quarterback nine times in the win.
"Defensively I would say we were able to get pressure. We were able to get pressure on the quarterback," Mayo told reporters after the game. "We had nine sacks in the game, which is always good, and I would say the back end did a good job as far as coverage is concerned."
“It starts up front. I think that's what we have to do," he added. "We have to go out there and reestablish the line of scrimmage and we were able to do that in all three-and-outs.”
Anfernee Jennings had his first career two-sack game, while Deatrich Wise added two of his own. Jahlani Tavai, Jeremiah Pharms, Keion White, Dell Pettus, and Brenden Schooler also each got one.
And with that, the Patriots tied a franchise record of nine sacks in a single game.
Plus, bringing Williams down prevented the quarterback from scrambling out of the pocket and making a play happen.
“That was definitely a huge part of it. We've said that. If you were to take away just our 3rd down penalties and our 3rd down letting the quarterback out of the pocket over the course of the season, we would be much better," Mayo explained. " I would say today I think they had one 3rd down conversion. Not necessarily sure what it was. Then one 4th down conversion. Look, that's the recipe, and we just have to be patient enough to do it on a down-after-down basis.”
However, there is another group that deserves a lot of credit in helping make these sacks happen, and that's the secondary. They locked down the Bears receivers, not giving Williams anyone to throw to.
“Coverage was huge. All of those guys in the back end," Mayo said."We had the young safeties out there, and (CB Christian Gonzalez) Gonzo continues to play at a very high level. I'd also say (CB) Jonathan Jones. He's one of those guys you can put him in as a slot corner, put him outside, put him in the back end. Just a veteran player that, again, goes in that box of he's a football player, and wherever you ask him to go, he'll go out there and try to perform.”
Not a bad day for the defense against the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
