SPORTS

Patriots' eight sacks against Eagles an improvement over Super Bowl LII

Rich Garven
richard.garven@telegram.com
Patriots linebacker Kyle Van Noy sacks Eagles quarterback Nate Sudfeld during the first half of Thursday's preseason game. [The Associated Press]

FOXBORO — It wasn’t as meaningful as it would have been seven months ago, but that doesn’t mean one aspect of the Patriots’ preseason play against the Philadelphia Eagles lacked significance.

The Patriots failed to consistently pressure quarterback Nick Foles in Super Bowl LII, officially hitting him five times and failing to sack him once. It was arguably the biggest reason the Eagles hoisted the Lombardi Trophy on Feb. 4 at U.S. Bank Stadium.

That wasn’t the case Thursday night as the Patriots sacked Foles and backups Nate Sudfeld and Joe Callahan eight times and tallied an additional three quarterback hits in a 37-20 win at Gillette Stadium.

“I think we just had a good rush plan, we all executed and it worked out,” said defensive end Adrian Clayborn, who was imported to New England in the offseason at a cost of $10 million over two seasons expressly to bolster the pass rush.

Clayborn was one eight players — including at least one at all three levels — to get a full or shared QB takedown.

Up front, Keionta Davis had a sack and shared another with rookie Trent Harris, who had an additional quarterback hit, while Adam Butler, Derek Rivers, Vincent Valentine, and Clayborn each had a sack. Linebacker Kyle Van Noy and safety Patrick Chung, with one apiece, made for eight.

Defensive end Geneo Grissom had a pair of QB hits.

“We still got a ways to go, but we are what we put on tape,” Butler said,

Clayborn combined with rookie linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley to make the defensive play of the game early in the second quarter. Clayborn overpowered left tackle Halapoulivaati and strip-sacked Foles with Bentley scooping up the fumble and returning it 54 yards for a touchdown to push the Patriots’ lead to 16-0.

It was a two-for-one play on Clayborn’s part. And once he was sure he had the sack he went for the ball.

“I knew he didn’t see me, so that’s the perfect time to try to get the ball out,” Clayborn said. “When he sees you, that’s when you have to try to get him down.”

Foles, the pixie dust worn off since being named Super Bowl MVP, suffered a shoulder strain on the play and left the game after going 3 of 9 for 44 yards and three sacks. He was replaced by Nate Sudfeld, a third-year pro who is listed fourth on the depth chart.

Sudfield, whose older brother, Zach, was a summer sensation for the Patriots in 2013 before being released after appearing in three games, was sacked four times and intercepted once. He brushed it off to go 22 of 39 for 312 yards and three touchdowns with some beautifully thrown deep balls.

It was that kind of production that caused coach Bill Belichick to put the brakes on the sack hype during a conference call Friday morning after reviewing the game film.

“Well, we had our moments,” Belichick said. “We had some pressure from different players, so there were some good things there. We obviously allowed a lot of passing yardage. There were times when the rush and the coverage didn't really marry up the way we’d like it to. Pass rush is part pass rush and part coverage.

“I’d say overall our team defense was good at times, but we need to have more consistency. When you give up (363) yards passing, that’s not good. Knocking the quarterback down, that’s good. We need to marry those two together because when we didn’t have the coverage on the rush we gave up too much yardage.”

In defense of the coverage, the four players that saw the most playing time in the secondary were rookies Keion Crossen (66 percent of the snaps) and J.C. Jackson (47 percent), consistently underperforming veteran Jordan Richards (47 percent), and first-year pro Jomal Wiltz.

As for the front seven, it showcased its depth and versatility when it comes to applying pocket pressure.

“I think the most exciting part is the diversity,” Butler said. “There are some people that can do a lot of things. You’ve got some guys who can rush inside and outside. Some guys who are just very talented on the edge and to watch everybody come out and show their skills is amazing.”

—Contact Rich Garven at rgarven@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @RichGarvenTG.