Can the Patriots Defense CONTAIN Jalen Hurts?

CLNS Media Sports Network

In this segment from Patriots Daily's Behind Enemy Lines, Taylor Kyles of CLNS Media teams up with Benjamin Solak, NFL Staff Writer at The Ringer to discuss the strategies Bill Belichick's defense might use against Jalen Hurts on Sunday.  If you enjoyed this content, please make sure to watch the full episode HERE: https://youtu.be/jqzaONnbdQg | Patriots Daily Podcast  Fanduel Sportsbook is the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network. NEW customers can bet $5  and get $200 in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED. Plus, all customers who bet $5 will get $100 OFF NFL SUNDAY TICKET from YouTube and YouTube TV. Now is the best time to join FanDuel! The app is easy to use and you can be on everything from spreads to player props and more! So, visit  https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON and kick off the NFL season with an offer you won’t wanna miss.  21+ and present in MA. First online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at  https://fanduel.com/sportsbook. Hope is here. GamblingHelpLineMa.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234. NFL Sunday Ticket Offer ends 9/18/23. No refunds. Terms and embargoes apply. $100 off NFL Sunday Ticket, not YouTube TV. YouTube TV base plan required to watch YouTube TV. Redemption requires a Google account and current form of payment. Commercial Use Excluded. Subscription renews; cancel anytime.

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00:00 It's a huge Christian Gonzalez game, man.

00:01 It's a huge rookie game everywhere since week one,

00:04 but it's a very, very big Christian Gonzalez game.

00:07 - Yeah, there's a trial by fire,

00:08 and then there's whatever's gonna happen

00:09 to Gonzalez in week one.

00:11 And you mentioned AJ Brown, like his physicality.

00:13 I saw on Twitter, somebody was like,

00:15 "Yeah, you know, with AJ Brown,

00:16 "it's like you double Devante Smith

00:17 "and you get physical with Brown."

00:19 I'm like, "Well, that's kind of like saying

00:20 "get fast against Lamar Jackson."

00:21 You know, that's much easier said than done.

00:24 Speaking of Lamar Jackson,

00:26 as if all the weapons that Hertz has at his disposal

00:29 weren't enough, he's also a fantastic run threat.

00:32 Now, one, I noticed that, you know,

00:34 he does have a tendency to kind of run up

00:36 and exploit on scrambles, open pockets

00:38 when he gets the chance,

00:39 which some quarterbacks you think,

00:40 "Okay, maybe be a little more patient."

00:42 But with him, I mean, he's elusive,

00:43 he's tough to bring down 'cause he's a brick house.

00:46 He's really tough on scrambles,

00:47 but also in those design runs,

00:48 like the inside zone keepers, the QB draws,

00:51 and then they'll kind of mix in some gap stuff as well.

00:54 Have there been any game plans that you saw from last season

00:57 where a team was actually able to contain Hertz's legs,

01:00 especially pass rush wise,

01:02 or is it really one of those things

01:03 where he's just a handful

01:05 and you kind of just have to be fundamentally sound

01:06 at the end of the day?

01:08 - Yeah, get him moving left.

01:09 Yeah, he doesn't like to go left.

01:10 He's right-handed quarterback.

01:11 So typically, right-handed guys like to go right

01:13 no matter what, but particularly with Hertz.

01:15 Hertz is, he's not like a fluid guy, right?

01:19 Like he's big, he's stocky, he's physical,

01:22 and then he's explosive, right?

01:23 And so he's good beating you on a straight line

01:26 and he can break some tackles.

01:27 But if you get him moving to his left

01:29 and then he's at the point where he's got to flip his hips

01:31 and try to get his arm back around to throw it,

01:32 he can lose accuracy.

01:34 And you see, like Hertz's past success

01:37 when he's outside of the pocket actually isn't that great.

01:39 It's poorer than you'd expect from a mobile quarterback.

01:43 So if you can get him outside of the pocket

01:45 and prevent him from scrambling, good on you.

01:48 But once you execute the first step,

01:50 let's get him outside of the pocket,

01:52 you can't do the second step, you're in a lot of trouble.

01:55 'Cause if he gets across the line of scrimmage,

01:57 he's really quite a handful to deal with.

01:59 And so his pocket management isn't great.

02:03 It never is when you have quarterbacks who can run, right?

02:06 'Cause they're just used to getting out of it.

02:07 And so you can absolutely design up some rushes,

02:11 game up some rushes, get him going to his left,

02:12 try to get a looper,

02:14 make him move in the pocket to a free guy.

02:17 You can go through that entire process

02:18 and find some success.

02:20 The Eagles will do two things in response.

02:21 They'll run screens, right?

02:23 They just won't ask Hertz to hold onto the football

02:25 or they'll just straight run it.

02:26 And that's the thing is like,

02:28 one of the things that this team was so good at last year,

02:31 especially 'cause they use all four downs

02:32 and they'll go for it in true guard situations,

02:34 is if they're getting stuff in the passing game,

02:36 that's a headache for them to deal with,

02:37 they'll just run the football, right?

02:38 They'll hand it off or they'll run true,

02:40 like read option stuff, not run pass option,

02:43 but just actual read option stuff.

02:45 And they have a very good offensive line.

02:48 And last year they had a great back

02:49 and they obviously have some good backs this year

02:51 and they'll dare your defensive line

02:53 to win the game for you.

02:54 The Pats have a good defensive line.

02:55 I don't know if they have that good of a defensive line.

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03:37 - Yeah, it's gonna be a hell of a test week one.

03:43 I think you mentioned the stat.

03:44 I actually looked it up.

03:45 It was like Hertz statistically

03:47 was the best quarterback in the league

03:49 when he was in the pocket.

03:50 When he scrambled,

03:51 I think his pass rating dropped down

03:52 to like 22 or something like that.

03:53 Which again, because he's not like Lamar Jackson

03:56 where he's fluid and throw across his body

03:58 and things like that,

03:59 or Josh Young where he's just gonna take the top off

04:00 every time, does seem like a pretty good strategy.

04:03 I saw one blitz from the Colts

04:05 where they had twists on both sides

04:07 and they had a spy in the middle.

04:08 I was like, please, Marte Mabu in the middle.

04:10 Just let Uche and Judon crash the pocket.

04:13 Hopefully we see a little bit of that.

04:15 - You want Marte chasing him around?

04:16 - So bad, so bad.

04:18 Do you think you'd be up for the challenge?

04:20 - I'd put Duggar.

04:21 I wouldn't put the rookie on his first start.

04:23 I think like, I mean like physically, sure.

04:26 Mentally, right?

04:27 That I'd much rather have a player

04:30 who's been doing this for a long time

04:31 and that sort of responsibility.

04:32 But I haven't followed Mabu.

04:34 Like if they're out here like Mabu's a genius,

04:36 then go for it.

04:37 - I do think it's more likely we're gonna see Mac Wilson.

04:40 His play recognition just kind of scares me a little bit.

04:42 But if Duggar, so theoretically,

04:43 if Duggar's the spy, then who's on Goddard?

04:45 'Cause I figured that would be his main assignment.

04:49 - I mean, so like Mabu,

04:52 but then yeah, you don't feel good about that either, right?

04:54 - Right.

04:55 - Yeah, I mean, so what, Phillips is playing deep.

04:57 They don't have McCordy.

04:58 It'd be nice to have McCordy, wouldn't it?

04:59 - It would be real, real nice.

05:01 - It'd be a big help in this one.

05:02 If you put Mills on them,

05:03 they're gonna throw it to Goddard 19 times.

05:05 They, you know, we feel a certain way

05:07 about Jalen Mills here in Philadelphia.

05:09 It's tricky.

05:11 I mean, like I didn't think about Mabu as the spy.

05:14 We were on the Philly special pod for the ringer

05:15 talking about this game.

05:16 I talked a lot about Duggar as the spy.

05:18 Just 'cause I think that's the athlete that you trust more.

05:20 But right, it's, as all defensive propositions are,

05:24 you're choosing what beats you and what doesn't, right?

05:26 Where you put Duggar is, okay,

05:27 we don't want to lose to this.

05:29 So you put them on Hertz on the spy.

05:30 We don't want to lose to the scramble.

05:31 If you put them on Goddard,

05:32 you don't want to lose to Goddard.

05:33 But then you're inviting the other thing to beat you.

05:35 You have to have a plan for that.

05:36 So I don't mind, like Duggar on Goddard

05:40 probably makes sense initially.

05:42 Like that's where you want to start first,

05:44 but the Eagles don't really make Goddard

05:46 a high volume player.

05:47 At least they didn't last year, right?

05:49 Because they involve him in run blocking so much.

05:51 He stays in to protect a lot.

05:52 He's attached to the line a lot.

05:54 So he just runs like less of a menu of routes

05:56 and he runs more challenging routes

05:57 than like a Travis Gels,

05:58 he just like flexing in the slot

05:59 and then he has the whole menu, right?

06:01 And so if you're walking in with a game plan

06:04 of like, we're going to make them beat us

06:05 by throwing the ball to Goddard,

06:06 that's not half bad, right?

06:07 Like half of Goddard's targets last year

06:08 were behind line of privilege.

06:09 Not that's a fake number, it's an exaggeration,

06:12 but it's like, that's how it feels.

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