New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick went to the Belestrator to break down the three players on the Cleveland Browns to whom the Patriots will dedicate additional focus.
When the Patriots are on offense, they’re going to be aware of CB Joe Haden on every snap. “Excellent hands, good quickness, very instinctive, smart football player, that we’ve got to run good routes and handle the ball properly against,” Belichick said about Haden.
When the Patriots are on defense, they will take note of two players in particular: WR Terrelle Pryor and RB Isaiah Crowell.
Pryor is a “big tall guy, 6’4 and a half,” Belichick said, that presents “good run after the catch, good on the deep balls, and can also play quarterback.” Look for the Patriots to match up two defensive backs on Pryor at all times to remove him from the passing game.
If the Patriots try to remove the one player that makes the Browns offense function, though, it will probably be Crowell, who Belichick calls a “very explosive player.” Crowell is one of the stronger runners in the NFL and he likes to run behind the left side of the line, behind left guard Joel Bitonio and left tackle Joe Thomas.
Click here to watch the break down.
If you want to watch the Sounds of the Game from week 4 against the Bills, check out All Access and fast forward to the 2:00 minute mark. The general sentiment from the Patriots is that they beat themselves with dumb mistakes and that the team rallied around QB Jacoby Brissett.
“Let’s build up a wall in front of this guy,” offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia said before the game, “he deserves that.”
“We can’t keep shooting ourselves in the foot,” Scarnecchia said late in the game, “because that’s basically what we’ve done every time out there.”
That’s generally how the team felt about the day. Look for a much more polished day against the Browns.