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The New England Patriots beat the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, and a big reason why was because they shut down playmaking tight end Darren Waller.
Waller has been one of the Raiders’ top targets this season. In his last game against the New Orleans Saints alone, he caught 12 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown. He proved to be one of Las Vegas’ top weapons in that game, and he was certainly a player to watch for New England heading into Sunday’s contest.
New England watched him indeed, and limited him to two catches for nine yards on four targets. How did they do it?
“I thought the guys competed against Waller good,” Bill Belichick told reporters after the game. “A couple of different guys matched up on him depending what the coverage was, and there was some zone coverage in there as well. He’s a good player and a tough guy to defend. I’d say part of it, though, we played zone against them, so it wasn’t all man-to-man matchups.”
Devin McCourty indicated that constant communication between defensive backs was a big reason for it. New England rotated defensive backs on their assignments on Waller. The communication on the sideline was a huge reason why they were able to take him out of the game.
Devin McCourty says "constant communication" between the Patriots defensive backs was a key to defending Darren Waller. The Patriots used a rotation on Waller most of the game, but guys were talking on the sidelines between drives, sharing what they saw
— Alex Barth (@RealAlexBarth) September 27, 2020
New England’s commitment to eliminating Waller certainly allowed for the Patriots to focus on the outside receivers. Although the receivers were able to accumulate yardage on some drives, taking away the tight end option for quarterback Derek Carr was crucial to New England’s defensive success. It just goes to show that on a team, communication is definitely key.
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