FOXBOROUGH - Before I take a closer look at the play of Will Campbell and Milton Williams from Sunday’s regular-season finale, Mike Vrabel returned to the podium Monday morning. He gave us a bit more about their Wild Card round opponent, the Los Angeles Chargers. For those who missed it, Greg gave you a sneak peek last night, and I’m sure we’ll have more for you as the week goes on.
“I would just tell you that they play great defense,” Vrabel told us. “They're very sound, they're good tacklers, they're physical. They get off the field on third down. They're good in the red zone. They run the football. It's a physical football team. They possess the football; they lead the NFL in time of possession. Very good quarterback play.
“They're well coached. They play with technique and fundamentals. They don't panic one way or the other. They kind of stick to their game plan and bore you down, and execute in critical situations. So a lot of respect for them, certainly what they've done in a short amount of time.”
The Chargers’ defense has made vast improvements over the latter half of the season. What has Vrabel seen?
“They don't give up a whole lot of first downs, stingy,” he said. “They're going to make you get everything that you earn. You're going to have to earn it, and just not going to give it to you. Very sound in that regard. So we'll have to have great execution, make great decisions, and be able to put some drives together to sustain. They're just not going to hand you two ‘X” plays down to the one-yard line.”
As for his own team, Vrabel said it’s too early to tell if any of the injured players would be back for this weekend, specifically mentioning Robert Spillane (foot), Harold Landry (knee), Khyiris Tonga (foot), and Jared Wilson (concussion). Cornerback Alex Austin continues to make his return to play as well and will practice this week.
As for yesterday, the Pats got a boost with the returns of Campbell and Williams. I rolled up the sleeves and dug into the tape while pounding hot tea with lemon (thanks to my wonderful son, who gifted me his cold before departing for college. Great time to feel like crap...)
I thought Campbell was excellent. He showed no signs of rust, and his athleticism, which I had wondered about after the MCL injury, remained a strength. We’ll see how the leg responds after his first game in over a month, but aside from the presence of a knee brace, you would have had no idea he missed four games.
Campbell’s attitude made its presence felt on the very first offensive snap. If you’ll recall, that was the muddy 9-yard run by Rhamondre Stevenson that probably should have gone for 3 or 4. But several players, Campbell included, pushed the pile. And true to form, the rookie left tackle got one extra shot in at the tail end of the play. Message sent.
On the following series, once again on the first snap, Campbell handled Zach Sieler off the edge. When the veteran DL surrendered on a play away, Campbell peeled off and pancaked cornerback Rasul Douglas. It was right on the line, but the refs deemed he didn’t step over. A few plays later, Campbell exchanged pleasantries with Bradley Chubb. This theme was sprinkled throughout the evening. He played to the whistle, and sometimes a tick past.
When left on an island in pass protection, Campbell struggled on a couple of occasions with Chubb’s power, surrendering a pressure on the second drive (the completion to Kayshon Boutte) when the veteran edge put him in Drake Maye’s lap (and a second pressure later in the game, once again vs. Chubb’s power). He also appeared to get away with a hold on the 35-yard flea flicker to Efton Chism. Linebacker Derrick McClendon worked off Campbell’s outside shoulder and turned him. Campbell’s right hand ended up on McClendon’s back while his left hand seemed to have a fistful of jersey. But because of body placement, he may have shielded the ref from such tomfoolery.
But as the game went on, whether it be Chubb or Sieler trying to lean on physicality in the rush, Campbell got stronger, anchoring well and using his hands. Miami also tested him with several two-man games, but the communication between him and Ben Brown (and, on occasion, Garrett Bradbury) was sound as a pound. For instance, on a third down incompletion (third series, a three-and-out), Campbell rode Chubb inside, then peeled off to pick up Sieler seamlessly. It was like he never left.
As for the run game, Campbell showed up big on some of the biggest plays. Josh McDaniels ran Stevenson behind him on a critical 3rd-and-one in the third quarter. Campbell and Brown doubled Sieler at the point of attack, then the rookie climbed to the second level and picked off the linebacker, helping Stevenson gain 20 yards. Later in the game, on Stevenson’s third and final TD run, Campbell’s quick feet got him to the second level again, and he took out the middle backer, who was essentially the last man capable of slowing Stevenson down.
Yes, there were a couple of times where Campbell fell off run blocks, but overall, the majority of his 43 snaps showed why he was a first-round pick.
I thought Williams was less impactful on defense than Campbell was for the offense, and I found it notable in the postgame that he admitted the ankle was sore. At this point in the season, the veteran defensive lineman will just have to shine it on.
“I’ve got a high-ankle (sprain), so it ain’t gonna just go away,” he said. “So it’s just something I’m going to have to deal with. Keep working with our training staff and keep moving forward.”
This isn’t to say that Williams didn’t make his presence felt, and certainly, his getting snaps over the likes of Eric Gregory, Leonard Taylor, and Jeremiah Pharms while reducing workloads on others (Christian Barmore and Cory Durden) is beneficial.
He had a run stuff and a tackle for loss in his 26 plays. Admittedly, on the stuff, Durden got there first, but beat Williams to the ball carrier by a split second. Besides, Williams chewed up the right guard with a quick first step that reminded you of what he’s capable of. His TFL was thanks to old friend Cole Strange, who chose not to block Williams. Poor Jaylen Wright was dead to rights, losing six yards (that was the first offensive series for Miami, ending with the 4th down incompletion in the back of the end zone).
You might read somewhere that Williams was double-teamed seven times. That must have been a different game. He spent most of the game lining up in 3-tech (outside shoulder of the guard), though there were occasions where DC Zak Kuhr had Williams head up on the tackle (4-tech), but he helped contribute to a blown edge (Anfernee Jennings as well). His best work, however, came inside. Even if he didn’t have a ton of clean wins, Williams did hold his own against power, unwilling to get blown out of his gap. His relentless nature on one pass rush also gummed up any escape routes for Quinn Ewers and resulted in Marcus Jones’ sack (Williams was the second man in).
Looking ahead, the Chargers' offensive line is poor. They’re ranked 24th in rush EPA, 31st in run-blocking win rate, and are dead last in pass-blocking win rate. A high-energy effort from Williams could bolster a long-dormant four-man pass rush, which would be a great way to defend Justin Herbert.
“We don’t need no superheroes‚" Williams said. “We (only) need everybody to go out there and do stuff the way we’ve been doing it all year. Just be consistent, harp on your fundamentals, and keep doing what we’ve been doing all year: Winning games.”