Assessing the Biggest Weakness of Each 2016 NFL Playoff Team
New England Patriots: Pass Rush
Once we get to the top two teams, it's going to be a bit nit-picky to point out weaknesses.
That said, the Patriots' inability to create a pass rush did create a dope Twitter beef between NBC's Cris Collinsworth and HBO's Bill Simmons, so you won't find us complaining.
The Patriots are chilling with the Chiefs and Lions down in 28th in Sack NEP per drop back. Despite facing 627 drop backs, they notched just 33 sacks and -49.04 Sack NEP. You'd expect those numbers to be much higher given the general game flow of a Patriots game, but they couldn't quite get to the quarterback no matter what the situation.
Even with this, though, New England managed to finish 11th in Adjusted Defensive Passing NEP per play, and they were surging up the leaderboards at the end of the season. They were able to overcome it for the most part in the regular season, and they'll need to do so again in order to snag yet another Lombardi Trophy.