New England Patriots need to address their pass rush issues

The New England Patriots defense was nothing short of horrible last night, and it all began with the lack of a pass rush.

The Kansas City Chiefs are not one of the best defenses that the New England Patriots are going to face this season. Somehow, KC was able to put up 42 points though, the most allowed in the Belichick era.

New England’s issues on defense all began and ended with the pass rush. They simply were not pressuring Alex Smith enough. Heading into the season, the defensive end and especially the edge, was the Patriots biggest weakness. That weakness was exposed on national television as the Chiefs ran wild.

Trey Flowers needs to step up, and Deatrich Wise played okay, but they can’t do it all themselves.

Matt Patricia is going to have to go back to the drawing board before the Patriots take on the New Orleans Saints, who have a high powered offense of their own. The organization may even look to bring in a free agent or two to add to the pass rush rotation, and there are a few guys that I believe would fit the bill.

Available free agents

There are a number of free agents still available, and each could have something to offer New England if they’re looking to make a run at another Super Bowl.

Jared Odrick

Odrick is a 6’5″ defensive end, and he did have some meetings with the Patriots this offseason. At the time, New England must have seen something they didn’t like, or else they would have signed him.

Now may be the time to take a chance on Odrick though. He’s just 29 and he has 23 sacks in 7 seasons. Last season with the Jaguars, Odrick tallied 1 sack and 12 tackles in 6 games. In 2015, he appeared in all 16 games and had 5.5 sacks. New England could use that added pressure from the edge.

Mario Williams

Mario Williams has 97.5 sacks over the course of his career, but New England Patriots fans should not expect that kind of production if he signs here. At 32, Williams is clearly slowing down, but he’s still a very solid player.

While Williams had 13 sacks in 2013 and 14.5 in 2015, his numbers have taken a dive. In 2015, he had 5 sacks for the Buffalo Bills and last season he had just 1.5 for the Miami Dolphins.

Dwight Freeney

37-year old Dwight Freeney may be asking for too much money. If the Patriots can get him at a bargain price though, he’d become a staple in the edge rotation. You would need to look past his name because he’s not the player he used to be.

Freeney played in 15 regular season games for the Atlanta Falcons last season and he had 3 sacks. He’s not as quick as he used to be when he was chasing Tom Brady down for the Indianapolis Colts, but he still seems to have some gas left in the tank.

Get Ninkovich off of the couch

When Rob Ninkovich tired, it made sense because it seemed like there were plenty of guys ahead of him in the rotation. Now, Derek Rivers is out for the season and the Patriots released Kony Ealy.

After watching the game on Thursday night, Ninkovich should really want to get back out there and help this New England team. He’s even said that he isn’t ruling out a return.

While Nink has lost a step he’d still be a key man in the rotation should he choose to return. The Patriots need him back badly, and if week 2 goes as poorly as week 1, I’d expect a Rob Ninkovich return to Foxboro.

Next: Gillislee shines in Patriots loss

If it were up to me, I’d be coaxing Rob Ninkovich out of retirement and also be looking to sign Jared Odrick. Odrick is the youngest of the available free agents, and I think he’d have a chance to thrive in New England. No matter what they do, the Patriots will need to figure things out before they face Drew Brees and a backfield that features Mark Ingram, Alvin Kamara, and Adrian Peterson.

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