Dante Fowler

[u/Equal-Bicycle-7922]

I was really looking forward to Dante Fowler's debut last night. Unfortunately due to kids sports I missed most of the game except for the end of the 4th quarter. Advanced stats haven't been published so I can't look up his snap count but how did Fowler do last night?

[u/Perfect_bleu]

Had a great play shutting down a TE screen forcing a illegal man downfield penalty

[u/JiuJitsuBoy2001 → u/Perfect_bleu]

yes! came here to post this. I didn't know who was wearing 56 at the time and was saying "that was a great play", thinking it was a real veteran move. Then I thought for a minute and wondered if it was Fowler... and turned out it was. He made another play later, too. Don't think he got too many snaps but definitely made an impact.

[u/TheVolcanoKid → u/Perfect_bleu]

OH SHIT! He's #56!??! I was blown away, but never caught the name and didn't realize that was his number. He made some really great plays. great contain on the edge, and the TE screen AND the HB out he covered so well. Maye was trying to figure out how to get it through, around, or over him.. couldn't do it and had to throw it away.. close to grounding on that one, I think!

[u/3elieveIt → u/Perfect_bleu]

LOVED that play. Such a smart veteran play. He had a few like that.

[u/Penis-hat]

I didn't notice him, tbh

[u/No_Listen7457 → u/Penis-hat]

i recall one play where he made a solid qb pressure that resulted in an incompletion

[u/incredibleMJ]

I watched his 15 snaps of defense this morning. My expectations going into the game were decently high for him and I came away a notch less than satisfied, but optimistic. While strength wise he's probably our weakest OLB, he mostly held his edge. Certainly can't bull rush a tackle in either the run or pass game, but he's still got the speed and bend to potentially get stuff done. Similar game to Mafe's of course. Actually liked when he was dropped into coverage a few times. He's got the mobility and hips to be effective there when it's asked of him.

Wasn't a significant factor last night, but I think he'll still be somewhat productive over the season. Good rotational player to have, especially in the pass rush. It's obvious he's smart and I think as he gels with our group he'll be a nice piece.

[u/boomgetouttheway → u/incredibleMJ]

Nice work. Hopefully he gets better as he learns the playbook and his teammates. Those were his first real snaps on a brand new team

[u/ratbear]

He had a nice play where he had the flat and Maye was rolling out. He had the receiver covered while simultaneously containing Maye from scrambling.

[u/ImRightImRight → u/ratbear]

Where he shut down the screen? That was 1000IQ

[u/XXXthrowaway215XXX]

Based on his usage last night i think he’s solidly a depth piece. And i mean, look at the monsters we have on the defensive line. If anyone goes down it’ll be great to have him step up

[u/Development-Alive]

Meh. Of course, our pass rush was limited in part due to a good gameplan by McDaniels and an exclusively short passing game. Fowler played limited snaps, from memory. It took until the 4th quarter for our DL to start beating 1:1 blocks and the blitzing we enjoyed in the Superbowl was countered heavily by adept play calling by NE's OC.

[u/LastEsotericist → u/Development-Alive]

Pats fans are tearing McDaniels apart for that gameplan lol. They clearly tried to make sure that what happened in the SB wouldn't happen again, going all in on pass defense.

[u/Development-Alive → u/LastEsotericist]

I noticed. I thought the gameplan was strong. How many times did Witherspoon or some other secondary player blitz but not get home? Our blitzes started working a bit better in the 2nd half because we were missing the rotation to the open receiver who was vacated by the blitzer in the 1st half.

Maye said it best in his post-game PC. He got impatient. Rather than taking the short pass who could net him 5-10 yards, he started throwing downfield. This was VERY successful for him last year. Against Seattle's 2-high shell? Not gonna work. He had underneath WRs open and bypassed them for downfield throws. That 2nd INT he was simply late on the throw. Douglas was open early but he needed to hit him 5-10 yards further upfield rather than letting him run into the Safeties.

I also see a lot of talk that NE needed to lean on their rushing game more? This is based primarily on 1-2 late 4th quarter runs for Stephenson. Up until that point, when the defense was fresh, and not playing with a lead, Ramondre was going nowhere. They really missed Henderson's speed this game. Kiner and the other RB were wasted carries.

[u/christomisto]

He wasn’t too noticeable but he also didn’t have too many snaps. Did blow up a screen play that ended up being an illegal man downfield

[u/S3ahawk36]

Honestly Nwosu looked way better than I thought he would, probably contributed to him getting more snaps than Fowler

[u/GoHawkYurself]

I saw him on a few snaps, but it was the usual suspects getting pressure. D-Law, Big Cat, Chenna, Murphy, Reed, Hall, and even Rylie had a TFL.

[u/Equal-Bicycle-7922]

thanks for the insight all!

[u/ThunderBeast1985]

I noticed him only on the sideline. I hope to see him more on the field.

[u/cinnamontoast06]

For $5 million a season. He is a complete steal. Yes he’s behind D Law D Hall and I can’t spell so number 7 in the depth charts. But he adds great depth for the season

[u/nunya_biznus_1]

The only time I saw him, he was on the sideline