Derek Rivers, defensive end, New England Patriots

The talk of the town after the New England Patriots defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2 of preseason action was the Patriots' ability to generate a pass rush, something that has been hard to find dating back to the 2017 season. 

Part of the reason for the strong defensive line play against Philadelphia was because of second-year pro Derek Rivers. Rivers is seeing his first action on the playing field this preseason since tearing his ACL during August of last year. His hard work ethic and play on the field have been praised by coaches and players so far in training camp. 

Let's take a look at his film from Thursday night's game against the Eagles to see why he is so deserving of these praises. 

Rivers started off the game by entering the game strictly on 3rd down. His first real impact of the game occurred with nine minutes left in the first quarter. Rivers uses his power to push the left tackle back, get in line with Nick Foles (Eagles QB), and then keeps one arm on the tackle while reaching out for the quarterback. 

Though Rivers did not get to the quarterback in time for the sack, he makes Foles feel his presence in the backfield, causing Foles to move up in the pocket and meet the likes of Patrick Chung for New England's first sack of the night. 


Here is another 3rd down situation, but this time Rivers is playing on the right side of the line. This is also a situation where even though the end result of the play does not directly reflect on Rivers, the film shows why the sack happened.

Rivers and Adrian Clayborn, who is playing opposite of Rivers on the line, push the tackles in, causing Foles to move up into the pocket, resulting in the sack. Because Foles is a right-handed quarterback, he can see Rivers closing in on him in the backfield, which is why Foles attempts to move forward in the pocket. This allows the remainder of the pass rush to close in on Foles. Because of great coverage in the secondary as well  Adam Butler has time to get to the quarterback for the second sack of the day for the Patriots. 

Another play that is in part caused by quarterback pressure put on by Rivers. 


Late in the second quarter Rivers got to see some early-down work. On this play, he is chipped by Eagles-receiver Deandre Carter, and then bull rushes the right tackle, pushing him right into the quarterback. This causes the quarterback, who in this case is Nate Sudfeld, to throw off his back foot to Carter who is at the bottom of the screen. 

If Rivers doesn't push the tackle into Sudfeld, then Sudfeld could have stepped into the throw, which would have helped the ball get to Carter much faster. This means that Carter may have been able to turn what was a two-yard play into some more yardage. Thanks to Rivers the cornerback covering the flat, which in this case was Keion Crossen, was able to close in on Carter and make the tackle before more yardage was gained. 


During the same series as the last play mentioned Rivers gets his first sack of the preseason. He uses quick handwork to move past the right tackles handles, dips his shoulder and bends around the tackle to come from behind for the third sack of the day for New England.  

Rivers' quickness on this play is impressive, especially since the tackle was in a two-point stance meaning he was ready to take Rivers far into the backfield if he had to. Rivers' ability to get to the corner of the pocket so fast is why the tackle failed to do his job on this play. 


This may be the most impressive play of the day for Rivers. The next play following his sack, Rivers flips to the left side of the lines, uses his speed once again to dip around the left tackle, and could have had back-to-back sacks if it wasn't for the blitz. 

Rivers uses the same move that he did on the previous play, but the fact that he perfected it after having just done it the play before is what is so amazing. Rivers could have easily just tried to bull rush the tackle, knowing what play was being called for the defense and having just gotten a sack the previous play. But his motor and aggression are what led him to have two fantastic plays in a row.

What we learned

Rivers' flexibility to play both sides of the lines while also having many techniques to get to the quarterback effectively should excite Patriots fans. The fact that Rivers is so young (24) means there's lots of time for him to get even better than what we have seen so far. Though he does make occasional mistakes, notably one versus the Eagles when he went offsides late in the first quarter, those things happen to young players and can get fixed very quickly. 

The talent is there and the tape is also available to prove his ability, so New England fans should expect a great season from their first draft pick in the 2017 NFL draft.