ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky Points Out Patriots’ ‘Fatal Flaw’

The New England Patriots have been among the best teams in the NFL in 2025 — but that isn’t stopping their detractors from pointing out flaws.

No, we aren’t talking about the whole schedule thing…

ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky pointed out one “fatal flaw” that he sees in the club during Tuesday’s episode of NFL Live.

“You’re in nickel too much for me,” Orlovsky said. “In 2025, I can’t allow you to play a safe defense and still have success. They’re in nickel, it feels like, every single snap.”

It’s not every single snap, but it’s relatively close.

The Patriots play nickel defense at the third-highest clip (76%) in the NFL, trailing just the Seattle Seahawks (84%) and Atlanta Falcons (77%) — with only one off-ball linebacker (Robert Spillane; 97.10%) but five defensive backs (Craig Woodson; 97.56%, Carlton Davis II; 95.73%, Jaylinn Hawkins; 78.20%, Marcus Jones; 77.13%, Christian Gonzalez; 68.14%) eclipsing more than half of the team’s total snaps this season.

Orlovsky doesn’t think that’ll work.

“If I’m Indy and I don’t run it at you 40 times, shame on me. If I’m Buffalo and I don’t run it at you 40 times, shame on me. The Chargers, in the way that they use their tight ends. Baltimore, if they get in.

“… If New England thinks they’ll be able to allowed to line up and play nickel defense in a win-or-go-home game… it’ll be an early exit.”

Orlovsky just happened to look past the fact that New England ranks first in opponent rushing yards allowed per game (84.7). It’s more about their inability to cover tight ends — as they’ve allowed more catches (69) to opposing tight ends than any other team in the NFL — that has given them fits.

If they can start doing that, they’ll be in decent shape.